Microfinance for Student Loans: Giving Youth a Little Credit : UC Berkeley, Feb 24

I am a big fan of this topic ... super cool event!

The next Silicon Valley Microfinance Network Speaker Event on Thurs, Feb 24 @Blum Center for Developing Economies, Blum Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Berkeley, CA.


photo: Blum Hall, UC Berkeley campus

The event will feature Kushal Chakrabarti (Co-Founder & CEO, Vittana), Michelle Kreger (Regional Director for Francophone Africa and the Middle East, Kiva) and Noga Leviner (General Manager, Lumni), as they discuss the challenges, successes and future landscape of the new frontier of harnessing microfinance for students loans, both in the US and abroad.

Industry leaders are leveraging debt and equity-like investments as well as P2P lending models to provide youth (both in the US and abroad) with the tools necessary to pursue higher education. As a result, the student-loan market has experienced explosive growth. SVMN is proud to present this unique opportunity to hear the nation's leaders talk about the rise of using microloans for education and answer your questions. We look forward to seeing you there!

Register early! Online registration closes the day of the event. At-the-door admission is $10 more. Tickets are limited! Speaker bios also listed on the evite.

Paying for College : yet another way.

In the past I've covered Vittana, Kiva's higher education loans, life investments, and peer to peer loans. Moving onto the next installment ... social investment funds that invest in the education of college students.

Lumni is a company that invests in the education of college students in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and the USA. Lumni doesn't cover a student's full tuition - only the balance left over after students have received assistance from grants, federal loans, and scholarships. For the USA program, the max you can apply for is $5,000/year.

For the USA program, Students must be citizens/have a SSN, must live in California or South Florida, and must be enrolled in a four-year college. More info about the application process here. If you want to apply then send an email to bayarea@lumni.net or southflorida@lumni.net. Check out some of the students who received funds from Lumni here.

In exchange for the funds from Lumni, each student commits to pay a fixed percentage of income for 120 months after graduation. The exact percentage of future income they are committed to pay varies based on a number of factors including a student's school, time until college graduation, grades, and major. The student’s obligation is complete at the end of that period regardless of the sum paid to date.

Plus, grads don't begin making payments until they have their first job, so the grace period extends as needed. They can pursue any number of careers after college since they pay nothing when unemployed and are exempt from payments when earning small stipends through programs such as Peace Corps or AmeriCorps. But grads DO have to pay for 120 working months; months during which you were unemployed just don't count towards that total. If you are unemployed for 24 months then Lumni then asks you to pay based on household income, not personal income.

The company also offers a career coaching program.

In order to minimize risk, Lumni lends to the children of existing microfinance clients, targeting students in their final year at vocational schools.

Lumni isn't the only one out there.

XacBank, a Mongolian microfinance lender, tends to lend to second-year students, who at least have some record of attendance.

Qifang operates in China, raising money online for Chinese students from Chinese lenders.

Enzi has just put students from India and Iran through Stanford University; they are paying investors up to 6% of their income for five years. Their founder noted that the big challenge is to come up with enforceable contracts.

Microfinance USA 2011 Conference :: NYC May 23 - 24

Received two invites to this conference today, from Opportunity Fund & Silicon Valley Microfinance Network. Ummmm I'm barely done with the 2010 Microfinance USA conference materials:) But here ya go - get the early bird rate!



Opportunity Fund, Kiva and ACCION bring you the Microfinance USA 2011 Conference this May 23-24 in New York City!

Join the conversation with expert practitioners, top investors, and frontline researchers to explore and expand microfinance in the U.S.

Over two days, you can:
* Attend plenary sessions and panels led by the nation's leading microfinance voices.
* Experience microfinance first-hand by touring local microenterprises in New York.
* Debate current microfinance topics during small group sessions and networking dinners.
* Hear directly from entrepreneurs whose businesses were funded by microloans at the 2nd annual Kiva Lender-Borrower meet-up.

Topics at this year's conference include:
* What IS microfinance? - debating and defining our terminology
* Microfinance Crisis in India - what happened and lessons-learned
* Microsavings - expanding the microfinance frontier

What's new in 2011?
* New track: The Intersection of International & U.S. Microfinance
* New research on the microfinance consumer
* New experiences - like our Microfinance Bookstore

For the full scoop go here.

Register by March 1 for the early bird rates:
Microfinance Professionals: $350
Individual: $275
Student: $75

This Holiday Season, lend $25 to a Student to help them achieve their Higher Ed Dreams.

This video pretty much makes me cry.



Lend a minimum of $25 here on Vittana. 100% of the money you lend through the Vittana website goes to the student, via two intermediaries - Vittana and a partner microfinance institution located in the student's own community. When the student repays the loan, the $25 comes back to you. For further details go here.

I blogged about one of Vittana's co-founders a while ago, here. Tonight I discovered that Vittana's Partnerships Manager, Nick Cane, is a former Kiva Fellow!

