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Written by Aaron Konen
on Thursday, 04 March 2010
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24th and Q Street, the heart of South Omaha, is an unlikely spot to find a New York City businessmen and a Bangladeshi economist. A crowd of several hundred packed into the retired City Hall building to welcome world-renowned Professor Yunus and Grameen America’s CEO Stephen Vogel, who were in town to celebrate the grand opening of Grameen America’s second U.S. branch office.
Although the United States is a new and unique market for Grameen, Yunus said, “people across the globe are the essentially the same, with similar wants, needs, and aspirations.”
While Omaha’s less densely populated demography will be a challenge to Grameen’s proven model, success in the area may lead to expansion into many diverse metropolitan areas across the United States.
“May Omaha start the chain of expansion,” said Yunus as he wrapped up his opening speech.
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Let’s Become One of the Top Ten Ideas for Change in America |
Written by Julie Gerstein
on Tuesday, 02 March 2010
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Grameen America has been chosen out of more than 2,500 entries as a semi-finalist in the Ideas for Change in America contest.
The Ideas for Change in America is a grassroots social change competition that encourages people to identify and support the great organizations and ideas that they believe will help the world.
The ten most popular ideas will be presented to members of the Obama Administration and will garner the support and benefit of the Change.org community. Change.org is committed to helping push good ideas and organizations forward.
Grameen’s mission to provide low-cost loans for working poor helped us make it to the semi-finals. Since the program’s inception in 2007, we’ve helped 2000 borrowers raise themselves and their families out of poverty.
And now we need your help! Vote to keep us on top of Change.org’s list! Final voting is on now until March 12, and every vote counts!
Once you’ve voted, encourage your friends and family to cast a ballot in favor of Grameen America on Facebook and Twitter.
VOTE NOW
SHARE ON FACEBOOK
TWEET ABOUT IT
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St John's and Grameen America |
Written by Chris Honess, St John's University student, intern at Grameen America
on Monday, 01 March 2010
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In an article “Microloan Program Fits Well With St. John's Vincentian Spirit” in Catholic New York in August 2009, Ron Lajoie captures the essence of one of St. John’s University’s most amazing days, a day that would affect my future forever. On April 15, 2009 I was visiting the St. John’s University campus for the first time. It was there that I was invited to a huge festival where Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus would be speaking and where I could buy tons of items to help the borrowers of his famous microfinance institution Grameen America, not “Grameen Bank America” as the article calls it. I listened to Muhammad Yunus talk about his dreams for poor people all over the world. He then announced a new partnership with St. John’s that would allow “students an opportunity to learn and work in the field of microfinance as they support Grameen America's pioneering plans to expand throughout New York and the country.” I had no idea that day in April of 2009 that I would be one of those “students” learning and helping such a great organization.
St. John’s is a Catholic and Vincentian university located in New York City. It seeks to provide students with a strong and distinctive spiritual, values-based education. At St. John’s they have a department called the Vincentian Institute for Social Action (VISA) where students can serve towards a greater cause of pursuing social justice. VISA fosters development of a worldview that recognizes global interdependence and the need for all peoples to work together toward universal social justice. It was this aspect that brought me to the school. I knew that St. John’s would be a place where I would be able to serve different people and work for social justice. And now I am here at Grameen America a new partner with St. John’s, working for just that.
The experience as an intern has totally changed my perspective on how poor people handle money. I had always thought that most poor people just throw their money away at pointless things but I soon found that New York’s poor are some of the best investors in their businesses and they do things with a $1500 loan that I could never do with that amount. I have learned so much about the concepts of microfinance and community and how that blend makes Grameen America so great. I am a true believer in the values and vision of Grameen America and of St. John’s and I realize that if it had not been for that day back in April 2009 I would not be where I am today.
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From Bangladesh to the World |
Written by Luis Varela, St. John's University student, intern at Grameen America
on Monday, 15 February 2010
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“Grameen Moves into Mexico with Carlos Slim Foundation” is the title of the press release posted on Thursday October 30, 2008 by microcapital.org. After reading the online article, an inevitable smile popped out of my face. It was exciting to read that the Mexican population will now have the opportunity to break free from that poverty cycle as many others have done it through microfinancing all over the world. Being a Mexican-American, I have seen the extreme poverty that exists and the need for a high-quality lending institution. It is depressing to learn that this developing nation has as its immediate neighbor the wealthiest country in the world and it was about time that a group of conscious people intervened. Mexico needed help and Muhammad Yunus and Mexican magnate Carlos Slim responded. Grameen-Carso, as the alliance is named, follows the Grameen method, which has proven to be extremely successful.
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