Harnessing Student Potential In Microfinance
Kenya Follow-Up
For students planning on attending the Microcredit Summit in Nairobi, here's a question for you.
How do you plan on applying what you learn at the Summit to your local campus and community?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by mamo roba godana on -
yes.as microfinance student in my final year in the university,it will be an eye opener for me since i can get to meet and share microfinance experiences with people from many countries....i will be well prepared to go out into the market en use my knowledge to help the poor in my own backyard and elsewhere since in microfinance is where my passion en interest lies.its what motivates me to work hard every day.....
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Permalink Reply by Dallys-Tom Medali on -
We have a small group of people very interested with Microfinance on the campus at Wake Forest.
Right after the summit , the first thing I'll do is to organize an event to share with them what I would have learnt. Then together, we will find out what we can do in the Winston Salem area to help the communities.
I'm also in touch with former classmates working currently in the Microfinance industry in West-Africa. I will find some channels suitable for a best practice sharing with them. Due to the similarities with Kenya which is on the same continent but on the east side, they will certainly be some interesting returns for them.
Personally I plan in the long term, to return in Africa with all the skills and knowledge I would have acquired to help build the continent and bring some serious changes.
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Permalink Reply by Grant on -
As founder of the GW Social Enterprise Forum, the first organization on my campus dedicated to exploring the emerging field of social enterprise, I would attend the Summit as its representative. After a recent on-campus event in which the Forum collected $2,500 from university students to invest in Kiva.org, most later asked: what now? What else? And how? Some want to volunteer, while others want to start their own microfinance institutions, accelerators and fundraisers.
I'm hoping the Summit will be an opportunity to get answers to their questions from my pioneering role models in microfinance, from practitioners on the ground, and from my peers. There's a palpable anxiousness on my campus to become a part of the solution to global poverty, so I'm anxious to transmit my experience, new knowledge and (of course) inspiration back to the Forum to help support the new young leaders of the field.
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Permalink Reply by Casey Marie on -
I plan to use what I learn at the summit on many fronts:
Research - I plan to take advantage of the opportunities given to me (field visits and day long courses) to help shape the direction of my Master thesis regarding MFIs and their search for sustainability. This will give back to the global microfinance community as a reference point to identify if MIS or mobile banking helps in the sustainability in the insitituion and if so, to what extent. Information on this area is brand-new and therefore lacking, so I feel my paper could be considered a reference point for the future.
MF club at UAM - I am also currently working on starting a microfinance club at my university, the Autonomous University in Madrid (thank you for the link on guidelines, what a help!). This summit will help me network with practicioners on the ground as far as future opportunies for collaboration for UAM alumni as well as give me the necessary information on how to move forward.
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Permalink Reply by Maddie Brandenburger on -
I have observed a growing interest in International Development and more specifically microfinance on the Wake Forest campus over the past two years. I believe that attending the conference would be extremely timely with the increasing "buzz" about microfinance. Working in the field among peers and practitioners who share the passion and knowledge of microfinance has potential to greatly impact the industry. I will collaborate with students at the conference and gain insight about organizations they have been involved in at their home universities with the objective of starting Wake Forest's first social enterprise/microfinance club. Forming a club would bring all students together who share an interest, or are simply curious about microfinance- exchanging thoughts and ideas has great potential to create change.
Most importantly, I hope to bring the knowledge and experiences I’ve gained back to campus and get students who wish to have an impact on poverty alleviation involved in microfinance. Many students are very interested in international development efforts but do not know how to get involved, my hope is to raise awareness so that this becomes easier.
I plan to make a presentation in conjunction with the entrepreneurial society, which will discuss my observations, experiences, and thoughts, in hopes of inciting interest among the student body and faculty. I am currently working with staff members to bring Muhammad Yunus to speak on the Wake Forest campus. This summer I will continue my research on international development doing field work in Kenya- where I will study the effects of microfinance and community development projects in both rural and urban environments.
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Permalink Reply by Taylor MacKay on -
My career and educational goals are to work in the BoP market. I will be graduating shortly in accounting, and hope to be able to use my business expertise in the social space. My goal is to spend the next couple of years working in the microfinance industry and then return to the states to pursue an MBA with an emphasis in social innovation.
Going to the Microcredit Summit would be an invaluable opportunity. I would be able to connect with mfi professionals, students, and organizations that will help me achieve my career aspirations. I am also leading a team of college students to India this summer. Our goal is to work with microfinance organizations in and around Bangalore. We will be in India for roughly 4 months. The information I hope to learn from the summit, as well as the connections I hope to make there, would be invaluable to our experience in Bangalore.
Additionally, I am heavily involved with an on-campus club called Students for Social Entrepreneurship. If I was able to attend the Nairobi conference I would definitely return and report to my fellow classmates. It would be a good opportunity for both myself, and the club to connect with other interested individuals around the world.
