MICROFINANCE EVENT: Microfinance California 2009: Micro Loans, Macro Event, May 28, 2009, at Stanford University, California

Microfinance California 2009: Micro Loans, Macro Event, May 28, 2009, at Stanford University, California presented by Opportunity Fund, KIVA, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and sponsored by Wells Fargo, Chevron, Citi and the James Irvine Foundation.May 28, 2009, at Stanford University, California.

About the event: Focus will be on an overview and mechanics of domestic microfinance, small groups visiting Bay Area microfinance borrowers, understanding the impact and future of microfinance on California’s economy, and small group dinners with practitioners, leaders, and investors while understanding one’s role in the field of microfinance. The conference will also highlight microfinance strategies and practices unique to the United States economy, including the role of financial institutions in community development and the importance of financial education in the context of a predatory lending crisis.

Who is invited: California businesses, communities, investors in microfinance activities, and students.

Main Topics of Discussion include:

Beyond Credit: Microfinance Savings Products
How Microfinance Works in the US: Products, Services, and Risk Management
Improving Underwriting Efficiency and Response Time- MMS Workshop
Innovations in U.S. Microfinance: Equity, Expansion, and Product Development
ROI: Impact, Historical Trends, Current Economic Climate, and Future of Microfinance
Lunch and “Sustainability and Scale– A Lively Conversation on Commercialization of Microfinance”
Web-Based Microfinance: Kiva, MicroPlace, ACCION USA, and MicroMentor
Women and Microfinance in the U.S.
Business Development Services: A Key Component of Small Business Survival

Important Dates: Thursday, May 28, 2009, 8:00 am – 7:30 pm (Pacific Time)

Location: The Frances C Arrillaga Alumni Center at Stanford University, 326 Galvez Street, Stanford (Palo Alto), California 94305-6105 (650)-723-2021

Costs: $250 Full Day Conference Pass, $50 Student Pass (ID required at entrance), Half Day Conference Pass, $125 (A.M. or P.M sessions including lunch)

Online Registration: Reservations/Cancellations (see refund policy) please click here.

For additional information, please contact:

Contact Name:	Shaolee Sen
Telephone:	+1-408-849-4386
Email:	shaolee@opportunityfund.org

About the Presenters:

Opportunity Fund: Opportunity Fund Northern California (formerly Lenders for Community Development) (Opportunity Fund), a certified Community Development Financial Institution, was formed on December 8, 1993. Opportunity Fund’s mission is to advance the economic well-being of working people by helping them to earn, save and invest in their future. Recently, Opportunity Fund entered into an agreement with the Team Works Capital Fund in 2008. The Team Works Capital project is an Opportunity Fund project that provides financing to worker-owned cooperatives that support advancing the economic well-being of the low-income working people who aspire to increased income and business ownership. The project provides long-term loans with equity-like features to provide start-up financing to worker-owned cooperatives.

Kiva: Founded in 2005, Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. Kiva’s 270,000 lenders–people who typically hand over their money, via credit card, in $25 increments–have funded borrowers in places as far flung as Tanzania and Tajikistan. As of 2008, they have assisted about 40,000 borrowers in 40 countries and provided a total of about $27 million in funding.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation: The community foundation was created in 2006 through the landmark merger of Peninsula Community Foundation and Community Foundation Silicon Valley, and launched in January 2007. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a partner and resource to organizations improving the quality of life in the region, and to those who want to give back locally, nationally as well as internationally. Recently, the Boards of Directors of PCF and CFSV approved a memorandum of understanding (PDF 342k) on July 12, 2006, to form a united foundation. The result is the fourth largest community foundation in the nation with $1.5 billion in assets and more than 1,500 philanthropic funds.

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