 "Photo: Annie Budnick")
"Giving something very small and turning it into something big, something magical." Peter Ryan, founder and CEO of MicroLoan USA, gave this is the definition of microfinance at Wednesday's "Better than Charity" panel on microfinance. He was joined by Scott Jelinek, A&S '10, and Erica Eurkus, senior director of captial and brand development at Acción USA. Ryan told a packed crowd all about his career work in funding small business efforts around the world.
Each panelist offered insight into his or her profession. They said that microfinance is the practice of giving out loans to those individuals who either do not have access to banks or those who would certainly be turned away by any normal bank. Eurkus said the process is the "softer side of commercial lending," and that "there's not a single bank in the U.S. that would make a loan to a single one of our clients."
Each panelist had a slightly different story to tell; each delved into a different aspect of microfinance. Ryan, a native of Chiswick, London, founded MicroLoan USA in 1997 and has since focused his work in the country of Malawi in Southeast Africa. Despite its humble beginnings, Ryan's business now employs 50 Malawians and works out of nine regional offices. MicroLoan seeks to grant loans to, primarily, Malawian women who are trying to start their own business. The women are told to get into business groups to delegate responsibilities, are given a six to eight week crash course on business management, and are provided with constant guidance as their modest business takes off. Ryan said that his business is funded by people just like those in the audience, by donations from those concerned about world poverty.
Jelinek followed a path similar to Ryan's. An international studies major who is also pre-med, Jelinek has done extensive field work with a company called Opportunity International. His interest in healthcare has led him to focus on HIV/AIDS education implementation in Western Africa and Mozambique.
Opportunity International now has 1.2 million clients worldwide, including an African woman named Asumpta, whom Jelinek spoke about. Asumpta, a single mother who looks after three of her own children as well as three of her deceased sister's children, asked for a loan from OI and now has a storefront business and has sent all six kids to school.
Jelinek said that his efforts have had social as well as economic effects. He said that as women are given money and a chance to start their own business, they gain the confidence to stand up to abusive village leaders and objectification and take control of their destinies.
Like her fellow panelists, Eurkus works to provide loans to the less-fortunate, except her work involves working with Americans alone. Her company, Acción USA, is the leading microloan company in the U.S. Eurkus said that "small businesses are the backbone of [the U.S.] economy" and works mostly in urban areas to aid more individual small business ventures.
Providing an example of the people she helps, Eurkus told the story of a barber from Atlanta who, after nearly having his business shut down by his landlord, was given loans and is now thriving. He currently employs 11 people and has won several local business awards.
The panel was organized and moderated by Lauren Galinsky, A&S '09. With help from Mike Madormo, A&S '09, the two sought to inform BC students about the intricacies and advantages of the microfinance business.
The two initially connected when Galinsky started the Boston College Microfinance Initiative group, an association for students interested in microfinance and needed help with publicity and organization. Madormo, the president of the BC Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) chapter, offered to fuse her organization with AID in order to combine ideas and efforts.
"People eat this stuff up," Madormo said of microfinance. "They love the idea of a business that's actually good for the world." Ryan said, "These loans change people's lives," helping the less fortunate take initiatives and enter the business world.
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