Month of Microfinance Archives

UMW students and graduates met with Muhammad Yunus (fifth from left) during a trip to D.C.

Associate Professor of Economics Shawn Humphrey and more than a dozen current UMW students and graduates met with Bangladeshi banker, economist and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus during a trip to Washington, D.C. on Monday, July 22. The meeting was a reward for the students’ work with the Month of Microfinance and La Ceiba.

Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, is the seventh person to have received the Congressional Gold Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Peace Prize. He is credited with establishing the concept of microfinance and was recently named one of the most influential business thinkers by the Wall Street Journal.

More than 85 global microfinance partners have joined the University of Mary Washington in the Month of Microfinance. Throughout the month of April, students at UMW and other participating colleges, universities and high schools will host and participate in campus events related to providing financial services to low-income people who would otherwise be unable to get assistance.

A grassroots movement founded at UMW, the Month of Microfinance (MoMF) is in its second year. This year, dozens of international partners are supporting MoMF, including Kiva, Whole Foods Market’s Whole Planet Foundation and Accion. The program highlights local and global events with the goal of providing a value-driven and positive impact for clients. MoMF facilitates connections between students and the microfinance community through conversation and learning. Muhammad Yunus, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, advocated for microfinance principles in a recent video. “Many of the poor don’t have access to financial services and we’re really trying to change that,” said Laura Dick, a senior anthropology and economics major and member of the MoMF executive board. As a part of MoMF, a group of UMW students will participate in the Two Dollar Challenge from April 8 through 13. The Two Dollar Challenge, founded by Associate Professor of Economics Shawn Humphrey in 2007, is designed to raise funds and awareness for poverty-related causes. The Two Dollar Challenge also will occur at other campus communities across the country. Funds raised during the Two Dollar Challenge will go towards La Ceiba, a UMW-based collegiate microfinance institution founded by Humphrey that provides financial, social and educational support to communities in El Progreso, Honduras. “We’re passionate about what we’re doing” said Dick. “We really believe that it’s not just our intentions that matter, but the effects of our actions.” For more information about MoMF and a full schedule of events, visit http://monthofmicrofinance.org/.