Coming to America: Bankers Without Borders

May 2, 2011

The Grameen Foundation is sharpening its focus on microentrepreneurship in America. The global nonprofit announced today the expansion of its Bankers without Borders initiative into the U.S., in collaboration with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). Grameen officials say they expect the new collaboration will benefit more than 400 organizations that help micro-businesses throughout the U.S.

"This collaboration will help strengthen the capacity of those nonprofits focused on unlocking the potential of low-income entrepreneurs here in the United States," said Alex Counts, President and CEO of the Grameen Foundation.

"Through this partnership we will be able to deploy a skilled volunteer base to support our network of non-profit member organizations around the country that provide capital and services to underserved Main Street micro-businesses," added Connie Evans, AEO's President and CEO.

Bankers without Borders is an initiative launched in 2009 by Grameen. It includes a corps of more than 6,200 volunteers from throughout the business world, including investment bankers, risk management professionals, information technology experts and marketing executives. These volunteers provide on-site technical assistance, training and mentoring, as well as remote consulting through microenterprise development organizations (MDOs). That, in turn, allows MDOs to expand the reach and scope of services provided low-income and underserved entrepreneurs.

Since the Bankers without Borders initiative was launched in 2009, more than 500 volunteers have donated more than 50,000 hours of hands-on work valued at about $4 million, according to Grameen. The mega-bank J.P. Morgan is the first bank sponsor to join the initiative.

"Our Bankers without Borders' volunteers are some of the best and brightest minds in the private sector," said Counts. "For those volunteers who are U.S. residents, this partnership presents them with the opportunity to help maike a difference here at home where high levels of unemployment has prompted many to try their hand at self-empowerment through entrepreneurship."

Fewer than 2% of the world's poor have access to financial services other than those provided by unregulated moneylenders.