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Permalink Reply by Cristina Roman on -
To echo what others have said, attending the Microcredit Summit would be an invaluable experience that would allow me to take critical information back to George Washington University and Washington, DC.
As the other co-founder and current president of The GW Social Enterprise Forum, one of my roles is to act as a liaison between our members and the field of social enterprise. We’ve been successful in introducing many students to microfinance through facilitating events such as an Oikocredit workshop and Kiva Days, but there is still a breadth of knowledge that students don’t have access to. My attendance at the Summit would allow me to act as a connector by keeping students appraised of the current state of microfinance.
In addition, the Summit would provide me with new insight to incorporate into my internship work at Social Enterprise Associates, which is a local triple bottom consulting firm. One of our current projects is working with SEEP Network on the Microfinance Reporting Standards Initiative, which requires an intimate knowledge of microfinance. The Summit would undoubtedly offer me a fresh perspective to assimilate into my work.
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Permalink Reply by Rory Felton on
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I plan on hosting a Microcredit Microsummit on our campus sharing the latest and greatest in the world of microfinance with all in the Los Angeles area. There is a lot of misinformation coming to the public and the microfinance industry doesn't do enough to highlight the true information from the false information. I believe there needs to be more transparency within microfinance to the public about how some of the financial systems work, and by making the information available to people they can in turn make their own decisions.
I have tremendous hope for the future of microfinance as a field, but I believe it's important to research and to educate on it's net impact on the quality of life of borrowers. My desire is to utilize the information and experiences to share and foster ideas for reducing the costs of servicing the loans and passing it on to the borrowers.
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Permalink Reply by MIB on -
To echo everyone who responded earlier, attending the summit would be an invaluable experience for me as well as the students at my home university (Bucknell). As VP of the Microfinance Initiative at Bucknell (MIB), I serve as a liaison between our organization and other campus chapters and international partners. Over the past year MIB have worked very hard to raise awareness in our community by bringing in speakers, hosting forums, etc. Upon my return, I would give a presentation for the entire school on the topics discussed and the most direct ways Bucknellians can get involved. I will be able to introduce a whole array of new debates to our community and thus spur greater interest and deepen everyone's knowledge of the field. Most of all, I want to generate enough excitement to start a microfinance pilot project in our own town, Lewisburg, PA. I believe if enough motivated students came together and raised funds to start such a project, we could help boost local entrepreneurs who lack the funds and collateral to raise themselves out of economic despair.
In addition, I am the VP of Operations of Bicycles Against Poverty, BAP, a microfinance bike project in northern Uganda. The microfinance model we set up in Uganda is not necessary the most effective for Haiti, our next site, nor is the mode of transport--bicycles. Thus we are looking for new ideas as to how to best alter our model to each new site. I could easily apply the lessons for the workshops back to BAP, since the organization is looking for new ideas on how best to expand in an effort to meet its pledge to economic development. Specifically, I could relay discussions of innovative methods of collecting repayments, services provided by MFI's, and the switchover from non-profit to a for-profit model.
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Permalink Reply by Lizah Nyemba on -
I plan on using information gathered as follows:
1. For my thesis that I am currently working on so as to contribute to the current debate, microfinance literature
2. Apply in m y microfinance and development career in Africa
3. To evetually in the future have a microfinance projectr in my rural area to assist rural women and empower them.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Wang on
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The Microcredit Summit will expose me to practitioners and leaders in microcredit in Africa and the Middle East. I believe that having such a summit will bring thought leaders together and will lead to discussions around the curring edge practices and challenges faced in the sector today. I fully intend to integrate myself into these forums as well as contribute based on my experience in microfinance where I developed a strategy to build a large-scale microfinance business for a global financial institution.
I plan on applying what I learn to the school's microfinance student organization to further develop interest in the growing sector. Since many students are currently studying microcredit, the learnings I will transfer will be more of a real time practitioner and "real life" view of microcredit on the ground. This type of insight in invaluable and scarce.
Furthermore, as I move towards the final months of my graduate degree, I will be joining a global consultancy focusing on development and access to finance both from a public and private sector approach. I intend to take the learnings to apply into my future career where I can finally mix my experience in private sector banking into finance for development with a sustainable (read: private sector) approach.
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Permalink Reply by Heather Chojnacki on -
I am planning on doing an independent research project on microfinance this fall in Argentina. One thing that strikes me is the unbalanced penetration rates, but the huge potential for microfinance in Latin America. I plan to do the research on the challenges to microfinance including cultural challenges such as social hierarchy and stereotypes, as well as practical challenges like organization and objectives of credit institutions. My university has a highly-recognized business program, but lacks many opportunities to learn about microfinance, so I hope to bring some ideas back and get more students involved. I've done a lot of research, but not had much field experience. This is what I'm hoping to take away from the conference.
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