From Bottom Billion to Next Billion

Republished with permission from The Grameen Foundation

Luckshmi Sivalingam is a Program Officer for Grameen Foundation’s Solutions for the Poorest program.

Before joining GF, I interviewed fifty clients of a Nepal savings and credit cooperative as part of an impact assessment. I saw that particularly for those living in extreme poverty, the solution to changing their situations can’t be limited to providing access to microfinance’s traditional product: an enterprise loan.

Nearly all the clients I spoke with said that if they’d undergone appropriate skills development or received training on value addition for the goods and services they were selling, then their microenterprises could have generated the additional income required for them to progress out of poverty.

The Solutions for the Poorest team at GF is joining a small but growing group of microfinance practitioners that are looking at how the industry can better meet the needs of the very poor.  One approach we are testing couples livelihoods support with microfinance in a financially sustainable manner, contributing to what has been termed the “double bottom line.”

Solutions for the Poorest has partnered with BASIX/The Livelihood School India, a pioneering livelihood promotion institute, to design an integrated and sustainable methodology to provide financial and non-financial services to the extreme poor—individuals that BASIX wouldn’t typically serve through its everyday microfinance activities.  Also, my colleague, Malini, and I recently travelled to Calcutta to visit Bandhan’s Targeting the Hard Core Poor (THP) program.  THP targets female-headed households, like Shahida Bibi’s, with no or very erratic opportunities to make income. The program provides these women with the skills and assets required to jumpstart a microenterprise.  Supplemented with confidence-building measures, this support cultivates a seemingly limitless entrepreneurial spirit.

Shahida, her seven children, and her disabled husband survived on just $2 a week. Shahida was a housemaid, but without any productive skills and regular income, she wasn’t considered creditworthy by other MFIs.  THP provided her with four goats to help generate a more consistent income stream. This income has allowed Shahida to provide for her family while also nurturing the habit of saving.  In eighteen months, she sold one goat for $43 and diversified her income stream by buying chickens, selling eggs, and later selling coconuts and vegetables to her neighbors.   Shahida has now grown into a real business woman, generating a weekly income of Rs. 2,000 (about $42 dollars).  She’s already planning for additional ventures.

Addressing the issue of global poverty in a holistic and practical way has made the past month’s immersions in Solutions for the Poorest initiatives an intellectually stimulating and inspiring experience for me.  I look forward to continuing our work to propel the bottom billion into the next billion.

Vote for Grameen Foundation & help us win a $200,000 grant to fight global poverty! Learn more about how you can help!

To make a donation to the Grameen Foundation, NetIP North America’s 2010 Philanthropy Partner, click here.

Cancer is Color Blind

What is “CiC” and Why NetIP for $100,000?

Written by Ashwin Janakiram, President, NetIp Chicago. Re-published with permission from http://blog.canceriscolorblind.org/

Our first blog launching the Cancer is Colorblind (“CiC”) campaign simultaneously responds to two questions we’ve heard throughout the course of the last six months while developing and planning our fundraising campaign benefiting pediatric and adult cancer patients at Children’s Memorial Hospital and the Sinai Health System:  What is CiC? and Why NetIP?

Everyone wants to help the kids (i.e. our pediatric cancer patients at Children’s Memorial Hospital) and adults fighting cancer (i.e. our partnership with the Sinai Health System).  But why NetIP?  Is cancer NOT colorblind?  What does cancer have to do with a group of 5,000+ South Asian professionals?  Does cancer uniquely affect South Asians?  Are various types of cancer more prevalent in the South Asian community?

It’s true that researchers compile information about cancer diagnoses and track cases using a number of variables including ethnicity and gender to understand the factors affecting cancer risk and how cancer impacts society.  It’s also true that rates of certain cancers, such as liver and stomach cancer, are relatively higher among Asians than certain other segments of the general population.  (See, e.g., USC Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2006 Cancer Report).  But it’s equally true and voluminous statistical data support the proposition that cancer affects all races, genders, and ages.  (See American Cancer Society, Illinois Cancer Facts & Figures 2008-2009)  Since no subset of the population is immune, the theme and direction of our campaign focuses on the “colorblind” nature of cancer.  It’s also our namesake.

