Author Archives: marchofparadigms

About marchofparadigms

UTS Commerce Masters student with an interest in microfinance and NGOs!

A Social Entrepreneurship Event at UTS!

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Incubating social enterprises and executing on sustainable solutions: Ending modern slavery

UTS and BUiLD are hosting a talk by well known American social entrepreneur David Batstone.  It should be a great event for those familiar with and new to the concept of social enterprise.

Dr David Batstone is the President, Co-founder, and Fearless Leader of Not For Sale (opens an external site). His “tripolar” background in education, investment banking and journalism give David the experience and vision to tackle human trafficking from every angle and drive the organisation forward at an unprecedented pace.

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THINK micro’s first micro fundraiser a great success!

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A big THANK YOU to everyone who came out today to support THINK micro’s first fundraising effort for the Grameen Koota school-building project!

Together, we managed to raise $404 for our cause, which is a great beginning and a testament to the strength that comes from working together.  Stay tuned to this space for details of our next fundraising events in the upcoming month! Cheers! Tm.

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Announcing THINK micro’s first micro fundraiser!

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THINK micro is pleased to announce the launch of its first micro fundraiser, an effort to raise $4500 to build an early childhood education centre in rural Karnataka India!  You can find details about this fundraiser and the organisations that it supports by clicking on the link in the menu bar, above.

Our first fundraising event will be a bake sale, held on 22 May 2012 from 10 AM to 2 PM outside of the BUiLD exhibit in the UTS Tower Building.  Come along to learn more about THINK micro, sample some delicious baked treats, and help out a great cause!

Introduction to Microfinance Part 2 of 5

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Part 2 of 5

Welcome to the second in a series of articles introducing basic concepts in microfinance.  These are for those who are interested in the field but new to the ideas involved. Today, a simple example of how microfinance might work in practice:

How microfinance works

Microfinance at its most simple is a method of lending money to the poor, so that they can start their own small businesses to generate supplemental income.  Microfinance loans are novel in that they use group dynamics in local communities to overcome the inability of borrowers to meet the traditional criteria for receiving loans.  These include having a credit history, identity documents, and collateral pledges.

A simple example of a microfinance lending scenario is as follows:

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Introduction to Microfinance Part 1 of 5

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Series Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the first in a short series of articles that serve as an introduction to microfinance.  These articles are for those who are interested in the field of microfinance but new to the ideas involved.  These articles were inspired by a UTS-sponsored trip to India to study microfinance that I participated in during July of 2011.  (Perhaps some of you will consider applying for one of UTS’ life-changing trips sometime in the near future! More information about them is available here.)  The full five part article is also available as a PDF download here.  Enjoy!

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Introducing Grameen Koota and Unitus: A microfinance video

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In February 2012, students from THINK micro visited Grameen Koota, a top 20 ranked Indian microfinance institution located in Bangalore.  Our team came away impressed with both the professionalism and dedication of the Grameen Koota staff and the group shared a video about microfinance with us.   This video was prepared in partnership with Unitus, a US-based NGO that provides capital raising, financial advisory, and innovation development services to microfinance and social business organisations across the developing world!

The video incorporates some great case studies on the application of microfinance services in both India and Kenya:

Keep an eye on this space, as THINK micro is currently working behind the scenes on a potential fundraiser for a Grameen/Unitus project focused on early childhood education!