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Under Fire, Microfinance Faces Falling Out of Favor

Harvard Business Review

Microfinance has come under fire in the past 18 months, triggered in part by SKS Microfinance's IPO. Critics complain that the institutions supporting microfinance have become too greedy, and many are using this as an argument to deeply regulate or, even more, cut support to microfinance operations. I hope not.

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Women as Microfinance Leaders, Not Just Clients

Harvard Business Review

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.

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Can Technology End Poverty?

Harvard Business Review

That's easier said than done in a world where most product innovations are geared toward the rich. At the program's peak, 700 pumps covered 27,000 acres, with the loans constituting 9% of BRAC's total microfinance portfolio. By the end of 1993, half of the pumps were operating at a loss and many loans were in arrears.

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Funders Can Give More than Money

Harvard Business Review

When presented with a surprising idea, smart organizations will bravely listen, because what comes next might just be game-changing innovation. 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.

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Can Technology End Poverty?

Harvard Business Review

That's easier said than done in a world where most product innovations are geared toward the rich. At the program's peak, 700 pumps covered 27,000 acres, with the loans constituting 9% of BRAC's total microfinance portfolio. By the end of 1993, half of the pumps were operating at a loss and many loans were in arrears.

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It Takes a Village to Raise an Entrepreneur

Harvard Business Review

Social entrepreneurship has evolved a great deal since the late 1980s, when pioneers like City Year 's Alan Khazei and Teach for America 's Wendy Kopp took great risks to prove that innovative organizations could produce transformative social change. Take, for example, the issue of economic development.

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It's Not All About Growth for Social Enterprises

Harvard Business Review

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. This innovation has impact. Helping decision-makers and their organizations co-implement the proven innovations. Conclusion?