But many potential supporters may still wonder why a group called the Network of Indian Professionals of Chicago (“NetIP Chicago”) would invest significant resources, time, and money launching a six-month campaign dedicated to raising funds for cancer-related programming and research and honoring cancer survivors and fighters. After all, there are numerous “South Asian-specific” charities and causes ranging from Apna Ghar (domestic violence shelter catering to immigrant populations) to Akshaya Patra (meal program for hungry school kids in India) to the Association for India’s Development (movement promoting sustainable and equitable development in India).  And these are just a few South Asian focused community groups starting with the alphabet “A”!

While NetIP Chicago partners with and/or supports each of these noted organizations, we designed the Cancer is Colorblind Campaign, which includes our signature year-end gala, to highlight the new and improved NetIP Chicago.  Our mission entails fostering the development of all segments of the Chicago professional community, who have an interest in South Asian culture.

Cancer is Colorblind provides a unique opportunity to achieve our mission by mobilizing and leveraging the success of the entire Chicago community, while recognizing and supporting the cancer struggle shared by all.  Individual participants are presented with an avenue to make an impact, help save lives, and work with like-minded professionals throughout the course of the CiC Campaign.

Getting involved is easy. Participate and start making an impact today.

NetIP Houston: Bookworm Wednesdays!

by Shyam Pillai, Member, NetIP Houston

On a breezy Wednesday evening (May 12th) at the Cafe Express Breezeway a sizeable group of NetIP Houston members, also known as ”Bookworms”, met to discuss Shilpi Gowda’s debut novel “Secret Daughter”.  The group interestingly enough consisted of both avid book readers and non readers looking for a fresh literary start, which made the discussion fascinating as we had a wide range of questions and opinions.

The gang put their critique hats on and discussed the minutest aspects of the book with zest.  From small gestures of the characters that we either loved or expressed disbelief over, to big sweeping plot changes, we put it all on the table.  Since the book deals with several issues that are relatable to a huge diaspora of the South Asian population in the US, we each talked about at least one personal event similar to ones desribed in the book.  Whether it was getting sick in the stomach while visiting India; the heinous dowry system (some of us did not know it still existed), adoption issues, interracial marriages, traffic in Indian cities or possibly the worst – female infanticide, we each had our own experiences and opinions to share.

We mostly applauded the author on her simplistic writing style, attention to detail, very well organized chapters and her ability to capture human emotions to perfection.  However, where there is praise there will also be criticism… Some felt the story was somewhat “Bollywoodish”, that  a few plot turns were cliché and the potryal of the ideal Gujarati family was unreal.

The crowing glory of the evening was, Shilpi Gowda, the author of the book, who called in to answer questions and have an informal tete-a-tete with us and this phone chat turned out to be quite a treat. We chatted with Shilpi about her upbringing, why and how she became an author, the different aspects and book and thus got to know the person behind the writing talent; a rare and one-of-a-kind event for sure.  We also got an exciting list recomendations for our next book club event, if this were a movie, I’d call it a Box office hit!

For more information on NetIP Houston and their upcoming events please visit www.NetipHouston.org or www.facebook.com/NetIP.Houston.

Edited by Latha Nehru, VP of External Affairs, NetIP North America

www.NetIP.org

NetIP Chicago: 8 hours, 4 Members, and 1 House

Written by Kesha Parikh, Community Outreach, NetIP Chicago

On National Rebuilding Day, April 24th, volunteers from the Network of Indian Proffesionals Chicago Chapter put in a great deal of  hard work and time commitment in helping one elderly woman rebuild her home.  The purpose of the event was to renovate the homes of elderly, disabled, or low-income residents by pulling together electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters and volunteers.

