ACCION USA, Opportunity Fund, and Kiva bring you the Microfinance USA 2011 Conference this May 23-24 in New York City!

Are you a student interested in local economic development? Are you passionate about being part of the growing microfinance movement in the U.S. – and interested in learning from industry experts about the impact you can make? If so, this conference is not to be missed. Microfinance USA provides a unique setting for networking and learning from the industry’s top practitioners, funders, and researchers.

Topics that will be discussed at this year’s conference include:

• What does “Microfinance” mean? – debating and defining our terminology
• Impact of microlending in the U.S.
• Social Entrepreneurship and Microfinance
• Promise and Peral of Microfinance Impact Evaluations

Over two days, you can:

• Network with leading practitioners and researchers in the U.S. microfinance field
• Attend plenary sessions and panels led by the nation’s leading microfinance voices.
• Deepen your understanding of the challenges facing Microfinance Institutions through case-study analysis.
• Experience microfinance first-hand by touring local microenterprises in New York.
• Debate current microfinance topics during small group sessions and networking dinners.
• Discover how students LIKE YOU are impacting the domestic microenterprise industry in remarkable ways
• Collaborate with student microfinance clubs and young professionals across the country

For More Information please visit the website:

http://www.microfinanceusaconference.org/home/

Student Price: $75

Join us, December 1^st

Their online presentation will include:

• Case studies of recent loan approvals
• Common microloan application strengths and weaknesses
• Internal processes (and the evolution of processes) that have lead to improved and quicker loan decisions
• Plenty of time for virtual Q&A with webinar participants

The webinar will give a sneak peek into the types of topics and sessions that the Microfinance USA 2011 Conference will explore. We’re excited to co-present the conference in New York City on May 23-24, 2011, in partnership with Opportunity Fund and Kiva. We’ll make sure you’re the first to know when registration opens later this year. In the meantime, this webinar is not to be missed!  Register now and mark your calendars for this exciting event.

The article pulls in great stats from the Aspen Institute, which tracked increases in U.S. microloan applications at 66% of lenders over the past two years, as well as an aggregate $68.6 million lent in 2008. (In the Tooting-our-Own-Horn Department: U.S. ACCION affiliates lent a combined $31.4 million in 2008 – or 46% of the industry total reported by the Aspen Institute.)

Growing along with demand are interest in and support for the industry. Over 700 individuals (including California First Lady Maria Shriver) attended the first national microfinance conference last month, and donations from private individuals are up.

All of this is helping to unlock the potential of the field; and more importantly, that of the small businesses it aids.

As William Ortiz-Cartagena, microfinance borrower and owner of a San Francisco parking company, put it, “It’s like David and Goliath, and Opportunity Fund is my slingshot.”

Read the full article at Businessweek.com.