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Nov 02, 2010
The Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference Round Up
There was a huge amount of information and data presented at the recent Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference. It was hard to take it all in, but thankfully there were a number of bloggers and other interested parties at the event who have provided summaries, interviews and reactions. Those posts are collected here for easy access and we’ll be updating the list as we go.
The presentations of many of the presenters can be found here.
First, pre-conference thoughts from a number of participants:
Jake Kendall, Gates Foundation
Kate McKee, CGAP
Barbara Magnoni, EA Consultants
Carlos Danel, Banco Compartamos
Jody Rasch, Moody’s
Second, highlights from some of the conference organizers:
Day 1 Highlights from Dean Karlan, Jonathan Morduch and Jody Rasch
Day 2 Highlights from Dean Karlan and Jonathan Morduch
Third, blog posts about specific sessions or presentations organized by day:
Day 1:
Philanthropy Action posts
Opening Session
Microfinance Impacts
Microinsurance: It Works But Nobody Wants It
Why Aren’t We Targeting Men?
Targeting the Ultrapoor
Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference 2010, Day 1 by Eva Pereira, Forbes
The Real Revolution in Microfinance by Barbara Kiviat, Reuters
A Sobering Assessment of Microfinance’s Impact by Tamara Straus of Stanford Social Innovation Review
Animal Farm at the Microfinance Impact and Innovation Conference by Tom Murphy, Huffington Post
Microcredit as Savings in Reverse by Chris Blattman
The Real Revolution in Microfinance by Carlos Ani, Chairman of SEEDFINANCE, one of the MFIs that have participated in impact research
Day 2:
Philanthropy Action posts
What Don’t We Know About Microfinance?
Can It Help the Poor If It Hurts Banks?
The Psychology of Savings by Tom Murphy, A View from the Cave
Practitioners and Researchers: Missing the Middle by Tom Murphy, A View from the Cave
The “Missing Middle” In Our Microfinance Knowledge by Rohit Nampally, IPA
The “Missing Middle”—Abhijit Banerjee’s Presentation by Rohit
The Rigidity of Microcredit by Eva Pereira, Forbes
Take a Hike Accountants by Tom Murphy, Huffington Post
More Needed Research by David Roodman, Center for Global Development
Interesting Experiments in Microfinance by Suvojit Chattopadhyay, On My Way
Comments
It’s interesting how so much is being done to study the effects of micro funding in countries other than the US.
Why not talk about the opportunities for micro/mentor funding in the US?
The other thing that I noticed was that many who received funds bought food, FOOD.
Shouldn’t that signify that far too many people are hungry?
So how about a tie-in with a caring mentor (prodded by incentive if necessary), who would begin by making sure that basic human needs
are met, and then serve as a mentor in the business venture?
This is the better answer to the viability question of micro funding potential.
March 08, 2011