This year, NetIP Chicago volunteers woke up very early on a Saturday morning and spent 8 long, hard hours re-painting and re-flooring an elderly woman’s house on the south side of Chicago.  The woman had lived there for over 30 years and was recently disabled due to a hip fracture.  A special thanks goes out to all the volunteers, Sujata, Bobby, Kesha and Amit for going above and beyond their duties.  Together, they de-greased and painted two bathrooms, a kitchen, a hallway and a living room.  Sujata was on her hands and knees helping clean and re-floor the kitchen.  Bobby did the tough job of painting all the ceilings and removing a dusty carpet from the living room.

The house captain who was responsible for managing the project was so pleased with the volunteers that he has asked NetIP Chicago to collaborate with him again next year to help a new home owner transform their house.  The granddaughter of the woman whose house we rebuilt also had some kind words to share with the volunteers as she was touched to see total strangers spending their free time helping her rebuild her grandmother’s home.

Please join NetIP Chicago in expressing a special thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work and dedication that day!

For more information on NetIP Chicago and their upcoming events visit www.NetIPChicago.org or www.Facebook.com/NetIPChicago.

www.NetIP.org

Edited by Latha Nerhru, VP Of External Affairs, NetIP North America

Charlotte Walks Together – 2010

by Hardik Shah, Marketing Chair, NetIP North America

The Network of Indian Professionals North Carolina Chapter was recently one of the leading organizations at Charlotte Walks Together.  This event, touted as one of Carolinas’ most human-engaging events, was held on Saturday April 17, 2010.  This annual gathering utilizes a non-competitive walk to provide an opportunity to join hands with all and promote unity in diversity.

Each year the Charlotte Coalition for Social Justice (CCSJ) organizes this event with a variety of major partnerships including corporate giants such as Bank of America, Wachovia, JPMorgan Chase, Lowe’s and Nascar, as well as entrepreneurs and political leaders.  NetIP North Carolina was present representing the South Asian community. CCSJ has been able to engage senior leadership at partner corporations and integrate large crowds to pass on a strong message of unity, which accounts to a stronger community of Carolinas’ corporate as well as entrepreneurial world.  The key note speaker for this year’s walk was the CFO of Wachovia/Wells Fargo, Mr. Howard Atkins.

This year’s walk was a tremendous success as it engaged more than 500 people from a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds and also raised eyebrows by collecting more than 50 thousand dollars for charity work. These donations, as in the past, will be utilized for uplifting children’s education and giving them equal opportunities for betterment.  This event also presented an opportunity for people to reach out and connect with other participants regardless of their background and status, allowing them to learn about one another, their views, lives & cultures, in a casual way.  There were many friendly scenes during the walk which eventually ended with ethnic and cultural presentations and food and refreshments for the walkers.

This was NetIP North Carolina’s 4th year of affiliation with CCSJ in the form of community representation and donation generation.  Event’s such as these continue to promote NetIP’s mission and integrate South Asian Professionals with other mainstream professionals, thus NetIP North Carolina will strive to participate in Charlotte Walks Together every year moving forward.

To learn more about NetIP North Carolina and their upcoming events visit www.NetIPNC.org or send an email to info@netipnc.org

Edited by Latha Nehru, VP of External Affairs, NetIP North America

www.NetIP.org

NetIP Austin Celebrates One Year

By Smitha Murthy, Cultural Awareness Director, NetIP Austin

Spring.  A time of renewal. Rebirth. Fresh starts.  And NetIP Austin.  The premier South Asian network for professionals in Austin not only celebrated good times with good people at the 2010 Spring Party, but this month marked the one year anniversary for this crew.  From humble beginnings with a dedicated board consisting of Kotecha’s 7, who were determined to revive the mission of NetIP in the community, the organization is now 13 board members strong. 

But an organization is nothing without its members. And what better way to celebrate members, current and prospective ones, than with a party? 

