Grameen Foundation USA Announces 2005 Microfinance Practitioner Award Winners
Washington D.C. (ContentDesk via ContentDesk Direct) October 28, 2005 -- Two of the worlds leading microfinance institutions are the 2005 winners of Grameen Foundation USAs (GFUSA) Microfinance Practitioner Awards.
Swayam Krishi Sangam (SKS) of India will receive the Excellence Award and Fonkoze of Haiti will receive the Pioneer Award on November 2, 2005, at GFUSAs annual Microfinance Practitioners Awards Dinner at the Links Club in New York City. Together, SKS and Fonkoze reach more than 150,000 of the worlds poorest people. Eliminating poverty is a realistic goal if resources are applied where they are needed and local people and organizations are actively engaged, said GFUSA president Alex Counts.
Microfinance organizations are critical front-line partners in this effort and we applaud SKS and Fonkoze for the tremendous work they are doing to empower more people to lift themselves out of poverty.
Microfinance is a proven poverty reduction strategy.
Very poor people, mostly women, receive very small loans to start income producing businesses. The income allows them to improve their lives and help their families overcome the ravages of severe poverty. GFUSAs Microfinance Practitioners Awards honor those who fight global poverty through microfinance. The program celebrates excellence and ingenuity in the industry, fosters knowledge exchange among those expanding the frontiers of microfinance and advocates for innovation and creativity. The awards dinner was first held in 2000 and has been held annually since 2002.Founded in 1998, SKS is receiving the Excellence Award for its overall achievement in outreach to the poorest, financial performance, and innovations that benefit both the organization and the industry.
One of the fastest growing microfinance organizations in the world, SKS has provided over $36 million in loans to nearly 140,000 women in Indias drought-prone Deccan region. In the last year alone, SKS grew by nearly 300 percent and has a current portfolio of $14 million and a 99 percent on-time repayment rate. It is also one of the first microfinance institutions to have a fully-automated management information system. We have seen how (micro)finance enables the poor to overcome the vicious cycle of poverty and we are determined to bring this opportunity to the poor throughout India, said Vikram Akula, founder and CEO of SKS. Now we aspire to scale up even further, and pursue an aggressive growth strategy that will reach over one million poor families by 2010.
The Pioneer Award recognizes emerging programs breaking new ground as innovators or working in regions that have been traditionally underserved by quality microfinance programs. Founded in 1994, Fonkoze (Haitis Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor) is Haitis largest microfinance institution and serves more than 27,000 active borrowers (96 percent of whom are women).
Fonkoze Financial Services, the commercial entity, offers a full range of services, including microcredit, savings, currency exchange, and money transfers to the rural poor, while the nonprofit foundation focuses on innovations in delivering microfinance and related educational services.
We are committed to preparing the extremely poor, who are prevented from having hope-filled lives and effective futures, to succeed in microfinance by replicating in Haiti proven models developed around the world, said Anne Hastings, Fonkoze director.Akula and Hastings will also join members of GFUSAs board and a stellar group of thought leaders and practitioners on November 5, in Dallas, Texas, to explore the urgent need to increase the reach and impact of microfinance at GFUSAs annual Knowledge Sharing Roundtable. About Grameen Foundation USAGrameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) is a global non-profit organization that combines microfinance, technology, and innovation to empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. Founded in 1997, GFUSA has established a global network of 52 partners in 22 countries that has impacted an estimated 5.5 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. The Foundation sprang from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Grameen Bank was started in 1976 by an economics professor, Dr.
Muhammad Yunus, who was convinced that women could break through poverty by taking tiny loans to start or expand tiny businesses. Today, Grameen Bank serves nearly 5 million borrowers, with 10,000 families escaping poverty every month. As strategic global partners, GFUSA and Grameen Bank share a common vision, knowledge and success models to accelerate the microfinance industry's impact on the world's poorest people. Dr. Yunus, the founder and director of Grameen Bank, is a founding and current board member of GFUSA.
