Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Conference aims to spur micro-enterprise statewide
Presented by the Opportunity Fund— a San Jose-based community development financial institution—Kiva— a person-to-person micro-lending website that enables individuals to lend directly to micro-enterprises in the developing world— and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Microfinance California 2009 hopes to attract 350-450 investors, policymakers, practitioners and clients to examine the success of micro-finance in California to date and to raise resources to increase access to micro-finance services. In particular, the conference aims to bring together:
o State and local government representatives
o Current and prospective individual investors
o Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs)
o Foundations
o Social entrepreneurs
o Students; and
o Micro-enterprise Training Organizations
The conference will take place on May 28, 2009 at The Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center at Stanford University. Early-bird registration closes April 15th and costs $175. Students may attend for $50.
Among the themes to be covered at the conference are:
• Learning the nuts and bolts of domestic microfinance
• Visiting Bay Area microfinance borrowers through small group tours
• Understanding the impact and future of microfinance on California’s economy
• Discover one’s own role in the field of microfinance through small group dinners with practitioners, leaders, and investors
Corporate sponsorship comes from Wells Fargo, Chevron, and Citi. Nonprofit sponsors include the James Irvine Foundation and the California Association of Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO).
Sessions include:
Investment and Policy: The Landscape of Microfinance in the U.S. and in California
Andrea Levere, CFED (Washington, DC)
Claudia Viek, CAMEO (San Francisco, CA)
How Microfinance Works in the US: Products, Services, and Risk Management
Evelyn Huang, Program Director, Opportunity Fund (San Jose, CA)
Robert Lopez, Director of Lending, Acción San Diego
Anne Haines, Acción New Mexico
Who are U.S. Microfinance Borrowers? Market Size and Demographics
Clients of Opportunity Fund, Urban Solutions and Acción San Diego
Moderator: Elaine Edgcomb, FIELD, Aspen Institute (Washington, DC)
Return on Investment: Impact, Historical Trends, New Measurement Tools
Elaine Edgcomb, FIELD, Aspen Institute
Roberto Barragan, Valley Economic Development Center (Van Nuys-Los Angeles, CA)
Gina Harman, Acción USA (Boston, MA)
Beyond Credit: Microfinance Savings Products
Patrick Soricone, Director, Evaluation & Self-Sufficiency Programs, United Way Silicon Valley
Gwendy Donaker Brown, Opportunity Fund
Ben Mangan, Earned Assets Resource Network (EARN), (San Francisco, CA)
Marc Spencer, Juma Ventures, (San Francisco, CA)
Women and Microfinance in the US
Farhanna Huq, CEO Women (Oakland, CA)
Julie Castro Abrams, Women’s Initiative (San Francisco, CA)
Hilary Abel, Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security (WAGES) (Oakland, CA)
Business Development Services: A Key Component of Small Business Survival
Elizabeth Makee, Acción San Diego
Helen Branham, Director of Small Business Services, Urban Solutions (San Francisco, CA)
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center (San Francisco, CA)
Competing Interests: Sustainability, Scale, and Commercialization of Microfinance
Jonathan Lewis, Microcredit Enterprises
Elizabeth Funk, Dignity Fund (San Francisco, CA)
Sean Foote, Labrador Ventures (Palo Alto, CA)
Shari Berenbach, Calvert Foundation (Bethesda, MD)
Web-Based Microfinance
Tracey Pettengill Turner, MicroPlace (San Jose, CA)
Giovanna Masci, Kiva (San Francisco, CA)
Gina Harman, Acción USA
Jeff Jones, Program Director, MicroMentor (San Francisco, CA)
Innovations in U.S. Microfinance: Equity, Expansion, and Product Development
Acción New Mexico
Janie Barrera, Acción Texas
Annie Matthews, CEO Women
Jenny McNulty, Urban Solutions
Mainstreaming Microfinance
Robert Boyle, CEO, Justine Petersen (St. Louis, MO)
Lauren Leimbach, Community Financial Resources (Berkeley, CA)
Leigh Phillips, Bank on San Francisco (city-based asset-building program)
Improving Underwriting Efficiency and Response Time
Gustavo Lasala, Acción Texas