With President Sonia Kotecha at the helm, Vice President Pinki Modi and Marketing Director Sambhav Puri worked tirelessly in planning, organizing, networking, and ultimately steering their efforts and the efforts and contributions of the board to the culmination of a very successful 2010 Spring Party on Friday, April 9th.

The beats of Bollywood, bhangra, and hip hop reverberated from Submerged, the oceanic themed hipster lounge located on the corner of 2^nd and Trinity in downtown Austin.   As guys and gals flowed in, NetIP board members were there to greet them and DJ Daze (aka Sambhav Puri) spun tunes with artistic precision all night long.

Amidst the meeting and mingling, there were raffle prizes to be won, and Starbucks gift cards, NetIP Austin bags, and sporty water bottles were among the coveted loot.  Seventy five party attendees navigated the social currents of the club as introductions, conversations, dancing, and laughter infused the night.

There were a sea of new faces, pools of familiar faces, faces from Austin and as far as from San Antonio. Regardless, ALL the faces were happy ones. There were those who had come to their first Netip event, those who were interested in upcoming events, and those who wanted to become more involved.

It just goes to show, the Network of Indian Professionals Austin is back, and we’re here to stay.

For more information about NetIP Austin and upcoming events visit www.NetIPAustin.org or www.Facebook.com/NetIPAustin

www.NetIP.org

NetIP Chicago’s Sinai Health System Volunteer Event

By Marina Isaac, Community Partnership Liaison, NetIP Chicago

Chicago’s Sinai Health System is used to seeing diversity on a daily basis.  The health system was originally founded to serve the needs of Eastern Jewish immigrants in the community.  Currently, it primarily serves the African-American and Latino population.  However, on April 3, 2010, Sinai welcomed a strong presence of volunteers from the Network of Indian Professionals, Chicago Chapter eager and willing to dedicate their time to support Sinai’s Kids Club Easter Event.

NetIP Chicago  recently partnered with Sinai Health System as part of their community outreach efforts.  Sinai Health System, located on Chicago’s west side, has been serving the surrounding community’s needs for over 90 years.  Over 72% of the patients have no coverage or utilize Medicaid.  Yet Sinai continues to uphold the belief that all individuals deserve to be treated according to the same standard of care, regardless of socio-economic status.

In addition to volunteer hours, NetIP Chicago seeks to provide a number of professional services such as financial consulting, short-term marketing projects, and pro bono legal support to Sinai as requested.  Furthermore, NetIP Chicago will be providing fiscal support to Sinai as one of the beneficiaries for the upcoming annual gala on November 20th.  The theme for this year’s gala is Cancer is Colorblind (CiC).

NetIP Chicago’s first volunteer event with Sinai was a marked success.  Over 55 children had the pleasure of working with volunteers to make crafts, color, and play games for Sinai’s Kids Club Easter Event.  Sinai Health System promotes these Kids Club Events for children from the community to enjoy the holidays like many of their peers across the nation.

The day started with volunteers working on Easter baskets and crafts for the children to take home to decorate their homes.  As the children worked diligently on their masterpieces, NetIP volunteers distributed refreshments and supplies and assisted the aspiring, young artists and their parents.  As the morning progressed, volunteers gathered children to play games such as “Simon Dice” [Simon Says] and “Sillas Musicales” [Musical Chairs].  Above the cacophony of voices shouting in different languages and bodies moving in different directions, it was clear that regardless of age, all who were present enjoyed their time together.  After all, fun is colorblind too.

For more information on NetIP Chicago including their upcoming events please visit www.netipchicago.org.

www.NetIP.org

NetIP Phoenix Collaborates with ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business

by Rita Dangarwala, President of NetIP Phoeix and Poonam Patel, VP Member Relations, NetIP Phoenix

The Phoenix Chapter of the Network of Indian Professionals recently proved their dedication to the advancement and achievement of South Asian professionals in the Valley by hosting a workshop titled “A Brand Called You”.   Collaborating with the W.P. Carey MBA program of Arizona State University, NetIP members alongside W.P. Carey MBA students attended the March 4th event on ASU’s main campus.  The idea for this collaborative event came as a result of the MBA program seeking to integrate their graduate students into the Valley’s South Asian community; NetIP Phoenix was approached with this opportunity as a result of the strong and influential presence the organization has established within the Valley.