For more information on Grameen Foundation USA, please visit www.gfusa.org.GFUSA Media Contact: Michelle Tennant828.749.3200e-mail protected from spam bots.
About Consumer Credit
If you do not understand consumer credit, you will be far more likely to misuse credit, and ruin your financial situation. That is why the subject of consumer credit is so important.A lot of people get their first experience with consumer credit when they get their student credit card. This is where their study of consumer credit begins. Credit card users need to be knowledgeable in credit terms such as APR, rewards, balance transfer and cash back.You can also get department store cards specific to one brand name store. A department store card has its pros and cons.
A lot of offers are advertised if you sign up for a card, such as discounts and free gifts. However the APR on these consumer credit cards is often considerably higher than most regular credit cards.When you are a consumer of credit you need to know your legal rights so that you can protect yourself. For example if you are being hassled by collectors, you should be aware of the Fair Debt Collection Act, which lays...
About Consumer Credit
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North Atlantic Mortgage Corp. President on News 12 Connecticut TV May 27 and 28, 2006
Stamford, CT (ContentDesk) May 26, 2006 -- John Sauro, President of North Atlantic Mortgage Corp. will appear on News 12 Connecticut TVs On the Money on May 27 and 28, 2006.
The segment will air Saturday, May 27 at 6:03 a.m., 8:03 a.m., 12:33 p.m., 6:33 p.m. and Sunday, May 28 at 5:33 a.m., 8:03 a.m., 12:33 p.m., 4:03 p.m., and 8:33 p.m.???He will be discussing views on the mortgage and real estate markets as well as explaining the entrepreneur loan and other mortgage choices available to home buyers.Mr. Sauro said, When we first started in business in February of 1996, it was a very different world, even in mortgage lending.
There were very few mortgage options available to prospective homebuyers back then. Its nice to have more options in the mortgage area, but with more choices and more sophisticated loans available today, its hard for the average person to decide whats best for them. Thats why our business of being a mortgage broker has grown so much in the...
North Atlantic Mortgage Corp. President on News 12 Connecticut TV May 27 and 28, 2006
Payday loans > North Atlantic Mortgage Corp. President on News 12 Connecticut TV May 27 and 28, 2006
Bad Debt Secured Loans Securing An Ideal Future
Are you getting frustrated that you are not able to get a fair deal in terms of loans because of your credit history? If your answer is yes then the one option which will provide you with a possible solution to your problems are bad debts secured loans.
Bad debts secured loans are specially designed to help people who have a poor credit history or sub prime credit history. It means that the borrower had previously taken loan and has not been able to make the required repayments to his creditors on time. Which has resulted in a less then required credit score. Credit score represents the credit worthiness of any borrower.
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As the loans are secured the borrowers need to put out a security for lender. It can be any asset of the borrower.
This feature helps the borrower a few additional...
Bad Debt Secured Loans Securing An Ideal Future
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Getting Consolidation Loans Right
Consolidation loans allow you to consolidate your monthly payments to several creditors into one, larger monthly payment.
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Consolidation loans are a...
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Private Student Loans Help Families Find Financial Aid for College Tuition
Quincy, MA (ContentDesk) August 7, 2006 -- A recent article in the New York Times highlighted what many students already knew -- that not only was college getting more expensive, but the amount of federal aid available to students is not keeping up with rising education costs.[1A revision and update to the EFC, or Expected Family Contribution, formula for the 2005-2006 school year translates into an increase in what families have to pay before federal aid can kick in. In the New York Times study (June 6, 2005), the average amount of additional money that families must come up with is 1,749 per year, with some families experiencing increases between 6,000 - 7,000.[1Why is the shift of the financial burden moving increasingly towards families? Part of the overall formula for determining federal financial aid is the rate of inflation -- as inflation increases, the number of dollars that a family has would be expected to increase.For example, a family with a household income of 50,000...
Private Student Loans Help Families Find Financial Aid for College Tuition
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