..and our clients’ clients This week I’ve felt the overwhelming spirit of cooperatives, having visited three agricultural and credit institutions founded, owned, and managed by a collective of individuals working together.  I’ve met a range of people, too – cooperative chairpersons, managers, employees, members, borrowers, and overall beneficiaries in the community. Their words and their stories really speak for themselves. Not every story is one of success – but every ... Read More »

Oikocredit USA’s Leah Gage has headed to Eastern Bulgaria to spend the week with our Bulgaria Country Office staff and spend time at the agricultural and credit cooperatives Oikocredit funds there. Follow her as she posts her findings from the field! @OikocreditUSA #OikoinBulgaria “The future is in the young people.” These are the words of Jordanska Dimitrova, the trade union officer for Niva ’93, one of Oikocredit’s cooperative partners in ... Read More »

Oikocredit USA’s Leah Gage has headed to Eastern Bulgaria to spend the week with our Bulgaria Country Office staff and spend time at the agricultural and credit cooperatives Oikocredit funds there. Follow her as she posts her findings from the field! @OikocreditUSA #OikoinBulgaria Can you imagine receiving a hug and a kiss from your loan officer? It’s a regular occurrence among the staff and members of Doverie Credit Cooperative, an ... Read More »

Oikocredit USA’s Leah Gage has headed to Eastern Bulgaria to spend the week with our Bulgaria Country Office staff and spend time at the agricultural and credit cooperatives Oikocredit funds there. Follow her as she posts her findings from the field! @OikocreditUSA #OikoinBulgaria 5.12.2012 8:45 AM On the plane from London to Sofia, Bulgaria I’m most likely the only person on the plane who doesn’t speak a word of Bulgarian. ... Read More »

Daring to Make the Tough Investment Oikocredit is known worldwide for taking bigger chances on smaller organizations that may be considered riskier investments. But as was shown in Bulgaria – and has been shown time and again throughout the world* – our willingness to take those chances often pays off, and helps those most in need. This installment of Tour Around the World with Oikocredit explores our investments in Bulgaria, and ... Read More »

This blog is the first of a three-part Microfinance Investor Education (MIE) Series examining poverty outreach and measurement. We’ll be partnering with Steve Wright, Director of Social Performance for Grameen Foundation, to examine why poverty measurement & outreach is important – and to understand in particular Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI). The PPI is a poverty measurement tool, specific to a country, derived from national poverty data ... Read More »

Thursday, March 8th is International Women’s Day. Why do we celebrate International Women’s Day? It is an annually recognized date in which we salute women’s achievements in their struggle for quality and justice. It’s also a day in which we highlight the gender issues that remain unsolved and applaud initiatives created to provide those solutions. One such issue affecting women and children is a lack of access to clean water, ... Read More »

This is a continuation of Oikocredit USA’s Microfinance Investor Education Series, or MIE Series, designed to educate investors, donors and advisors about social impact issues in microfinance investing. In this third installation, Chuck Waterfield, CEO of MicroFinance Transparency, talks with us about pricing methodologies and the progress that has been made in pricing transparency in the last of our three-part series. You can read the  first  and second installations of ... Read More »

Director’s Corner follows Oikocredit USA National Director Sharlene Brown as she reflects on her work and her travels to investors and supportive communities in the US. Last weekend I attended Rotary’s Symposium to Eliminate Poverty Sustainably (STEPS) and was blown away at the commitment to service of Rotarians around the world. This symposium gave me the opportunity to hear about the projects Rotarians have supported in Peru, Indonesia, Haiti, and ... Read More »

Director’s Corner follows Oikocredit USA National Director Sharlene Brown as she reflects on her work and her travels to investors and supportive communities in the US. Like many people, I begin each year with much reflection and contemplation. Personally, I’ve been looking for inspiration, thinking about the conditions in the world and my contribution to the solutions. How can I be a citizen of the world and a contributor to ... Read More »