Join us for a panel discussion on how non-profit organizations with novel methods of microcredit and social venture capital are driving bottom up economic development both in developing countries and the US.
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Harvard Business School Club of New York and the Harvard Business School Women’s Association are jointly sponsoring a panel discussion on how non-profit organizations with novel methods of “microcredit” and “social venture capital” are driving “bottom up” economic development both in developing countries and the US.
Two of the world’s pioneer organizations in this rapidly emerging sector will be represented– Grameen America and Acumen Fund. Founded in 1976 in Bangladesh, Grameen Bank virtually invented microcredit as lending small amounts based not on collateral but on trust for individuals with income-generating activities. Grameen has grown exponentially and in Bangladesh now has 8 million borrowers, 97 per cent of whom are women. Grameen Bank and its founder, Professor Muhammad Yunus, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Grameen America was established in 2008 to provide microfinance to entrepreneurs living below the poverty line in the United States. Speaking at the panel for Grameen will be Leslie Kane, Executive Vice President of Grameen America.
Founded in 2001 in New York, Acumen Fund (acumenfund.org) has created its form of “patient capital” as loans or equity to entrepreneurs offering critical services– water, health, housing, energy and agricultural inputs– at affordable prices to people earning less than four dollars a day. Acumen has invested in 44 companies in India, Pakistan, Kenya and Tanzania, which have in turn served over 36 million people and created 24,000 jobs. Acumen and its founder, Jacqueline Novogratz have been profiled in numerous media outlets including The Economist, the New York Times, and CNN. Representing Acumen will be their Communications Director, Yasmina Zaidman.
At the event each speaker will describe their organization's unique approach to financing social enterprise, then take questions from a moderator and the audience.
Leslie Kane
Ms. Kane joined Grameen America in 2008, and is responsible for managing the organization’s strategic growth and national expansion plans. Since she joined, the program has expanded from Queens to Brooklyn, Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, and Omaha, Nebraska, with additional expansion plans for 2010. As Executive Vice President, Ms. Kane is also responsible for the oversight and management of all fundraising, finance, pr
ogram development, and corporate operations across the organization, to ensure that they are efficient, integrated, and that resources are allocated effectively. Prior to joining Grameen America, Ms. Kane worked at Morgan Stanley from 2001 to 2008. Ms. Kane was Vice President and Operations Officer of Morgan Stanley's Real Estate Funds in Hong Kong from 2006 to 2008, where she helped manage a team across six countries in Asia. Prior to this, she worked in Morgan Stanley's Investment Banking Division in New York and Mumbai, where she had responsibilities to roll out the Firm's global strategy with the bank's senior management team. Ms. Kane holds a BA in History from Yale University.
Yasmina Zaidman
As Director of Communications, Yasmina Zaidman works with diverse audiences and strategic partne
rs in the international development, philanthropic, academic and corporate sectors to share insights and replicable models from Acumen Fund's investment portfolio. Prior to joining Acumen Fund, Ms. Zaidman worked in the arena of international environmental protection and social entrepreneurship for seven years. She led the Environmental Innovations Initiative at Ashoka, where as Acting Director, she headed an effort to capture and disseminate the best practices of leading environmental innovators throughout the developing world. Ms. Zaidman received a BA from Vassar College and an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, with a certificate in Public Management.
Thursday May 6th, 6:30 pm
- Location: Boston Consulting Group, 430 Park Avenue ( 56th Street), 18th floor, New York City
- Time: 6:30pm Registration/7:00pm Program
- Cost: $10 Members / $25 Non-Members & Guests, Attendees must sign-up for this event by 3:00pm on May 5th for security reasons. No walk-ins will be allowed and will be stopped by security.
- Organizer: David Theobald
- Event Sponsor: Boston Consulting Group
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