Enriching the Lives
of Students and Those
Living in Poverty
“When I first came here, I didn’t really understand what it meant
to be Vincentian,” said Linda Sama, Ph.D., Associate Dean for
Global Initiatives and Professor of Management in The Peter J. Tobin College of
Business (TCB). “I had been brought up Catholic, but I wasn’t
really familiar with the Vincentians.”
Dr. Sama’s prior research had focused on business ethics and
corporate social responsibility, so she was nominated to become a
Research Fellow at the Vincentian
Center for Church and Society. “I understood the value of
business giving back to society and the concept of social
responsibility, so it was natural to be part of that center,” said
Dr. Sama. “As a Vincentian Fellow, I was inculcated into the whole
Vincentian tradition and what that means.”
Using her newfound understanding of the Vincentian mission, she
launched the Global Microloan Program, known as GLOBE (Global Loan
Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs). “GLOBE seemed like such a
natural link to what the University touts in terms of its
Vincentian mission and what I had learned about St. Vincent de
Paul, who was himself a businessman,” said Dr. Sama.
Loosely modeled after Kiva — a
Web-based micro loan program — GLOBE officially launched at St.
John’s University in the spring of 2009. The student-managed
academic program at TCB provides loans to entrepreneurs in the
developing world, while educating students about microfinance and
social entrepreneurship. “GLOBE allows me to bring students to a
business model that has a very different focus and is very
Vincentian,” Dr. Sama observed.
“While the program focuses on helping people in poverty help
themselves out of poverty, it’s primarily about student learning,”
said Dr. Sama, stressing that GLOBE is not a club. “We’re an
academic program and we’re very selective in choosing which
students can participate, seeking both an honest motivation for the
work involved and academic aptitude.” Students must be invited to
apply and need a G.P.A. of 3.0 or better.
Dr. Sama has always integrated business ethics into her courses, so
creating a program like GLOBE was all but inevitable. “I teach
strategy in a way that makes people think about the ethical
consequences of their strategic decisions,” said Dr. Sama related.
“GLOBE really allows me to bring students to a business model that
has a very different focus and is very Vincentian.”
GLOBE is run with the help of the Daughters of
Charity, who help to identify people in their communities who
who would make good loan applicants. “This program could not run
without the Daughters of Charity,” said Dr. Sama. Often times,
applicants can neither read nor write, so the Daughters will help
them fill out the GLOBE application. “We’ve received applications
back with a thumbprint as a signature.”
GLOBE students vet the applications and make recommendations to the
program’s Steering Committee. They also write a rationale for every
loan that they want to approve, taking into consideration what the
current loan portfolio looks like, so they can diversify. “They
don’t want all the businesses in one country to be in agriculture —
because if there is a flood or a drought, then all the businesses
go south,” said Dr. Sama. Although they often suggest
follow-on questions or an adjustment to loan terms, The Steering
Ccommittee has never refused a loan that was recommended by
students, although they often suggest follow-on questions or an
adjustment to loan terms.
GLOBE loans range from as little as $66 to as much as $500.
Currently, there are 28 loans out in Kenya, Nigeria and The
Democratic Republic of the Congo. “We are working now to get some
loan applicants for Vietnam and hopefully Bolivia,” said Dr.
Sama.
The Daughters of Charity send reports to GLOBE about how the
borrowers are doing, often including photos of the borrowers in
their businesses — whether trading fish or plowing the land or in a
kiosk selling goods. “Sometimes we get notes from the borrowers,
which is very rewarding,” said Dr. Sama shared. “A woman who
used the money she borrowed from us to buy a sewing machine to make
textiles said, ‘God bless GLOBE.’”
Each semester brings with it new challenges and new faces, a fact
that is not lost on Dr. Sama. “You develop such strong bonds with
these students and you as well as a have a strong working
relationship with them,” she said. “I’m very fortunate that I have
such great people around me.”
With plans to expand the program into Vietnam and Bolivia, Dr. Sama
is optimistic about the future of the GLOBE and pleased with what
the students take away every year. “It’s a very reciprocal
relationship. – We learn from the field as much as they learn from
us,” said Dr. Sama continued, “We learn from everything that
we do. In fact, what may initially seem like a problem or a failure
is actually a learning experience.”