While conducting fieldwork for a microfinance organization in West Africa in 2006, Zidisha.org founder Julia Kurnia noticed something startling. Loans that were funded at zero interest by well-meaning participants at popular microlending websites were costing the impoverished beneficiaries more than 35% on average in interest and fees. The exorbitant rates were charged by the local ...
Village Enterprise Fund (VEF), a microenterprise organization whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty in rural East Africa by turning the dreams of the very poor into reality, by helping them start small businesses and build sustainable incomes, is hiring a Chief Executive Officer. The Position Village Enterprise Fund seeks an energetic, experienced, ...
Job PostingsOn May 25th and 26th, 2010, you can join 800 experts from the sectors of social business, finance, civil society and new technologies in Paris for Convergence 2015, a discussion forum aimed at bringing about new convergences between the private and public sectors and social business. The conference’s objective is to contribute to setting up ...
EventsSan Carlos, CA, March 29, 2010 — Village Enterprise Fund (VEF), a leader in microenterprise development, has received a $125,000 grant plus a coveted “top-rated” status from GiveWell, a New York-based nonprofit that researches and evaluates charities. The grant will enable VEF to expand its successful microfinance program, which provides small cash grants to ultra-poor rural entrepreneurs in East Africa . VEF also offers ongoing training and mentoring to help them build income-generating businesses.
News and CommentaryExpress Credit Union in Seattle is attempting to reach the unbanked by placing bankers in the places where the unbanked seek services, such as food banks, shelters, YWCAs, and community centers. (link) Darryl Collins shares the results of a pathbreaking study of the financial practices of those who live on less than $2 a day. ...
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