Global Partnerships

nonprofit

Address and Contact:

909 NE Boat Street

Seattle, WA

98105

Beth Castleberry (Director of Development and Communications)
bcastleberry@globalpartnerships.org
206-652-8736

www.globalpartnerships.org

Organization Description:

Founded in 1994, Global Partnerships' mission is to expand opportunity for people living in poverty and provide leadership in the fight against global poverty. Microfinance is an innovative, market-based solution that helps people living in poverty to help themselves. For example, loans as small as $100 can give microentrepreneurs the boost they need to start or expand their own businesses and generate income to provide nutritious food, healthcare, education and adequate shelter for their families. Of the estimated 560 million impoverished people who would benefit from access to microfinance, only a fraction is currently being reached. Global Partnerships supports the expansion of microfinance throughout Latin America by investing capital and management expertise in high-performing, poverty-focused, sustainable microfinance institutions (MFIs), which in turn expand access to poverty-alleviating financial services to more people.

Example Project:

In the past two years, we have launched two microfinance investment funds and now provide 480,000 borrowers with access to microcredit, operate in six countries and impact the lives of 1.8 million people living in poverty. The investment funds bring much-needed but otherwise unavailable funding to microfinance institutions, enabling them to expand their reach to a greater number of people living in poverty. GP's Microfinance Fund 2005 raised $2 million from 22 socially motivated investors and was loaned to eight high-performing MFIs to generate 50,000 microloans over five years. Microfinance Fund 2006 totals $8.5 million and will expand Global Parnterships' reach in Latin America.

Activities that combat poverty:

Economic Development, Economic & Social Inequities, Employment & Income Generation, Microfinance

Areas of Service:

Public Awareness, Capacity Building, Technical Assistance

Nations of the World:

Americas: Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru