Microfinance: What’s In It for Today’s Teens?
This post is presented as part of our Youth Microfinance blog series. By nurturing student thought leadership, ACCION USA is helping to build future leadership for the microfinance industry as a whole. We hope that you’ll enjoy the ideas and perspectives of ACCION USA’s youth leaders as well as Main Street Microfinance’s regular posts from industry professionals.
By: Percy Allison
What attracts a high school senior to microfinance?
It may be hard to draw the comparison between a stu![soccer2.jpg_0[1]](http://www.accionusa.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/soccer2.jpg_01.jpg)
dent’s soccer struggle and the effort of the entrepreneur, but I would argue that the raw similarities are surprisingly real.
During four years of struggling to become the varsity starting goalie I learned about risk, drive, persistence and perseverance.
Every entrepreneur is taking a risk. They are starting their own business. They are taking a chance to succeed. Every young person takes risks. Every young person needs someone to give them a chance to prove to the world that they too can do it. Whether it is the teacher staying after class and giving an inspirational pep talk or the football coach giving the quarterback another chance after he threw the game-losing interception – every young person needs someone to believe in them – and so does the entrepreneur.
This is why so many young people are fired up by microfinance. It is other people being creative and finding their own way. So are we. It is other people putting their heart out for something. So are we. It is other people being courageous, intelligent and believing in themselves and more importantly believing in the world to support them. I guess that is the big thing. They believe. As young people, that is the most important thing. We believe. We are new to life and we believe in it. We want to find our way. These entrepreneurs share that same contagious passion. How could we not be inspired? How could we not see ourselves in the ACCION USA client?
There are a ton of organizations and a variety of ways to help alleviate poverty and do good. But among all of those, microfinance finds a special place in the heart of teens. In this way, helping the entrepreneur is like helping ourselves — seeing them achieve is seeing ourselves achieve. And it all is confirming our belief that in the end, success is believing in yourself.
Students + U.S. Microfinance = Three Reasons to Blog
I have three reasons to blog today, and all three relate to college students and U.S. microfinance.
1. Microfinance USA conference (MFUSA)
The conference takes place in San Francisco from May 20-21, and includes keynote speakers Maria Shriver and Gavin Newsom. “A Living History: U.S. Microfinance Past, Present and Future” and “Leveraging Partnerships to Reach Millions” are two of the panels to which I am most looking forward. I also can’t wait to meet some of the 200 students that will be in attendance at the conference. I’ll be moderating a panel on student-led microfinance to talk with various stakeholders in microfinance initiatives on campuses across the U.S. and discuss their strengths, challenges, and impact. I hope to see you there!
2. A video about a lemonade stand
Recently ACCION USA ran a “Twitition” (A competition on Twitter) in which three student groups competed to win two trips to the Microfinance USA conference. In addition to tweeting in support of ACCION USA, the students held events on their campus to raise awareness about U.S. microfinance. I’d like to congratulate Global Youth Connection from the College of Wooster (Ohio), which won the Twitition and will be attending the conference next week. Because most students are more familiar with international microfinance, Global Youth Connection became an important voice for U.S. microfinance. Check out the video about their lemonade stand!
3. Tonight’s meeting with the Microfinance Council (MFC)
ACCION USA has a core group of volunteers called the Microfinance Council that is nearly 300 members strong. Tonight I will be meeting with them to discuss ACCION USA’s initiatives with campus microfinance clubs. The MFC will be heading up a project to manage partnerships between ACCION USA and student groups that are interested building awareness, fundraising, and bringing access to microloans in their communities. The MFC is essential in spearheading research into new products and partnerships at ACCION USA. We look forward to sharing with you the fruits of our work!
Working with students over the past few months, I have learned a great deal about their creativity and dedication to a cause. ACCION USA plans to continue expanding our connection with campus microfinance clubs. In the meantime, I am looking forward to learning about “Leveraging Partnerships to Reach Millions” at MFUSA and seeing how students can play a role in strengthening their communities.
Tags: accion usa, accionusa, lemonade stand, microfinance, microfinance usa, microfinance USA conference, student microfinance, us microfinance, Youth Microfinance Series
Lofty Questions, Young Student
Teachable moments. Luz Gomez captured it well when she blogged recently about capitalizing on teachable moments. My opportunity came just over a week ago when a friend contacted me regarding a tour of ACCION USA. Since her nine-year old daughter had just read a special section in the New York Times about microfinance, she wanted to give her first-hand exposure. Now, as a fundraiser, I know that an individual’s propensity to give is shaped before the teenage years. So, of course, I wanted to show Amelia the power of microfinance to reinforce what I hoped would be a life-long commitment to economic development.
Martha's story of building a new life in the U.S. through self-employment illustrates the power of microfinance.
Amelia arrived on time (with mom in tow), prepared with a 4X6 note card of questions. Though we kept the conversation high level, we explored some pretty lofty subjects: sources of capital for entrepreneurs, the average ACCION USA loan size, uses for loan capital, typical client industries, and repayment rates. We also talked about individuals who might need an ACCION USA loan, immigrants like Martha who fled her native Colombia when guerrillas threatened to kidnap her daughter and who now makes her living as a seamstress thanks to an ACCION USA loan.
Because it was September 11, I also told her about Luis who was once homeless and lost his job delivering baked goods to businesses when the World Trade Center was attacked. Luis has an uplifting story because he went into business for himself using an ACCION USA microloan to buy the van he uses for his now-prospering baked goods delivery service.
After a tour of the office where she met some of the people behind the scenes who make ACCION USA’s lending possible, we took a quick a look at some of our clients’ products – the frilly dresses, jams, jellies, and artwork – that line our offices.
At the end of the day, what did Amelia learn? She learned that not everyone has equal access to credit, there is a need for alternative lenders, microfinance is every bit as necessary in the U.S. as it is overseas, and philanthropy is important to support disadvantaged individuals. At least, I think she learned all these things. But her mother is actually making her write a report on her visit to ACCION USA. And when I see it, I hope to share it here.