Harvard Business Review

MARCH 16, 2011

We're a network of microfinance organizations; we exist to share practices and develop the leadership skills required by a sector that has grown up fast. And as you might be aware, microfinance is a phenomenon that, while it did not set out to be "for women," has mainly turned out to be.

Microfinance 14

Microfinance Diversity Banking Trends 14

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

And their intuition isn't baseless: As the bottom-of-the-pyramid concept shifted into the public eye and attracted the criticism of the development sector, the standards for judging the impact of a venture aiming to serve low-income consumers seemed to get a lot tougher. The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance Prahalad Bottom-up Banking 13

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

Much like our team of engineers who are constantly testing for the best functionality of our products, our team for emerging markets set up a series of experiments to explore which distribution model functioned best in these remote environments. Experiment #5: Microfinance Institutions. Experiment #1: The Handi Shop.

Marketing 8

Marketing Microfinance Retail Development 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

Six years ago, David and Donna Allman approached Opportunity with an idea that fell outside our traditional microfinance model: to build a Community Economic Development (CED) program in Nicaragua. We know that microfinance alone will not break the poverty cycle. Today, Roger is president of the school, elected by his peers.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Rogers Tourism Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 24, 2012

These hybrids pursue a social mission while engaging in commercial activities that generate revenues that help them sustain their operations. Take, for example, the issue of economic development. Frogtek and many other hybrids sell goods and services, and rely on revenues to sustain and scale their operations.

Entrepreneur 14

Entrepreneur Microfinance Market Segmentation Incubator 14

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 21, 2013

One way to tell the story of mothers2mothers' growth is as follows: since 2001, the organization has expanded its operations to nine countries with an approximately $20 million operating budget. Successful examples of this approach are still rare; most people point to microfinance. I'm not sure either frame is right.

Venture Capitalist 9

Venture Capitalist Mentor Microfinance NGO 9