OUR MISSION
MFI Connect educates students of microfinance for thoughtful and productive lives and careers in the industry. The organization pursues this mission by providing microfinance education courses, innovative fundraising campaigns, in-field exposure programs, ground-breaking discussion, and access to competitive job opportunities.
WHAT WE DO...
As a global microfinance network composed of university clubs, MFIs, and dedicated activists, The Microfinance Forum provides information about microfinance while linking students and MFIs in a mutually beneficial relationship that furthers the primary goal of microfinance poverty alleviation.
...FOR NEW COMERS
For individuals outside of a microfinance organization, this site functions as an information database through which anyone can learn about microfinance, interact with its key contributors, and bear witness to the millions of lives it changes daily. This information can be accessed though our “resources” and “media” tabs, which bring you to our video library, photo gallery, and a plethora of pertinent microfinance information. For those of you who are interested in starting a microfinance club, we provide examples of other initiatives, accompanied with an easy guide to getting started, and a list of suggested activities in collaboration with our campaigns. Once you're off the ground, we urge you to contribute your experiences and ideas to this site by joining the dialogue and helping others along the same path.
...FOR MICROFINANCE CLUBS
For established clubs, the site provides further inspiration and information, but most importantly, it acts as a communication facility to connect clubs and MFIs. Our topic-specific blogs; access to volunteer, intern, and job opportunities; campus fund-raising campaigns; and interaction with other microfinance clubs will empower your club to become a more effective microfinance agent that is more actively involved in this rapidly evolving industry.
...FOR MFIs
The Forum serves as a recruiting and fundraising platform that
provides MFIs with precious human capital (i.e. the many passionate
and intelligent students from our universities around the world)
while simultaneously acting as an advertising venue.
•team@mficonnect.com any volunteer, intern, or job opportunities,
and we will post them in relevant pages under the appropriate
tabs.
• You should also send your fundraising needs to be posted. By
advertising your needs on this site, you will fulfill your own
capital requirements and provide valuable direction to many
university clubs eager to contribute. We have no doubt that these
clubs will meet your needs with creative, innovative solutions.
OUR STORY
In the fall of
2007, Kyle Megrue and Chris Temple traveled to South America,
embarking on a gap year of adventure before heading to university.
They took off with a mentality of free-spirited spontaneity, hoping
to experience the real world before submitting to another arduous
four years of scholastic rigor. What started as a whimsical
journey, eventually opened their eyes to the extreme poverty that
plagues much of the developing world, unparalleled in Western
nations. Yet despite the illusion of poverty as a relentless cycle
of misery, they were also struck by the latent potential for growth
and hope within every struggling household.
Fate caught up with them in Guatemala and Costa Rica, where they
met and worked alongside Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
and founder of microfinance. With him they learned of the power of
microfinance and the importance of empowering the poor with credit
rather than pitying their squalor with ineffective charitable
handouts. At this point, Chris and Kyle refocused their gap year
and unknowingly dedicating the next few years of their lives by
committing themselves to the pursuit of poverty alleviation through
microfinance.
Meanwhile on a beach in Rhode Island, another inspired student,
Haley Priebe, was personally moved as she read Banker to the Poor
and discovered that microfinance was a realistic solution to world
poverty. In the ensuing sequence of serendipitous events, Haley was
connected to Chris and Kyle, after Kyle’s curious mother introduced
herself to Haley’s mom at a book fair, having miraculously
overheard a conversation about Haley’s newfound obsession with
microfinance. The two mothers quickly decided that their children
had to meet and discuss their passions. That winter over Christmas
break, the idea of The Microfinance Forum was conceived.
Now, after a several months working Grameen America, a trip to
Bangladesh, hundreds of conference calls, numerous microfinance
conferences, and a lot of serious technical difficulty, we want you
to become part of our story, and part of microfinance history.
A few months ago, our partnership with Christian Becker and Brian
Weinberg, enabled us to actually see our ideas through to fruition
and bring the facility to you. Our technical difficulties and web
design issues were solved by Christian Becker from the great state
of Colorado, who graduated from Messiah College with a dedicated
focus in Microfinance. During his time there he established the
Microeconomic Development Club. Then while traveling to Zambia to
work on a savings and loan project, he realized the gapping void
that prohibited the necessary collaboration between MFIs and
students organizations. With such experience, he was moved to
develop the framework of MFIconnect, which Chris, Haley, and Kyle
would later find to be an ideal platform, from which they could
pursue their collective vision.
Brian Weinberg came into project through a coincidental encounter
at the Clinton Global Initiative, where our team embarked on a
prosperous relationship that has brought us to collaborate with one
of Brian’s many conscious endeavors- Turn Phones into Loans. His
dedication to Turn Phones into Loans, plus his undying commitment
to social business has made him a vital partner and advisor as we
broaden our contacts, recruit membership, and expand the capacity
of our network.
Finally, Zach Ingrasci joined our ranks for the Regional
Microcredit Summit in Colombia. Hailing from Washington state, Zach
has brought fresh-eyes and an academic understanding of
microfinance to our work.
This said, join The Microfinance Forum and engage with your peers
in eradicating extreme poverty.
Connect, Collaborate, and Create… to make poverty a relic of past
generations that fills museums and not townships.
NOTE
We are very open to your questions, comments, or concerns as we continue to develop the site. Please don't hesitate to send any feedback to team@mficonnect.com. See "contact us" at the bottom of every page.
