Accounting and Program Audit Team
Log # 7
By Dana Yang
The final presentation is just around the corner. There are only
a handful of classes left and our team feels like we still have
many things to perfect. GLOBE is not only a microloans program for
students to learn about the outside world and changing the lives of
our borrowers but also for the students to learn other essential
skills such as time management. Time management skills are very
important for this class. You have to learn how to balance all the
objectives with your teammates and how to make everything perfect.
Nothing can go wrong; recovering from what you did wrong is very
difficult for this class.
We have been working very hard in updating the Lexicon, creating
different surveys and new systems, and updating our accounting
system because we want to create a legacy for the future. We keep
thinking that the previous accounting team did so much that it’s so
hard for us to top them. We are trying very hard to improve every
single thing passed down to us from them.
During our previous class, Dr. Brenton introduced to us the
Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The GIS is a mapping tool
that would assist us in locating and determining the geographic
details at the locations that we currently have loans in. The
accounting team decided that we could take advantage of this system
to assist us in our “enterprise development” and “impact survey”
goals for the semester. We can utilize this system to help come up
with different business ideas that do not exist in the area yet. As
for the “impact survey,” we can use the map to see how the loan
that we distributed has affected the neighborhood as a whole. We
are very excited and are trying to set up a meeting with Dr.
Brenton, hoping he can assist us in our goal.
GLOBE continuously works hard to promote our program on campus.
This way we can increase awareness and get more donations. For the
upcoming class, we will be heading to the Manhattan campus for an
event called “Managing Risk in Microfinance: Lessons Learned from
the Field.” I hope to learn more aspects about microfinance as well
as continue to introduce the GLOBE program to others. I am very
proud to call myself a GLOBE manager and I want our class to prove
to Dr. Sama that it wasn’t a mistake to accept us into the
class.
Finance and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 7
By Akil Lamy
The Finance and Accounting teams have been busy communicating and
working with each other to make changes to GLOBE’s existing
repayments system. The first few semesters of GLOBE was heavily
focused on getting the loans out to entrepreneurs in the field.
However, the present GLOBE Finance and Accounting teams realize
that we have an apparent weakness in our repayment system. I
believe that we are strong on the lending and loan approval aspect
but not so much on the repayment side of the equation. Therefore we
have decided to lend direct focus to trying to make amendments and
improvements to the system.
The changes made to the system will benefit the Spring 2012 GLOBE
class and many other classes in the future. We have not made final
recommendations to Dr. Sama yet but we have a lot of ideas on how
to recoup our loan installments on time. We have to improve our
communications with the Daughters of Charity in the field. We would
go about this by asking the Daughters to do a semiannual report on
the borrowers in the field. The semiannual report would be a simple
document with the names of the borrowers, amount paid per month for
the six-month period and the interest paid. The document would be
really simple and understandable to people of varying education
levels. We had to decide between quarterly reports and semiannual
reports. Semiannual would work better because there are two GLOBE
classes per year, the fall and spring. The reports could be
submitted in March and September; this would work well because
incumbent Accounting and Finance GLOBE managers would be available
to analyze the information.
I do not view the repayments challenge as being indicative of a
shortfall of the previous GLOBE managers. When organizations are
young and growing, it is difficult to forecast some of the problems
that may arise. That is why we are here, we have to recognize our
strengths and weaknesses as an organization and make the necessary
changes. The Finance and Risk team also met to evaluate our
performance thus far. We are satisfied with our progress but we are
not comfortable. We are busy examining the interest rates and we
would like to at least give our first loan to an entrepreneur in
Vietnam.
Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log # 7
By Franco Agrusa
Two weeks have passed since our last formal meeting for GLOBE
and we have more or less reached the homestretch in the semester.
At this point plans are in place for the rest of the semester,
including events, ideas, and the final presentation. With the final
presentation looming over our heads, many of us are taking a hard
look at our objectives and doing the best we can to reach them.
These past couple of days have definitely helped me come to the
realization that what the previous GLOBE managers said was true,
that the most important thing is to start early. I feel that I
underestimated the amount of work that is involved in making GLOBE
successful each semester. While it is absolutely important to look
at past class goals and try and surpass them, it’s also important
to work within your own limitations. The objectives that the
Marketing team set out in the beginning of the semester are bold to
say the least, but we are working as hard as we can to meet those
objectives and to leave a legacy.
