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In 2006 Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as the founder of the Grameen Bank Grameen started out giving tiny loans--known as micro-loans--to the poorest of the poor in Bangladesh.  In so doing, the bank was able to cut out the payday lenders and loan sharks that were charging the poor exorbitant interest and, as a result, the borrowers were able to quickly and permanently lift themselves out of poverty. The assumption, which has been validated by 30 years of astounding results--has always been that the poor don’t lack the energy, drive, talent an skills to get out of poverty; rather, they lack the access to capital and other opportunities to do so.  Micro-credit works because it provides the missing link. 

The concept of micro finance has spread around the world, and is now recognized as an essential tool in the fight against poverty.  Roughly 100 million people have received micro-loans to date, demonstrating the far-reaching impacts of providing access to capital to low-income entrepreneurs.

The challenge that I am issuing here is twofold.  First, I am looking at ways of increasing the effectiveness of microfinance in the U.S., and secondly I am eager to look at how to expand microfinance programs such that they also finance environmental projects, such as weatherization and the installation of solar water heaters.  To that end, myself and several Brown students have begun researching the feasibility of creating a microfinance loan fund in Providence, Rhode Island, a city with one of the nation’s highest poverty rates at 25%.  The goal is to create a program with low operating costs, that can effectively reach low-income residents of the city, provide them with business training and access to capital, and work with them to ensure success.  At present we have raised $7,000 in start-up money for a pilot phase in January, and we are looking for more donors and investors.

I am creating this Wiki page because I am a big believer in the open-source, collaborative approach to problem solving, where the ideas of many people are welcomed and debated in a spirit of openness and honesty.  The goal here is to address poverty in a meaningful and systematic way; any ideas, comments or suggestions towards that end are much appreciated.