Annals of Corporate Social Responsibility
Guest blog by Erika Eurkus, senior director of resource development at ACCION USA.
What do craft beer and South Beach have in common? U.S. microfinance of course!
Who would have thunk it? Really, who?
When I starting working in the field as an Americorps*VISTA volunteer, people thought I was nuts. Micro what? Oh, you do micro-finance? Well I do macro-finance. Funny. Really. My, how times have changed. Microfinance has developed as an asset class, and in the U.S. more and more individuals and corporations are using microfinance as a channel for doing good. A preview from the “Annals of Corporate Social Responsibility at ACCION USA: September 2009″:
ACCION USA staff at the Clevelander for Kiva event. From left to right: Adam Anthony, CREO Care, Inc.; Erica Dorn, ACCION USA; Dorian Gregory, actor and activist; Daymond John, FUBU; Erika Eurkus, ACCION USA
Over the Labor Day weekend actor and social activist Dorian Gregory hosted a fundraiser in Miami for Kiva.org featuring ACCION USA (a domestic Kiva partner). Dorian was inspirational in his commitment to making microfinance solutions available to all aspiring entrepreneurs nationwide. FUBU founder and CEO, Daymond John was on hand and spoke about starting his business with 10 T shirts and turning it into a multi-million dollar clothing business. Guess what else he said? Life would have been easier with access to resources provided today by microlenders.
On September 11, Boston’s business leaders started their morning with a reflection on the day, and then honored their peers for their civic engagement and philanthropy. The Boston Business Journal’s 2009 Corporate Citizenship Summit attracted 800 people who stayed in their seats for three hours to celebrate the community’s commitment not just to ‘giving back’ but to moving forward through innovative charitable work. The Boston Beer Company was honored with an award for its work with ACCION USA to develop the Brewing the American Dream program. Founder and brewer Jim Koch (who couldn’t get a bank loan to start Sam Adams) accepted the award on stage, beer in hand. Yes, it was about 9AM.
U.S. microfinance and the work of ACCION USA are also now championed by a major fashion designer who made a debut at NYC’s Fashion Week. See our president and CEO Gina Harman’s most recent blog post.
And the month is not even over.