Kiva launched its own student loan program on Sept 20. Through the Student Microloans program, Kiva lenders can make a $25 loan to students in Bolivia, Paraguay and Ecuador.



The new program got off to a good start! Just saw this: "Today, Kiva.org posted profiles for 36 students, seeking a total of $19,250.00. We are currently on track to fund all of those loans in full, within 12 hours of being posted on the site," said Kiva president Premal Shah, in an email. "While this pilot is only a small step toward broadening access to student loan funding around the world, we plan to keep a close eye on the program's success in an effort to expand the organization's reach to a number of different countries and a larger group of students in need of funding."

I recently volunteered for one of Kiva's partner organizations located here in San Francisco - Opportunity Fund. Opportunity Fund serves as an intermediary between Kiva (and Kiva's lenders), and the clients. I called Opportunity Fund clients who had graduated from the savings program. Most of these clients had engaged in the savings program to finance higher education opportunities. Calling the clients to congratulate them on achieving their savings goals was a lot of fun!

In addition to Kiva, Opportunity Fund also works with another institution also offering higher education loans to students - Lumni. From the Lumni website: Individuals can invest in local students in a variety of ways including through a tax-deductible donation or by purchasing a low-interest note with a fixed return. In addition to the dual financial and social return of this investment, contributors are helping prove an efficient, sustainable new system for giving students access to college without the burden of a traditional student loan.

Lumni does not allow individuals to make small ($25) loans to students, but since I love what they are doing, I thought I'd mention them:) Also love that two members of the team are linked to Ashoka.

Here's how they work, and the story behind Lumni:



Lumni's business model reminded me of a thought-provoking discussion that took place at a March 3 event that I attended here in San Francisco, about Life Investments. Just something to think about! :)

Kiva "Sale", thanks to Oprah. Ends Nov 30.

Thanks to Oprah, who selected Kiva as one of her Ultimate Favorite Things this year, you can lend $25 to a Kiva borrower for the mere price of $15. The deal is through Groupon; only one "groupon" per person. Take advantage of it here, before the deal ends on Nov 30!



This is what you're $25 loan would accomplish - filmed by Kiva Fellows Julie Shea and Brittany Boroian, in honor of Kiva's 5th Birthday:

Happy Birthday Kiva from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

YAY! Now you can support Ugandan Teen Girls' Ventures through Kiva!

I love, love, love BRAC's work with Bengali, Tanzanian and Ugandan teenage girls who have dropped out of school.

The Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents (SOFEA) project is a BRAC initiative in Bangladesh that provides teen girls with financial and social support to enable them to empower themselves. The project is also active in Tanzania and Uganda, where it is known as Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA).

The SOFEA program includes:
* A secure place for adolescent girls to socialize
* Life-skills training
* Livelihood training
* Financial literacy
* Savings and credit facilities
* Community sensitization

I learned about these BRAC programs through this Kiva blog post (which I found out about via Kiva's Facebook page.) I really wanted to fund one of the participants' Kiva loans, but all of the loans had already been fully funded by the time I checked the Kiva website. Yet I had a great time reading each girls' profile:)

Definitely check out the Kiva post for additional info about the programs, and check out the below video interview with Farzana Kashfi, Head of SOFEA Program at BRAC Bangladesh.

I am so inspired by Jessica Jackley Flannery

I gave my mom a Kiva gift certificate for Christmas, and wanted to send her some information about Kiva - well, about the people behind Kiva. I read some articles and selected these 2 for my mom to read:

*Small Change, Big Payoff

*How I Became a Social Entrepreneur (I printed this one out, and attached to the inside of my journal.)

Then, thanks to www.Facebook.com/SocialInnovations, I found out about this podcast with Kiva founder Jessica Lansky. Just finished listening to it. Jessica is awesome.

Finally, if you're looking for a more thorough overview of the org - I haven't read it yet, but just stumbled upon the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) case study for Kiva.

Acumen Fund SF & SOCAP10 present ... Social Enterprise from Scratch :: Lessons from Kiva, Samasource & Naya Jeevan. San Francisco, CA - June 17

I am super psyched for this event!

San Francisco for Acumen Fund and SOCAP10 present ...

Lessons from Kiva, Samasource and Naya Jeevan. Plus, pitches from new social startups!

Veteran social entrepreneurs will impart their hard-won wisdom, while new startups will pitch their businesses to a panel of veterans and leading social venture capitalists.

June 17th, 2010 at 6 pm.
The new Hub SOMA - 901 Mission St. #100, San Francisco, CA 94110

Tickets: $5; Free for Hub members. Open bar included. Reserve a ticket here - they're going quickly! RSVP informally here on Facebook.

