Gates Foundation

I live in the Seattle neighborhood where the Gates Foundation is building their new headquarters, and so I experience their philanthropic largesse in a visceral way. The first phase of construction is complete: an architecturally interesting, green-roofed parking garage. And by green, I mean covered in native plant species that absorb rain water, reduce the city’s heat bubble, and otherwise, just plain good looking.

But that’s not my favorite bit of news coming out of the mother of all foundations. The Wall Street Journal is reporting on the Foundation’s efforts to foster what I’d call microsavings. As a necessary complement to microcredit, microsavings establish liquid assets for individuals, provide MFIs with inexpensive capital, and keep money in the community (rather than sending it back to an MIV or bank in the developed world). Check it out: WSJ