SVMN.net is now: SVMicrofinance.org
See you at our new online home!
Archive for the ‘other stuff’ Category
the stuff we forgot to categorize
SVMN has a new online home: www.SVMicrofinance.org – check it out and update your bookmark!
Posted by hilarywilson on September 13, 2011
Posted in other stuff | Leave a Comment »
SVMN’s Microfinance 101 Course — April 16, 23, & 30, 2009
Posted by April Newman on April 7, 2009
SVMN’s MICROFINANCE 101 Course
Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN) is proud to offer “Microfinance 101″ (MF101) — a course in the fundamentals of microfinance, an important tool for economic development around the world. This training will equip participants with a rich working knowledge of the basic theories, history, and trends in the field of microfinance. It will explore why and how microfinance operations have grown to provide financial services to poor and low-income people on a broad and growing scale and will discuss the struggles for sustainability. The course is targeted to executives who want mobilize their companies into action in the microfinance space, to professionals who are looking to transition their careers, and to anyone who wants to gain a substantial understanding of the origins, workings, and current landscape of microfinance.
The course will cover historical origins of microfinance, business reasons behind group lending and a focus on women clients, management of microfinance institutions (MFIs), investor perspectives, geographic difference in microfinance services (between countries, and between urban and rural areas), and the emerging area ‘beyond microfinance,’ other products and services being delivered using microfinance infrastructure.
To register, please click on the SVMN registration link here:
When:
Thursday, April 16 — 6:30-8:30pm
Thursday, April 23 — 6:30-8:30pm
Thursday, April 30 — 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Omidyar Network
1991 Broadway Street, Suite 200
Redwood City, CA 94063
(directions here)
Cost:
$500 regular attendee | $200 students & nonprofits w/ ID
FORMAT
MF101 will consist of three 2-hour sessions, once per week for three consecutive weeks. It will run 6:30 — 8:30pm on Thursdays, April 16, 23, and 30.
The meetings will be brown bag style; feel free to bring dinner with you.
SVMN FACULTY
Sean Foote
MF101 will be taught by your own SVMN Faculty, Silicon Valley Microfinance Network Board Members Sean Foote as primary instructor and Maya Chorengel, Tracey Pettengill Turner, and Elizabeth Funk as guest lecturers. Instructor Sean Foote is a partner at Labrador Ventures and a veteran venture capitalist who actively serves on boards of both private companies and nonprofit organizations and lectures on microfinance at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. His brilliant and engaging style make this course an interactive experience whose material participants will draw on for years to come.
Maya Chorengel is the Managing Director of Elevar Equity, which manages the Unitus Equity Fund and Unitus Equity Fund II and is one of the most active equity investors at the base of the pyramid.
Elizabeth Funk is the Chairperson of Unitus, a leading microfinance accelerator. She is also the founder and CEO of Dignity Fund, a debt fund for microfinance.
Tracey Pettengill Turner is the Founder of MicroPlace, a socially-oriented company that allows individuals to invest in microfinance institutions starting with just $20.
(See below for lecturers’ full bios.)
The SVMN Faculty believes in raising the level of understanding about microfinance and helping people move into the sector, and they are generously donating their time and expertise for this course.
Posted in meeting, other stuff | Tagged: elizabeth funk, introduction to microfinance, maya chorengel, MF101, Microfinance 101, microfinance basics, sean foote, silicon valley microfinance network, svmn, tracey turner | 2 Comments »
MixMarket.org: Visualizing Microfinance via Heat Maps
Posted by Dave McClure on June 23, 2007
Thought i’d drop in a quick post about visualizing microfinance data, and reference the MixMarket.org website which tracks a large amount of Microfinance Institution (MFI) data on loans & returns. Below is an example of a Mix Market “heat map” (sometimes called a “tree map“) showing various MFIs around the world:
The map uses squares to indicate loan portfolio size, and color to indicate return on equity (blue = positive returns; red = negative returns), with MFIs grouped by continent. You can also click to drill down into specific MFIs, or also re-arrange the sorting criteria to focus on other microfinance data & attributes such as % women borrowers or % portfolio at risk. It’s pretty neat… give it a whirl.
For more info on data visualization (not just microfinance), check out some other cool sites here:
- Many-Eyes.com
- Swivel.com
- Viz4All (Univ. MD)
- CIA World Factbook
If you know of additional sites & sources for displaying or visualizing microfinance data, please provide info in the comments… we’d love to hear about them.
Posted in news & info, other stuff | Leave a Comment »
