April 15, 2009
Grameen America, St. John’s To Announce Strategic
Partnership
St. John’s University is honored to announce the visit of Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank,
to its Queens Campus on Saturday, April 18 as part of Grameen
America’s Open House and Spring Fair to be held in Carnesecca
Arena. Grameen America was established in January 2008 in Jackson
Heights, Queens, to bring the successful social justice programs of
Grameen Bank to the United States.
The Open House will include a presentation by Prof. Yunus on the
ability of Grameen’s microfinance programs and social businesses to
move millions out of poverty. Between 80 and 100 clients of
Grameen America, most from Latino communities in Queens, will
participate in a Borrowers’ Market outside of Carnesecca Arena
between 2 and 5 p.m. In addition, St. John’s and Grameen
America will announce a strategic partnership with the newly
established Vincentian Institute for Social Action (VISA) that will
provide St. John’s students the opportunity to learn and work in
the field of business and microfinance as they support Grameen
America’s plans to expand throughout New York City and around the
country.
Grameen
Bank and Dr. Yunus, pioneers of modern day microfinance, were
jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. As of January, 2009,
Grameen Bank had 7.71 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women, and
operated 2,451 branches that provide services to 83,744 villages
covering almost 100% of the total villages in Bangladesh.
“We are delighted with the opportunity to have our students and
faculty work with Grameen America, as they bring their proven
approach to serving the poor and addressing issues of social
justice to New York City.” said James P. Pellow, Ed.D., Executive
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at St. John’s
University. “Initially, this partnership will engage students from
The Peter J. Tobin College of Business (TCB) who will serve as
interns at Grameen America. Student interns will be selected
from our Global Microfinance Program, established by TCB Dean Dr.
Steven Papamarcos in spring 2009 and directed by management
professor Dr. Linda Sama. We envision the partnership growing to
include many students and faculty at St. John’s who will assist
Grameen America expand services in New York City, and begin to
explore how the resources of higher education might advance the
latest poverty solution promoted by Dr. Yunus, the establishment of
social businesses.”
Dr. Yunus,
a Fulbright scholar and esteemed Professor at the University of
Chittagong in Bangladesh, began his transformation from teaching
economic theory to implementing practical solutions to poverty in
1976. While conducting field-based research with graduates students
in his homeland, Dr. Yunus discovered that the poor were unable to
advance not because of a lack of skill, but because of a lack of
access to capital. He arranged for a small loan of $27 to a
group of 42 families who were suffering from famine. This led to
the creation of the now famous Grameen Bank, a credit delivery
system that would provide banking services to millions of rural
poor without the burdens of predatory lending or the policy
limitations of traditional banking systems. By moving from a
posture of research to one of action, Dr. Yunus’ Grameen Bank
became the first of over thirty Grameen businesses designed to
address the needs of the poor by looking at the world’s barriers to
prosperity through the eyes of the poor.
After an initial meeting in December 2008, St. John’s and Grameen
America participated in the TCB Microfinance Day on March 27 on the
University’s Queens Campus where Grameen America representatives
Katherine Brodsky and Leslie Kane served as panelists. Dr. Linda M.
Sama, Associate Dean for Global Initiatives and Professor of
Management at The Tobin College of Business, and students from the
Global Micro-loan class sponsored the event. The Global
Micro-loan class is part of a new TCB initiative titled: Global
Loan Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs (GLOBE).
GLOBE was inspired by the work of Dr. Yunus and Grameen Bank. The
mission of GLOBE, a student-managed program in TCB, is to help
alleviate poverty in developing countries by providing small
business loans to entrepreneurs in impoverished areas who would
otherwise not have access to credit. GLOBE has established a
partnership with the Daughters of Charity, an international
religious order of sisters operating in over 90 countries, to award
microloans in developing nations.
“We are going beyond just offering micro-loans now, and are looking
for partner organizations that can help our borrowers in a variety
of ways”, says Ms. Leslie Kane, VP of Finance and Strategy for
Grameen America.
This strategic partnership between St. John’s and Grameen America
will be managed through the university’s newly formed Vincentian
Institute for Social Action (VISA). VISA was established to
coordinate the talents of inter-disciplinary faculty, passionate
students and strategic service partners to develop and implement
practical, measurable solutions to poverty. VISA will draw
upon the resources of all six colleges and schools of St. John’s as
it works with select social agencies in New York City, across the
nation and around the world. Rev. James J. Maher, C.M. serves as
Executive Director of the VISA program at St. John’s.
About Grameen America
Grameen America is a non-profit microfinance organization whose
mission is to help alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship by
providing loans, savings programs, credit establishment, and other
financial services to the working poor, especially women, in the
United States. Grameen America is built upon the success of the
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus,
the Grameen Bank is the most widely recognized microfinance company
in the world. The success earned both Professor Yunus and the
Grameen Bank the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
Grameen America has been created so that people with limited or no
access to credit can use entrepreneurship and self-employment,
proven means in the United Sates, for increasing wealth and
escaping poverty. The poor are frequently prevented from pursuing
entrepreneurship opportunities because mainstream banks will not
make loans to people who lack minimum credit scores and collateral.
These “unbanked” individuals typically have limited experience in
understanding financial institutions, getting loans, building
savings and managing credit. While conventional banks turn away
these borrowers, the success of high-interest rate predatory
lenders (often charging over 300-400% APR) such as payday loan
corporations, pawnshops, and check cashers has shown that the
unbanked constitute a highly valuable customer base.
Grameen America provides an alternative for these borrowers.
Grameen America provides banking for the unbanked
Media representatives interested in covering the event can contact
Dominic Scianna, Assistant Vice President for Media Relations at
St. John’s University by calling (718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries
to sciannad@stjohns.edu.