Blog Archives

Opportunity Participates in the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit

This week, one of the largest microfinance industry conferences in the world launches in Valladolid, Spain. The 15th annual Global Microcredit Summit runs Monday, Nov. 14-Thursday, Nov. 17 and features Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, and more than 2,000 delegates from over 100 countries, including Opportunity International‘s Read more…

Posted in Events, Microinsurance, Our Work, Where We Work
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In Support of Muhammad Yunus

The following post was written by Opportunity International’s CEO Bill Morgenstern. Earlier this week, the Bangladesh central bank took steps to remove Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus as Managing Director of Grameen, citing a mandatory retirement age of 60 for managing directors. Members of Grameen’s board and Professor Yunus, who turns 71 this year, have filed Read more…

Posted in Resources, Where We Work
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Does Microfinance Reduce Poverty? Grameen Hosts a Chicago Event

On Monday at the Chase Auditorium in Chicago, Grameen Foundation hosted a lunchtime discussion called, “Does microfinance reduce poverty? A dialogue on the social impact of microfinance as a development tool.” This event aimed to answer this challenge: microcredit has been successful in increasing access to capital by the poor but does it actually reduce poverty Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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The Potential of Cell Phone Banking

Wondering if cell phone banking can reach the unreachable? CGAP Technology Blog has published the results of a discussion with Daryl Collins (co-author of Portfolios of the Poor) and Olga Morawczynski (of Grameen Foundation) from June’s Mobile Money Summit, an examination that highlights some of the keys to effective cell phone banking. Blog author Mark Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Work, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
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Chicago Microfinance Conference: Can Technology Innovations Transform Microfinance?

At the 6th Annual Chicago Microfinance Conference on Friday, a panel of experts explored the possibilities and pitfalls of ever-changing technology in the microfinance industry. Moderator Preeth Gowdar, Kellogg School of Management, led the session entitled “Getting ‘Techy:’ Can Technology Innovations Transform Microfinance?” Gowdar started out with a story about when he was working in Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Work, Technology
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College student shares her discovery of microfinance

The following is a guest post by Kelsey McGrath a student at the Univerity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In January, I spent a couple of hours with staff at Opportunity International’s Oak Brook office.  Although it was just a lunch break for them, it was a turning point for me.  This semester, I’ve decided to Read more…

Posted in Our Work
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