Grameen Foundation

hey great news.... congrats ....

Good deal. Has potential for the poor in this country.

It's ok to make a profit helping others! That is a successful service business.

for a ignorant guy like me....microfinance is a new concept....but I would like to see how I can get this done/or take it across my reach and beyond and also what would be the result!!!

It is true that China is lagging behind due to city centric development. Although India has moved ahead much faster there is still lots to be done. The way forward is to recognize these projects as business ventures and not philanthropy. It is about giving access to credit depending on needs of the credit taker.

A whole lot of Americans are "unbanked" for similar reasons. That is why "check-cashing" stores show up in poverty-sticken areas.

Yes, this is true. According to recent figures, there are nearly 28 million people in the U.S. who are "unbanked," and nearly 45 million have only limited access to financial institutions.

Amen to that. Robert A., are you listening?

I somewhere read a report on negative impacts on society that is attributed to grameen phone lady in Bangladesh... does anyone have idea? the report talked about gender disparity in patriach society and how males are abusing the new source of income generated by their wives...

Negative impacts on society by the women getting money to feed their families? Males, it was found by Mohammed Yunus , in Bangladesh, spend their money on themselves first and necessities after; women on the other hand spent their money to feed their children, improve their living standards and would save the rest. All this was done on extremely ... Read Moretiny loans. That is why they stopped lending to men. They had no collateral and no foresight, therefore, were not trustworthy to pay back even the smallest of loans. Tell me please, how does that negatively impact your society? I wish an entity could be trusted to do the same in the US without political interference or pompous interference by misogynists.
Not all males abuse the new source of income generated by their wives. Some have bragged about their wives' ingenuity and have increased status in their villages. Read Mr. Yunus's books on microfinance. They are well written and an easy read.

Native American Women , like all indigenous women , were the farmers while the men hunted or fished or sat around thinking big thoughts !!

May I respectfully disagree. Our social venture (Soap Hope at soaphope.com) provides a rolling one-year interest-free loan to MFIs, using 100% of its profits. This allows a business like ours to provide leverage to MFIs while still creating value in our business, including the ability to raise capital and pay dividends to shareholders. We call ... Read Morethis model "Good Returns."

Good Returns can create huge additional capital resources for MFIs. Grants are not sustainable - investments like Good Returns are. Good Returns forces all elements in the value chain to be sustainable, from the business through the MFI down to the client.

I do however agree that high-interest loans to MFIs create an undue burden in the system.