With over fifty young professionals and graduate students in attendance, the event began with a networking hour where attendees were able to mingle and learn more about NetIP.  The evening’s main focus was the presentation of “A Brand Called You,” given by ASU’s John McCrudden who presented on the relevance of building a brand for oneself through a resume, online networking, and appearance.  He discussed the challenges culture can have on self promotion and provided some tips on what any young professional can do to put themselves out there in various ways.

This effort resulted in a strong relationship between NetIP Phoenix and the W.P. Carey School of Business.  The event was coordinated by James Clayton, Director of the W.P. Carey MBA Career Management Center along with RitaDangarwala and Poonam Patel who are both apart of NetIP Phoenix’s Executive Board and are also recent Alumnus of the W.P. Carey MBA Program.  Mr. Clayton was extremely excited to work with NetIP on this event and is looking forward to collaborating on similar endeavors in the future in order to help bridge the gap between W.P. Carey’s MBA students and the local community.  NetIP Phoenix was honored by the invitation to work with such a significant and prestigious institution.  ”The invitation proved NetIP is doing a great job in building community networks for our members, we were thoroughly excited to work with the W.P. Carey School of Business, especially as three of our board members are MBA Alums. We personally appreciate the value of W.P. Carey and were excited to bring an event like this to our members”

For more information on NetIP Phoenix including upcoming events please visit www.netipphoenix.org or www.facebook.com/netipphoenix.

www.NetIP.org

Hello Seattle

As Seattleites planning to celebrate NetIP’s 20th anniversary at an exclusive conference in our dear hometowm, we pondered various ways to build hype/promote our unique metropolitan.  “Hang an obnoxious banner from the Space Needle?”  No.  “What about getting Ichiro Suzuki to replace his Mariners’ hat with a NetIP one?”  Not gonna happen.  So we went back to the drawing board, outlining the benefits of holding said conference in our city.  What we found was astounding, things we’d never thought of, things we realized set the Northwest corner of the country apart from everywhere else.

Many refer to Seattle as being  ‘metronatural’, the perfect blend of city and nature.  We prefer to think of Seattle in the summertime as the perfect mix of temperature and scenery.  While most parts of the country are slogging through the dog days of summer, Seattle is graced with clear skies and temperatures hovering in the pleasant mid-70s.  This pleasant setting extends to the balance of metro and environment, as Seattleites don’t just respect the environment, we embrace it.  Call us green, call us tree-huggers, we love Mother Nature.  This is another element we’ve melded into the conference, as we’ve made sure this conference is not just informative, but sustainable.  The hotel we’ve booked for our conference will employ a number of green practices, but specifically less paper being used for materials (as most collateral will be electronic).

Seattle in August is not just a destination, but an experience – a locale we encourage you arrive early to and leave late.  Bordered on three sides by breathtaking water views (Puget Sound to the West, Lake Washington to the East, Salmon Bay and Lake Union to the North), it’s hard to get bored with the landscape of our town.  Known for being extremely tourist-friendly, Seattle boasts a number of ‘must-sees’ within its city limits, from the infamous Space Needle and Pike Place Market to lesser-known landmarks such as the Experience Music Project and Queen Anne Hill.  If one chooses to venture outside of the city, to the east one can find Leavenworth (a traditional Bavarian village), and to the north, the 2010 Winter Olympics host, Vancouver, BC.

