{"id":676,"date":"2018-06-26T16:20:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T20:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.haverford.edu\/mi3\/?p=676"},"modified":"2023-08-08T16:32:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T16:32:14","slug":"haverford-microfinance-consulting-hmfc-end-of-the-year-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.haverford.edu\/mi3\/2018\/06\/26\/haverford-microfinance-consulting-hmfc-end-of-the-year-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Haverford Microfinance Consulting (HMFC) End-of-the-Year Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Haverford Microfinance Consulting (HMFC<\/strong>) is a student-run organization here at Haverford College. It provides opportunities for students to engage in microfinance and impact investing projects outside of class. Wonder what HMFC did last year? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Wanyi Yang HC \u201920, one of the leaders of HMFC. Every semester at HMFC has been a different experience. We kicked off the 2017-2018 school year with a project for Quaker Bolivia Link (http:\/\/qbl.org\/<\/a>), an NGO working on water irrigation, food and agriculture projects in rural Bolivia. We designed an impact survey that QBL could use to directly measure their project success with concrete data. Fun fact: Ed Dunlop, one of their USA directors, teaches people how to fly during his free time!<\/p>\n

HMFC also welcomed many incredible speakers this year. Back in February, three Haverford alumni, Kae Anderson \u201913, Stuart Hean \u201914 and Travis West \u201913 spoke about their organizations\u2019 different approaches to ethical urban redevelopment. Kae and Stuart also shared with us a project they had both been working on \u2013 the \u201cKensington Avenue Storefront Challenge\u201d that aimed to transform Kensington into a safe and innovative neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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Panel on Ethical Urban Development. Photo By Holden Blanco ’17<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kae Anderson ’13 (New Kensington CDC), Stuart Hean ’14 (Shift Capital) and Travis West ’13 (ReBuild Metro) speak on a panel about different approaches to urban redevelopment. Photo by Holden Blanco ’17<\/p><\/div>\n

This was arguably the most well-attended HMFC event during my time here!<\/p>\n

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Attendees gather in the VCAM Presentation Lounge and Community kitchen for a reception after the conclusion of the Ethical Urban Redevelopment and Gentrification Alumni Panel. Photo by Holden Blanco ’17<\/p><\/div>\n

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And we made good use of the new VCAM space for a reception afterwards.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>We also welcomed Tim Ogden to speak about the \u201cUS Financial Diaries\u201d project. The project documented detailed financial data from more than 230 US low-income households for a year and has had a major impact on anti-poverty policy.<\/p>\n

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(http:\/\/www.usfinancialdiaries.org\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Our next speaker \u2013 Fabrizio Cometto from MCE Social Capital \u2013 introduced his\"\"<\/a> organization\u2019s innovative financing model \u2013 using guarantees from high net worth individuals to secure low-interest loans from banks for microfinance organizations (and more recently, social enterprises directly).<\/p>\n

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In April, HMFC took a field trip to The 12th<\/sup> Annual Penn Microfinance Conference. This year\u2019s theme was \u201cFinancing the Future.\u201d Speakers touched upon how microfinance was used to promote green technology, and discussed the complicated subject matter of sustainability in microfinance.<\/p>\n

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Our bake sale fundraiser each semester has long been a tradition at HMFC. The organizations we raise funds for differ every semester. During Fall 2017, in the light of the natural disasters that hit multiple parts of the world, we raised funds for three organizations dedicated to disaster relief in Haiti, Puerto Rico and Mexico. During the spring semester, we made loans to 3 borrowers on Kiva (www.kiva.org<\/a>). The donors chose what causes they wanted their money go towards and in the end, women and education won the popular votes. Two semesters combined, we have raised more than $350 for these organizations and individuals!<\/p>\n

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Along with the delicious cookies, the donors also received catchy financial literacy tips that we prepared.<\/p>\n

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