New Opportunity Fund Loans: GreenforGreen

YAY! I love initiatives like this one! Found out about it via an email from Opportunity Fund:

Opportunity Fund has received a $3 million grant from JPMorgan Chase to support our small business microlending in the Bay Area. "This grant of private loan capital is the largest in Opportunity Fund's history, doubling our lending capacity overnight," said CEO Eric Weaver.

Chase and Opportunity Fund announced the grant, which is one of five investments Chase is making in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the nation, at a press conference in San Francisco on January 28th.

Opportunity Fund is using part of the grant to launch our new green lending initiative, GreenforGreen, to help small business owners reduce energy costs and environmental waste or provide sustainable products and services.

Grabbed this info from Opportunity Fund's website:

Opportunity Fund GreenforGreen Business Loans can be used to:

- Upgrade Equipment: Reduce energy costs (like water and electricity) by replacing your old equipment with newer, more efficient equipment.

- Comply with Environmental Regulations: You may need a filter for your truck engine or new equipment for your dry cleaning businesses in order to reduce pollution - and we can help.

- Sell More Eco-Friendly Products or Services: Use a loan to increase your inventory of eco-friendly products or ramp up marketing for your green services.

More details & eligibility info here. Opportunity Fund is already accepting applications for the GreenforGreen loans!

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! :)