As the first NetIP conference to be held on the west coast in over 10 years, this year’s event, “unique.by.nature”, promises to be the most memorable.  Would you expect any less from a conference held near the home of Starbucks, Nordstorm, Amazon (Seattle), Microsoft and Nintendo (Redmond), and T-Mobile (Bellevue)?  The conference agenda is also set to include the topics of: sustainability (a Seattle favorite), the future of technology, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and much, much more.   This year, our Conference Chairs are also adding a new type of session–the “Interactive Skill Building Workshop”–with the promise that attendees leave the session with a new life skill.

This conference pledges to be Unique by Nature – due to the organization (NetIP), the host city (Seattle), and the mix of people that’ll make this conference NetIP’s best ever.  This is an EXCLUSIVE CONFERENCE, so attendance will be limited to the first 500 which sign up (last year’s conference hosted over 1000 attendees).  Stay tuned for more conference details at  www.netipconference.org, and drop us a line at conferenceinfo@netip.org.

See you August 20th,

NetIP Conference Team
conferenceinfo@netip.org
www.netipconference.org

NetSAP Boston Helps Community Boating,Inc. Prep for 2010 Sailing Season

Written by Teju Patel ~ NetSAP Boston Cultural Chair & Anisha Patel ~ NetSAP Boston Secretary

On Saturday, March 20^th from 10 am to 4pm volunteers  from the Network of South Asian Professionals Boston Chapter were on hand to get Community Boating, Inc.  ready for this year’s sailing season.    The boat house and surrounding structures are very typical of the New England area: a clash of new and old worlds.    Where else but Boston will you find a not-for-profit organization that is considered “.  .  .  the largest, oldest, and best public sailing program in the United States, and serves as a model program for many others.  .  .  “?

Generally speaking, March 20th is cold and snowy, and better suited for a little spring skiing.   This year the weather was unseasonably warm, with temperatures reaching up to 70 degrees by the early afternoon.   With no sailing skills required, the NetSAP volunteers came together to clear the docks and to ready the boats to set sail for the season!  As everyone set about their work it was clear that there was a lot to accomplish! The marina held a few boats, but the majority of the boats were still sitting on the dock in their winter resting places waiting for a little TLC.

The boats were laid in a manner reminiscent of a package of taco shells.   The boats were placed on their sides, fitting together so that the least amount of space was used for the maximum amount of storage.   Each Mercury weighed anywhere from 200-300lbs.   An assembly line quickly came together to place each into the water.   The eager volunteers, pumped up on coffee and munchkins, set out to flip, fix, and push the Mercury’s into the water.

So how does a group of 5 volunteers tip over a boat to make sure it’s right side up? Four people would stand at the back, and then one person would shimmy to the inside of the boat and step on the edge to tip it over.   This was referred to as “riding the rail”! Once the boat was flipped, it was gingerly placed on a wheeled dolly in order to be inspected.   Once all the bolts, life jackets, and the main mast were adequately fixed – the boat was heave-hoed into the chilly Charles River.   Despite the balmy weather, no one even dared accidentally falling into the frigid 40 degree waters! We split up into 4 groups and the work started moving along.  .  .

As the assembly line progressed, volunteers were finally able to see the dock, with most of the boats now bobbing in the water.   A clear indicator of the group’s success! Once this happened, the Community Boating folks wanted to thank all the volunteers for all their hard work by energizing them with a hearty barbecue lunch.   During lunch, the NetSAPpers sat with the organization’s executive director and chatted about the historic boat house.   We all learned that this boat house exists and operates solely on the generosity of energetic volunteers.   People that belong to this organization not only sail, but recruit their friends and family into their passion.   Community Boating, Inc.   caters to sailors of all ages and ability, as well as youngsters from the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.

At the end of the day the Network of South Asian Professionals, Boston gang took a picture on the dock with the beautiful skyline in the background.   Physically exhausted by the lifting, pushing, and pulling, the group reveled in their accomplishments and then headed home for a nap.

To learn more about NetSAP Boston please visit http://www.netsapboston.org/ and click HERE to visit their Facebook page.

www.NetIP.org

Edited by Latha Nehru, VP of External Affairs, NetIP NA