Defeating Global Poverty

Last week, I made a presentation on microfinance at Bellevue Community College to a group of about 50 college students and a few faculty. The room was packed! Most of the students were 18-22 age group and were very ethnically diverse which I was excited about (having presented to mostly middle-age+, white audiences previously). The Business Leadership Club sponsored the event and has done a fantastic job of setting up and promoting a fundraiser for Unitus microfinance throughout the campus. To make it fun and to lower the barrier to entry, they are running a raffle with some great prizes that they secured as donations from businesses.

I led off with some of the stark facts of global poverty – 4 billion people living on < $4/day. We then watched the Unitus Introduction to Microfinance video which helps the audience connect with individual humans struggling to overcome poverty. Then we discussed the big problem with microfinance – it works to defeat extreme poverty, but less than 15% of the people who could benefit from microfinance actually have access to it. And, finally, the innovative approach which Unitus is taking to dramatically accelerate access to microfinance for the unserved 85%.

Here are a few observations and takeaways:

• I was surprised at how few people in the room knew that Muhammad Yunus had just received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in microfinance. I guess a lot of younger people just don’t watch or read international news. I thought the Nobel Peace Prize might have more resonance/interest with younger people.

• Microfinance requires multiple layers of explanation – ranging from the personal impact that access to financial services has on individuals, their families, their extended families up through to their community/village and even regions and countries. That is, microfinance has both micro and, over time, macro economic impacts. This is hard to explain concisely!

Overall, I was excited to see the interest and engagement of this age group in learning about microfinance ... what's working, what the challenges are and how they might participate. These are our future leaders!

Labels: microfinance, poverty, presentation

If you have seen the news in the last few days, you will know that Muhammad Yunus (along with Grameen Bank, which he founded) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering work in microcredit. This is a very powerful statement about the power of the microfinance revolution to help address one of the root causes of war ... hopeless poverty.

Here are some of the things that impress me about Yunus:

• He is an innovator. The Grameen Bank has continued to re-invent itself and lead the way in developing improved products and services which serve the poor AND are sustainable through generating profit.
• He is an advocate. Yunus uses his access to powerful people to speak on behalf of the needs of the poor. He continues to frame his ideas, issues and questions in plain language which challenge the typical techno-speak of the international development community.
• He is generous. Yunus has generously given of his time, knowledge and influence to help others learn from what they are doing at Grameen Bank in order to implement best practices to help the poor in other areas of the world.

Here are a few (of the many) articles written this past week:

• Yunus' WSJ oped piece about what America can learn from Bangladesh
• Business Week article on what the Nobel prize means for microcredit
• New York Times article on Yunus validating the credit worthiness of the poor

Good Read: Yunus' biography, Banker to The Poor

Labels: grameen, nobel peace prize, poverty, yunus

Scojo Vision is a social enterprise. They sell hip reading glasses at first-world prices in developed countries and more basic versions at very low cost through a micro-franchise type network in developing countries. Scojo Foundation was recently recognized as a Fast Company 2006 Social Capitalist finalist (good overview of what they do and how they do it.)

The Problem: It is a physical fact that everyone eventually needs reading glasses ... no matter where you live. Can you imagine trying to live a productive livelihood when you can't read written material or do things with your hands (sew, cook, fix things, count money, etc.) ... especially when it's your source of income?

Scojo's Approach: Scojo Foundation has two primary sets of clients: Scojo Vision entrepreneurs and their customers. Scojo Foundation trains Scojo Vision entrepreneurs to successfully operate micro-franchises selling reading glasses to the poor which more than doubles their monthly income. This newfound income enables them to invest in their families. And the poor clients now can see again and have untold improved quality of life.

I particularly like a number of things about their approach:

• They are driving down the price of reading glasses for the poor by using their buying power and an efficient distribution network
• They are increasing the distribution (availability) of affordable reading glasses to the poor even into far flung rural areas
• They are selling reading glasses to the poor at prices the poor can afford (things people pay for are utilized much more effectively than gifts) at non-subsidized prices (expansion to new areas is subsidized; glasses aren't)
• They are creating new jobs for reading glass micro-retailers in developing countries
• They are taking some corporate profits from their first world business to underwrite expansion of micro-franchise business network in developing countries
• The foundation expansion is not just funded by Scojo Vision, it is a 501c3 non-profit which raises money from other companies, foundations and individuals so that there is more capital and participation. [Many company-attached foundations could learn a lot from this!!]

The bottom line is that the Scojo Vision founders are building a social enterprise which creates products that people want at prices they can afford. This is a very scalable and sustainable approach to helping the poor ... which is why I like it! I made a donation to Scojo to help them expand their distribution network. You can participate too!

Also check out the Foundation's reference library on selling to the poor.

Labels: poverty, reading glasses, scojo, social enterprise