St. John’s University and Grameen America Host “Borrower’s Market” in Manhattan

St. John’s University, in conjunction with Grameen America, hosted a Borrower’s Market and presented an immersion learning session titled: “It’s a Borrowers Market: Microfinance in Action” as part of the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service on the Manhattan Campus on Tuesday, June 29. 

Conference participants were given the opportunity to explore New York City for first-hand learning experiences while visiting locations where service takes place every day. Escorted by Student Orientation Leaders from the Hilton New York, participants from across the country traveled downtown to the Manhattan campus for the afternoon educational session and to peruse the Borrower’s Market.

James P. Pellow, Ed.D, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at St. John’s University, welcomed the group to the Saval Auditorium and touched upon the various components of the St. John’s administrative and student efforts to support Grameen America’s initial foray into microfinance in the United States.

Rev. James Maher, C.M., Vice President of Student Affairs and Executive Director of the Vincentian Institute for Social Action (VISA), spoke of St. Vincent de Paul’s theory that “charity must be organized” and how the University has launched a unique social institute to support that idea. VISA provides an organizational focus for a variety of new and ongoing programs through which faculty and students can work together to explore the causes of and develop solutions for poverty and social injustice throughout the world. By engaging strategic partners, like Grameen American, Rev. Maher explained, VISA seeks to fulfill the needs of the host communities by using the University’s resources and also to measure the impact in those specific communities.  VISA encourages the St. John’s community to engage in activities that are designed to advance the Vincentian commitment to social justice and systemic change.

Linda Sama, Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Global Initiatives at St. John’s University, presented on the student-managed global microloan program at the Peter J. Tobin College of Business. Global Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs (GLOBE), seeks to help local entrepreneurs in the developing world by providing them access to credit through which they can leverage their own talents and lift themselves out of poverty. With three semesters completed, 60 GLOBE Managers have graduated and taken the knowledge they have gained through this hands-on experience into the world to continue to make a difference.

Lastly, Leslie Kane, Executive Vice President of Grameen America, spoke of her organization’s efforts to help break the cycle of poverty through microfinance in disadvantaged U.S. communities. Kane explained the process that low-income female entrepreneurs endure to receive microloans as well as the success this concept has had both in the U.S. and on a global scale.

Following the presentation, conference participants were invited to attend the “Borrower’s Market,” in which entrepreneurs who have benefited from Grameen America’s unique lending program displayed their wares at booths outside on Murray Street.

St. John’s University and Grameen America developed a unique service partnership in spring 2009, which focuses on alleviating poverty through enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The National Conference on Volunteering and Service is the world’s largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from non-profit, government and corporate sectors. It is an annual event that provides attendees an opportunity to learn, connect and be inspired through exciting and informative plenary sessions, workshops, special events, service projects, exhibits, specialized corporate tracks and more.