Grameen Foundation to Expand its Banker Without Borders Initiative

Grameen Foundation has announced that it is expanding its Bankers without Borders initiative, which offers a skills-based volunteer engagement framework.

 

The company said that the program will be supported by a three-year, $3 million grant from JPMorgan Chase Foundation, which became an inaugural sponsor of the program in 2008. 

 

BwB initiative taps senior working professionals for short-term, field-based or remote skills-based projects supporting microfinance institutions and technology-for-development initiatives. 

 

Grameen Foundation officials said that since the program’s launch, around 3,000 professionals from around the world have registered with BwB. In addition, many have supported high-priority needs of MFIs or networks on projects in areas such as portfolio risk management, human capital development, social performance management and more. 

 

Moreover, volunteers have contributed more than $2.3 million of in-kind service to Grameen Foundation and MFIs in nine countries such as Haiti, China, India, Ghana and Tunisia, officials said.

 

Currently, Grameen Foundation has over 50 active BwB projects for which it is recruiting or to which it has assigned volunteers. With J.P. Morgan funding, the program is expected to expand globally, help build the capacity of MFIs, and advance broader private sector support for volunteerism.

 

“Bankers without Borders’ volunteers are helping to give poor people greater access to financial services and information technology by helping microfinance organizations and technology-for-development initiatives improve their operations, develop new products, and reach more clients,” said Alex Counts, president and CEO at Grameen Foundation. 

 

Counts said he believes that J. P. Morgan continues to be a strong ally in helping them strengthen the vital role that volunteers play in the fight against poverty.

 

“Our company is Grameen Foundation's inaugural sponsor for Bankers without Borders,” said Jes Staley, CEO at J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank, adding that extending credit and teaching skills are two essential components of that and this program helps drive both.