Posted on February 5, 2010

Grameen Foundation Receives $3 Million From JP Morgan Chase Foundation to Expand Volunteer Program

Grameen Foundation has announced a three-year, $3 million grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation in support of its Bankers without Borders program.

With the grant, Grameen will expand the program, which taps senior working professionals for short-term, field-based, or remote skills-based projects supporting microfinance institutions (MFIs) and technology initiatives, to additional countries while building the capacity of MFIs and advancing broader private sector support of volunteerism. Grameen has more than fifty active projects for which it is recruiting and/or volunteers are assigned.

Launched in 2008 with an initial commitment from Chase, BwB has registered approximately three thousand professionals from around the world to support the needs of MFIs or networks in areas such as portfolio risk management, human capital development, social performance management, and information and communication technology innovations. Volunteers have contributed service valued at more than $2.3 million in nine countries, including Haiti, China, India, Ghana, and Tunisia.

"We are very proud to be Grameen Foundation's inaugural sponsor for Bankers without Borders," said JPMorgan's Investment Bank CEO Jes Staley. "The way to break the cycle of poverty is to enable people to build a livelihood for themselves. Extending credit and teaching skills are two essential components of that and this program helps drive both."