On December 20th, Unitus successfully closed a $550,000 guarantee facility for partner IIRM, enabling the microfinance institution to access local (Indian) currency from Citigroup. By guaranteeing repayment, Unitus is helping IIRM provide 4,000 loans to new and existing microfinance clients. To help underwrite this guarantee, Unitus received a $250,000 facility from Calvert Foundation, which is… Read more >
Updates
Third-Year “Social Capitalist Award” Win for Unitus
February 1, 2008 – Update
For the third year in a row, Fast Company magazine and Monitor Group announced that Unitus has won a Social Capitalist Award The 2008 awards feature 45 nonprofits who use the tools of business to solve the world’s most pressing social problems—ranging from poor healthcare in developing nations to unequal education access, homelessness, unemployment and substance… Read more >
Unitus Partners Shine in New Microfinance Rankings
February 1, 2008 – Update
Unitus is proud to congratulate its partners Bandhan, Grameen Koota, and SKS for ranking among Forbes Magazine’s top 50 microfinance institutions in December. Forbes Magazine’s first-ever list of the “World’s Top 50 Microfinance Institutions” surveyed and ranked a field of 641 micro-credit providers according to scale, efficiency, portfolio risk, and profitability. Using this rating system, Bandhan ranked… Read more >
Social Entrepreneur Spotlight: Harsha Moily
February 1, 2008 – Update
Harsha MoilyPosition: Founder and CEOOrganization: Moksha Yug AccessUnitus Partner Since: 2007 Moksha Yug Access joined the Unitus portfolio of partners in October 2007. Harsha Moily, the founder and CEO of the organization, is one of 20 dynamic, visionary leaders who are working with Unitus to catalyze growth and innovation in the field of microfinance. What… Read more >
Unitus Partners in Forbes Top 50 MFIs
January 3, 2008 – Media Exposure
Unitus Partners Bandhan, Grameen Koota, and SKS in Forbes Top 50 MFIs Unitus is proud to congratulate its partners Bandhan, Grameen Koota, and SKS for ranking among Forbes Magazine’s Top 50 Microfinance Institutions. Forbes Magazine’s first-ever list of the World’s Top 50 Microfinance Institutions surveyed and ranked a field of 641 micro-credit providers according to scale,… Read more >
Unitus Supporters Inspired by Trip to India
November 1, 2007 – Update
This September, a group of 11 Unitus supporters and several staff members set out for Bangalore, India, embarking on an unforgettable week of learning, discovery, and adventure. The 2007 Partner Expedition was led by Unitus board member Dave Richards and his wife Sharon, COO Ed Bland, Donor & Investor Relations VP Diana Reid, and Campaign… Read more >
Innovations in Microfinance: Africa
November 1, 2007 – Update
Claudio Sissa, a Solutions Consultant from our Efficiency Team, recently traveled to Uganda and Kenya to study the African microfinance market. While there, Claudio visited Jamii Bora, a Unitus partner in Nairobi that is leading the way in innovative microfinance practices. Claudio was particularly interested in learning about their implementation of biometric POS (point of sale)… Read more >
Unitus Concludes Annual Leadership Summit
October 31, 2007 – Press Release
Unitus Convenes Microfinance, Business and Philanthropic Leaders to Scale the Effort to Reduce Global Poverty October 31, 2007 − Global leaders in microfinance, business and philanthropy concluded a three-day Summit focused on charting the next chapter of poverty alleviation through social entrepreneurship. Unitus, Inc., a worldwide leader in scaling innovative solutions to global poverty, invited… Read more >
Moksha Yug Access Joins as Unitus Partner
October 10, 2007 – Press Release
New Partnership Announcement: MokshaYug Access Partnership will help MYA to reach 1,000,000 of India’s working poor by 2010 October 10, 2007—Unitus, Inc., a worldwide leader in scaling innovative solutions to global poverty, today announced a new partnership with MokshaYug Access (MYA), a company working in northern Karnataka, India to provide “microfinance plus” services to poor… Read more >
Eric Savage Joins as Vice President of Capital Markets
September 10, 2007 – Press Release
Eric Savage Joins as Vice President, Capital Markets (Asia) Former Citigroup Exec Will Expand Unitus’s Capital Markets Work in India & Asia Redmond, WA—September 10, 2007—Unitus, Inc., a worldwide leader in scaling innovative solutions to global poverty, today announced that Eric Savage has joined the organization as Vice President, Capital Markets (Asia). Savage will be… Read more >
Ed Bland Joins Unitus as Chief Operating Officer
September 5, 2007 – Press Release
Former Microsoft Executive Ed Bland Joins Unitus as Chief Operating Officer Bland brings Fortune 100 business experience to Unitus leadership team Redmond, WA—September 5, 2007—Unitus, Inc., a worldwide leader in scaling innovative solutions to global poverty, today announced that Ed Bland has joined the organization as Chief Operating Officer. Highly regarded for successfully launching Microsoft… Read more >
Metro Microfinance Pioneers (Ujjivan)
June 21, 2007 – Media Exposure
With a few prominent exceptions (including SEWA in Ahmedabad) microfinance institutions in India have targeted the rural poor. The urban poor were thought to be too mobile and lacking in neighbourly affinity and cohesion to ever generate the peer-group pressure on which unsecured lending to borrowers organised in joint-liability groups depends. However, all that is… Read more >