About CMI
Our Mission Statement. The Carolina Microfinance Initiative (CMI) exists as a center to catalyze interest and facilitate action in microfinance on the campus of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We are a seedbed for the growth of industry knowledge and we are a call for the informed engagement of our community in the world at large.
CMI educates the UNC campus and broader community, academically engages current industry issues and trends, and concentrates and connects microfinance resources. Through this, CMI develops well-informed field volunteers and innovators to facilitate the growth of successful microfinance initiatives throughout the world.
Our Role in the Microfinance Industry. As microfinance grows in popularity and donor dollars flow to MFIs (see Reuters article), the need for skilled human resources in microfinance also grows. A quote from the article mentioned above,Kiva hit the publicity jackpot in September when Oprah Winfrey featured the organization on her daytime television program, attracting a tidal wave of interest from Middle America. Its 211,000 users have lent out a total of $18.7 million. Demand was so high the day the episode aired, every loan on the site was fulfilled.
Understandably, when those of us in the developed world hear about microfinance, we immediately recognize its power, and the potential power we have to make a huge difference, by getting involved and loaning a few bucks. This is phenomenal, and it seems we are on our way to eventually closing the large gap that currently exists between the supply and demand for loans.
Once our money is on the ground, however, its transformative power is highly dependent on the way that recipient microfinance institutions operate and function. Thus, CMI's role is to not only educate our community about microfinance and facilitate this amazing flow of monetary support for microfinance, but also to provide MFIs with the human capital they need to ensure that they are using such financial support to make an optimal impact in their communities. From CGAP's "Key Principles of Microfinance,"
The key bottleneck is the shortage of strong institutions and managers. Microfinance is a specialized field that combines banking with social goals ... Public and private investments in microfinance should focus on building this [human] capacity, not just moving money.
As such, at the core of CMI's mission is training and educating college students to serve as microfinance interns and volunteers and perhaps to work in microfinance professionally once they graduate. We learned through our work in Peru that well-informed and energetic students, armed with ideas, connections and skills, can make all the difference. We can complete impact assessments and client satisfaction surveys to improve services, we can translate websites and make documentaries to improve marketing, and we can negotiate lucrative partnerships (i.e. with Kiva) to get MFIs better access to donors in the developed world. CMI completed these projects in Peru, and among other improvements, grossed for our partner MFI over $250,000 in loan capital just four months.
This work is our lifeblood.
