Welcome to the University of Pennsylvania's Microfinance Club
Meet Our 2009-2010 Board!
| Board Member | Bio |
Tiger Lee, President
|
After eight-weeks in India teaching elementary school students English, I realized there may be more effective ways to help the impoverished. Coming to Penn, I was able to find The Penn MFC right after its first year of inception. I have been a board member for three years and I have developed more each and every passing year. Pursuing a dual-degree in The Wharton School and The School of Arts & Sciences, has allowed me to take classes that are quantitative & qualitative, both of which have been crucial in helping to develop the club and advise the clients of the Penn MFC. This will be my third year working with the Bali Microfinance Initiative (BMI) and I hope to make it more interesting and better than the first two trips! I am also overseeing the rest of the groups so if you plan to join one of the teams, I will soon get a chance to meet you! |
Vivian Chen
|
Vivian is a Wharton Junior with intended concentrations in Marketing and Management. Vivian became interested in international development during high school when she founded her own nonprofit organization called World In Hands. Since then, she has done development work in Kenya, Honduras, Tibet, various parts of China and most recently Bali, Indonesia. She will be spear-heading a new project team this year to the birthplace of microfinance, Bangladesh and hopes to gain invaluable experience. If you are interested in joining the team or just want to discuss microfinance or development, please contact her at mingwei@wharton.upenn.edu. During her free time, Vivian likes to cook and doodle with crayons. |
Kevin Vichyastit, Treasurer |
Kevin is currently a junior at Penn majoring in both economics and international relations along with a minor in Chinese. He first had the opportunity to learn about microfinance during his freshman year and became involved with Penn MFC's Ghana Initiative as a sophomore. Last summer, he traveled to Ghana to volunteer for Village Exchange Ghana's microfinance division. This year, Kevin looks forward to learning a lot more about international development through both his classes and Penn MFC. contact Kevin at: kevk@sas.upenn.edu |
Cindy Berman, Events Co-Chair
|
Cindy Berman is a Sophomore in the College majoring in International Relations and minoring in International Development. As co-events chair, Cindy will plan club events for microfinance awareness, fundraising, and general club cohension. Events will include movie nights and lectures by prominent microfinance professionals. In addition, Cindy will help run a new initiative, the Latin American Imitative. Last year, as a club member, Cindy helped plan the Penn Microfinance Club’s annual conference. Cindy has always been passionate for helping others, especially globally. While interning at Kintera, Inc., a publicly held software company, Cindy first learned about microfinance. She researched and built websites for non-profit organizations helping Latin America, which included Opportunity International, a non-profit focused on microfinance. This sparked her passion for microfinance, which led her to start the first microfinance campaign at her school. Using online and offline fundraising methods, as well as speaking to school clubs, parents, and middle school children, Cindy promoted a project to provide microloans to women coffee growers in Olopa, Guatemala. Cindy partnered with Project Concern International, an international health and humanitarian non-profit for this initiative. In honor of her work, Soroptimist International of the Americas, the largest womens’ international service organization, named Cindy their International Award winner for their Violet Richardson Award. As the International Award Recipient from among 1,400 clubs in 19 countries, Soropotimist flew Cindy to Taiwan, to receive her award, which included a donation to her microfinance initiative, and where she educated almost 2,000 women from around the world about microfinance. In the future, Cindy is interested in doing international development work and consulting. Outside of the Penn Microfinance Club, Cindy is involved in Wharton Women, the Penn Society for International Development, and various community service projects. Contact Cindy at: cindy.berman@gmail.com |
Jacky Chau, Research Chair
|
Jacky is a senior from Hong Kong, China, and is the current research chair of the club. He is majoring in Philosophy, Politics, Economics at College and concentrating in Finance and Statistics at Wharton, with minors in East Asian Studies and Mathematics. He is interested in exploring more about the role of microfinance in development. He has done two independent studies about microfinance under SPUR and WIRE. He visisted a number of microfinance related organizations in China over the summer and is heading the China Microfinance Initiative this year. Contact Jacky at: yuenkit.jacky@gmail.com |
Ashima Sukhdev
|
Ashima is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Economics and minoring in Environmental Studies. She is originally from India, and has lived in Mumbai, Singapore and now in London. She joined the Microfinance Club as an eager freshman after being inspired in high school by Muhammad Yunus’ autobiography and a stint finding out about India’s microfinance programs with the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development in Mumbai. Apart from the MFC, Ashima is an exec member of the Penn Environmental Group, and super passionate about all things green. In her spare time, you’ll inevitably find her either napping, chilling with her friends or exploring Philly! Contact Ashima at: asukhdev@sas.upenn.edu |
Linda Xiao Kang, Webmaster
|
Linda is a dual degree student in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Nursing. Her first impression and knowledge about microfinance was from her Health and Societies major class. Since then, she has went to help with many non-profit organizations and NGOs: First Book, Penn for UNICEF, Red Cross, Active Minds, Givology, Power Up Gambia, TECC and Dream Corps International. You'll most likely find her at the Civic House on campus, helping out with many community service groups. Contact Linda at: kangxi@sas.upenn.edu |
Ishika Das
|
Ishika is a sophomore at Wharton with intended concentrations in Accounting and Management, and is pursuing a minor in French. She was part of the Bali Initiative of the MFC club during her freshman year, and will be, along with Tyler Myerberg planning this year's conference in the spring. She is interested in international development, especially in the role of microcredit lending in alleviating poverty. Contact Ishika at: ishikad@wharton.upenn.edu |
Chayapong (Oat) Naviroj
|
Oat is an international student from Bangkok, Thailand, majoring in Economics and minoring in Music. He joined the club his sophomore year and is now leading the Ghana Initiative. This past summer he traveled to Ho, a small town in Ghana, and worked on the ground with microfinance clients as he evaluated and distributed micro-loans, conducted surveys with SME clients, and educated people about the importance of savings. Outside of the microfinance club, Oat is a part of Penn’s swing dancing troupe, enjoys cooking Thai cuisines, and loves to play squash, tennis, and soccer. Contact Oat at: cnaviroj@gmail.com |
anandi
|
Anandi is a sophomore in the College intending to major in Economics and minor in Spanish. She discovered microfinance through Mohammad Yunus’ ‘Banker to the Poor’ and developed this interest during a four-week internship at Ujjivan, an India-based microfinance institution, during her junior year of high school. As Co-Events Chair, she is responsible for raising awareness about microfinance among the Penn community. Anandi is passionate about tennis and writing. |
Lauren
|
Lauren is a Wharton sophomore with a planned concentration in finance and minor in political science. She was first introduced to microfinance when she heard a speaker on the subject in high school and has been intrigued by the concept ever since. She wanted to learn more about microfinance, so she joined Penn MFC last year, becoming involved in the Bali Initiative. She is in charge of PR and new member recruitment, so if you have any questions about the club or are thinking about joining contact her at lcuzz@wharton.upenn.edu |
Microfinance is an effective means to poverty alleviation. Research showed that in Bangladesh microfinance helps poor, loan-borrowing persons pull themselves above the poverty line at a rate of 48%. Those who didn’t borrow escaped poverty at a rate of only 4%.
The industry’s primary agent is the microcredit loan, a small but usefully-sized loan given to a group of poor entrepreneurs. With access to credit, these poor persons can purchase productive business capital and with it start family-run businesses, thereby generating greater incomes. Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) most usually target women.
Many MFIs serve multiple social missions, including gender equality, health education, access to healthcare and sustainable development. In recent years, the profitability of these institutions has become a top priority, as not-for-profit MFIs often must lend at higher interest rates.