80 REAL-LEADERS.COM / WINTER 2022 LEADING LEADERS 75 MONEY 76 CLIMATE ACTION 78 SOCIAL IMPACT 74 INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY 80 INVESTING Investing Grameen America Changes Lives One Microloan at a Time Microloans have traditionally been associated with Asia and Africa,but they're proving effective in America too. Grameen America shows how this approach can generate beneficial social impact — alongside healthy financial returns bank accounts, or establishing credit scores. It has remained faithful to Yunus’ original methodology, which requires women to form a support group and go through training to learn about loans, savings, and credit building before receiving a microloan. Initial loans cannot exceed $2,000, and borrowers make weekly payments over a 6-month term. As part of the program, borrowers open free savings accounts with commercial banks and make weekly deposits. Grameen also reports microloan repayments to Experian, helping the entrepreneurs establish a credit score and build their financial identity. But the secret sauce of Grameen’s program is the weekly center meeting, during which When David Gough needs to be inspired, he thinks of people like Shanté, a custom jewelry entrepreneur in Newark, New Jersey; Alfa, who owns and operates a beauty and skincare salon in Miami; and Shirley, a gourmet popcorn proprietor in Fresno, California. They are among tens of thousands of women across the United States who took their entrepreneurial dreams and turned them into reality with the help of Grameen America, a nonprofit microloans provider of financial training and support to its borrower members. “Our borrowers are resilient, and they have really great business ideas; they just need a little capital to make them happen,” says Gough, Grameen America’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “It’s inspiring to see what an impact a small loan can make in the lives of women and their families.” Since its founding in 2008, Grameen America has loaned more than $2.4 billion to over 150,000 women, replicating a business model that was developed by Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. Grameen America focuses on women below the federal poverty line — a group with few options for accessing capital, opening “It’s inspiring to see what an impact a small loan can make in the lives of women and their families.” — DAVID GOUGH
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