Part of that legacy happens to be the phone campaign, which we are
in the process of implementing. We have been actively working to
raise awareness on campus among students and faculty, but also
realize that alumni are an important part of the equation. Our
presence on campus has been good and we have had a few events
including the bake sale and Treat for Change which have basically
forced the GLOBE name and logo upon the student body. It is nice to
see that GLOBE itself is becoming more talked about around campus.
On several occasions I had mentioned GLOBE in the beginning of the
semester, only to be met with blank stares and questions. Now, the
mention of GLOBE brings nods and understanding of the program; even
a reference to Yunus as I had mentioned in my last log. Overall,
the awareness among the student body is noticeable, with even more
room to grow. With our path set in terms of student awareness, we
are now shifting our focus and really cracking down on the
fundraising aspect of the course. The phone campaign, which we are
trying to implement, brings the alumni element into the fundraising
efforts. The calls will be geared towards recent graduates who
embody the spirit of giving. Hopefully, this campaign will provide
us with the funds we need to truly call this semester a success.
Recently, a small group of classmates and myself got the chance to
sit down and train with someone from the call center, Aaron, who
has been instrumental in putting this campaign together. After
going through the system and being properly trained alongside
classmates, it is even clearer that this campaign is absolutely
feasible. At this point, we have the training and are ready to
start the campaign as soon as the call center itself is ready. With
their assistance in providing the correct list we will be able to
reach a large amount of people who are willing to support
GLOBE.
Tonight, we had the opportunity to be a part of a Microfinance Club
of New York event held on the Manhattan campus of St. John’s
University. The event, which featured four women who were heavily
involved in the world of microfinance, education, and
micro-insurance, was a discussion panel. This panel gave the GLOBE
managers the chance to see how many different approaches there are
to assessing risk involved with microfinance and how that risk
translates to success. In comparison to the event we all attended
at the Morgan Stanley HQ, this panel discussed microfinance from a
more hands on standpoint, while the previous event took a more
technical view. Working the event and hosting a table made me, in
particular, feel like a part of the microfinance world. Just as the
last event, it was insightful, as well as intimidating to see the
level of expertise that these women portrayed on the subject. It
was intimidating in the sense that it takes a great deal of passion
for a subject to truly be a leader in it.
Overall, the past two weeks have been successful in certain aspects
and have set most of us on the direct path to the final
presentations. November will be a big month for the globe managers.
It includes the initiation of our phone campaign, our event during
entrepreneurship week where we will begin our raffle, a bake sale
on November 21st, and preparations for the final presentations. We
look forward to the challenge.
Technology and Communications Team
Log # 7
By Shana Barnes
GLOBE is more than just an acronym, term, definition, or even
just a class. At this point in the semester, GLOBE means so much
more. My team and I had to hit the ground running. Within the first
couple times we met, we became very close and had to quickly devise
our team objectives that we will follow as a guideline for the rest
of the semester. We thought we touched on some major points, but
little did we know that by being in the class we would learn so
much more than we imagined. Between regular class lectures,
attending different events, and having guest speakers, they all
inspire me to personally want to do more. With the semester being
so short, as a class, we can only accomplish the realistic goals we
set for ourselves. Our best bet would be just to help guide the
following GLOBE managers to take on the task of doing what we could
not.
What is Poverty Mapping? I never knew what this was until Dr.
Brenton came in as a guest speaker. Global Poverty Mapping can be
defined as “A way of understanding the global distribution of
poverty and the geographic and biophysical conditions of where the
poor live.” One of the benefits of Poverty Mapping is that it helps
policy makers in designing ways or interventions to help reduce
poverty. I personally think that this is a great way to spread the
word about what is happening around the world. Many, including
myself, did not realize how drastic poverty was in certain
countries just by reading a simple statistic. By having an actual
visual picture to express the importance of a topic such as this,
will allow it to hit home for many. Reading about something might
not have the same effect on some people the way a picture can. The
saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I believe that
future GLOBE managers should somehow incorporate this into their
team objectives, which can help raise awareness of this
issue.
The IT Team has been posting inspirational quotes daily on all of
GLOBE social media platforms. I find that many who visit our sites
are drawn to something simple as a quote because they can relate to
it or can take something away from its meaning. Certain quotes I
use as a reminder of why I am doing the things that I do. In
relation to GLOBE, the one quote that I read every so often is a
quote by Muhammad Yunus. “I think, social business is the most
logical thing to do. If we had done that, we could reduce all the
problems we have.” This is a great quote that I can easily relate
to when writing my first social business plan ever. A small idea of
how to help others can go a long way without one even realizing it
from the start. It is amazing just to think that the power of
social businesses can really change the world we live in today.