Can Financial Services Help the Poorest of the Poor?
When
This event took place on 26 Sep 2011 at 6:30 pm.Details
Approximately 1 billion people live in extreme poverty, living on $1.25 or less per day. Their incomes are not only very low, but highly irregular. The poorest of the poor possess few assets, are disproportionately rural, geographically isolated and include members of socially excluded groups such as people with disabilities. In general, the extreme poor lack the qualities that even microcredit providers seek. Anne Hastings of Fonkoze Financial Services and Bill Abrams of Trickle Up will discuss their efforts to identify appropriate financial services that help the poorest of the poor. They will also share their findings from a pioneering pilot program to include the extreme poor into the formal financial system. Irena Shiba, Program Officer at the Citi Foundation, will moderate.
Podcast
Participants
Anne Hastings
Anne Hastings has been directing Fonkoze – Haiti’s largest microfinance institution – since May 1996. Under her leadership, the institution has grown from 2 volunteer employees to over 850 full-time employees. The institution now has 46 branches throughout rural Haiti, with over 230,000 clients, more than 55,000 of whom have microcredit loans.
Bill Abrams is President of Trickle Up -- a nonprofit that provides seed funding and training to micro-entrepreneurs living in extreme poverty around the world -- since 2005. His leadership at Trickle Up follows a career as a senior executive and journalist for the New York Times, ABC News and The Wall Streeet Journal. In addition to his career in media, Mr.
Irena Shiba is the Program Officer for Microfinance and Enterprise Development at the Citi Foundation where she is responsible for making and managing philanthropic investments in 89 countries where Citi operates.
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