THE PARTICIPANTS:
Elizabeth Samara-Rubio : StorWatts
Premal Shah : Kiva
Wes Selke : Good Capital
Tarim Wasim : Association for the Development of Pakistan
Leila Janah : Samasource
Heidi Krauel : New Island Capital & 2009 Acumen Fellow
Bhalchander Vishwanath : United Prosperity
Irum Musharraf : Naya Jeevan
Beaudean Seil : Huntsman Gay Capital Impact
Tom Spargo : Rainsaucers
Esther Park : RSF Social Finance
Josh Stern : Envaya


Sponsored by The Bubble Lounge.

How far can a dollar go? Symposium on Smart Philanthropy :: UC Berkeley Campus. Today.

UPDATE: Premal can't make it tonight. Ocean Robbins, the founder of Yes! will be speaking instead.

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I should have posted this sooner, but oh well! Wish I could get there in time to hear Premal speak. Well, maybe I'll try ... this would be my 3rd time on Cal's campus in less than a week:)

Today - Friday, April 23
5-8 p.m.
UC Berkeley Campus - International House, Chevron Auditorium
Open to the Public


photo: Premal Shah

Featured Speaker: Premal Shah, President, Kiva.org
Sponsor: Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership

The students from “The Economics of Philanthropy” class (UGBA 196) and the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership invite you to join us at a FREE event to learn about becoming effective philanthropists, hear from the President of Kiva, Premal Shah, watch live artistic performances (spoken word, hip hop, and Brazilian drumming), and enjoy free food and drinks. Local nonprofits will also table at the event, providing attendees with the opportunity to get connected and learn about a wide array of local service opportunities and programs.

About Economics of Philanthropy (UGBA 196): This Haas School of Business undergraduate class is the fruition of Eric Rodriguez’ (recently featured at TedxBerkeley) winning proposal to UC Berkeley’s Bears Breaking Boundaries Curricular Innovation Contest. The class is centered on teaching its students how to become effective philanthropists and was given a $10,000 contribution from Doris Buffett, president of the Sunshine Lady Foundation, to do so. We have selected two nonprofits, Spark and Swords to Plowshares, to receive the grant and both nonprofits will also be presenting at the symposium.

RSVP on Facebook here.

Kiva Overseas Fellowship Opportunities

I just saw the below Kiva.org blog post from February 4th -

Love Kiva? Want to do more on the ground? We are looking for qualified people who want to get into the field to help make the connection even stronger.

Kiva Fellows are short-term volunteers who work with a specific Kiva field partner for three months or more. They help to bridge the gap between Kiva lenders and our field partners throughout the world sending stories and data back to Kiva HQ and the lending community. Kiva Fellows possess travel experience, language skills, enthusiasm for Kiva, and a flexible personality – all of which allow them to conduct field work that strengthen connections between stakeholders in order to alleviate poverty.

Last week, Kiva hosted trainees for the tenth class of Kiva Fellows here at our headquarters in San Francisco. This class will be heading to 51 field partners in 31 countries. In the two years that the Kiva Felllows Program has existed, we have sent 254 fellows from 25 different countries to every country in which Kiva operates except for Iraq.

The Kiva Fellows Program is a vital and strategic asset to Kiva in fulfilling its mission. The fellows are an adaptable, scalable and sustainable resource to innovate at Kiva. Kiva Fellows have helped our field partners to utilize Kiva’s lending platform more effectively and efficiently to enable the organizations rapid growth and to get more funds from lenders to entrepreneurs.

We are still accepting applications for KF11 as well as future classes. We encourage you to apply. For more information and our online application please go here.


Application Deadline Info from the Kiva website:

Although we have “absolute” deadlines for applications, we implement a first-come-first-served rolling admissions method. There are a finite number of placements available for each training class, therefore we encourage applicants to plan ahead and apply early. Ideally, applicants would apply at least six months in advance of their desired training date.

KF12
Absolute Deadline: March 31, 2010
Deadline for Serving Fellows: May 31, 2010
Capacity of Class: 39 (subject to change)
Training: July 12-16, 2010 at Kiva HQ
Deploy to the field: July 17-31, 2010
First day at MFI: Aug. 2, 2010
Last day at MFI no sooner than: Oct. 22, 2010

KF13
Absolute Deadline: June 30, 2010
Deadline for Serving Fellows: August 31, 2010
Capacity of Class: 39 (subject to change)
Training: October 11-15, 2010 at Kiva HQ
Deploy to the field: Oct. 16-31, 2010
First day at MFI: Nov. 1, 2010
Last day at MFI no sonner than: Jan. 21, 2011

KF14
Absolute Deadline: Sept. 30, 2010
Deadline for Serving Fellows: November 30, 2010
Capacity of Class: 50 (subject to change)
Training: January 10-14, 2011 at Kiva HQ
Deploy to the field: Jan. 15-31, 2011
First day at MFI: Feb 1, 2011
Last day at MFI no sooner than: April 22, 2011