SII Lecture: Microfinance and International Development

Friday, November 14   |   5:00 pm   |   Arnold Lounge in Keeny Quad

Speaker: JD Bergeron, Senior Manager, Kiva Fellows Program

Listed as one of the New York Times Magazine's "Top Ideas of 2006", Kiva.org is the first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world. Please join JD, the Senior Manager of the Kiva Fellows Program, to hear an overview on microfinance, the start and growth of Kiva, and how you can get involved in international development.

Speaker: JD Bergeron, Senior Manager, Kiva Fellows Program As Senior Fellows Manager, JD Bergeron leads Kiva's efforts to create meaningful and productive involvement for volunteers who will serve as the new generation of microfinance professionals. He brings over twelve years of broad organizational and program development experience. Prior to Kiva, he was Director of Resource Development at ACCION International, a microfinance industry innovator since 1961. Prior to ACCION, he served with the U.S. Peace Corps in the economically disadvantaged border region of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. He has served in senior roles in a number of young organizations, both in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. JD holds a BA in Russian Language and Comparative Literature from Washington University in Saint Louis.

Boot Camp Workshop
Project (Proposal) Design

Thursday, November 13   |   6:00 pm   |   Hillel - 2nd Floor Meeting Room

What does a rigorous proposal for social innovation look like? - This workshop provides a useful framework for preparing grant and fellowship applications. The first step is defining your project: this entails understanding current approaches and models and how they affect change.  From this base, we can incorporate theories to help us understand how to apply new or innovative approaches to do more effective, outcomes-oriented work.  Finally, by simultaneously developing a system for measurement and evaluation of outcomes of interest, we can constantly refine our model for change.  Potential applicants for the C.V. Starr Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship are strongly encouraged to attend.

Other SII News:

11/19/08  Peer Critique - 7:00pm - Location TBD
11/21/08  Seed Grant Deadline - Applications available soon!

Please contact Alan Harlam, Director of Social Entrepreneurship, for more information Alan_Harlam@brown.edu