Who: Anyone interested in microfinance. The Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN) is a group of SF Bay Area people who meet quarterly to discuss and learn about current microfinance issues and events.

What: Dinner, drinks and debate!

From Silicon Valley to the Rift Valley – Technology and Microfinance

120 million people have access to microfinance, yet more than 1.7 billion working people live on less than $2 a day. What would it take to dramatically increase the number of poor people who have access to financial services? What role, if any, could information and communications technologies play? And how can technology help lower the costs of reaching the rural poor? What have been the lessons learned from a number of pilots and private enterprises that are seeking to address this question?

Speaker: Janine Firpo, Semba Consulting

Janine is currently the founder of SEMBA Consulting and Chair of Sevak Solutions, a direct outgrowth of her previous position at Hewlett-Packard where she was responsible for developing a Remote Transaction System for extending the reach of financial services to the world’s poor. Previous to HP, Janine worked with the World Bank, the US Government and a range of non-profit organizations that were interesting in integrating computers into education, business, and government facilities in developing countries. She has also served as Director of New Media for Random House, VP of Product Development at A.D.A.M. Software and Higher Education Evangelist for Apple Computer.

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