Grameen America Opens in California

April  marked the launch of Grameen America’s operations in the San Francisco Bay Area. We cannot be more excited!  Each  Borrower is a true entrepreneur with a vision and a plan to get there.  Now these individuals have the assistance of affordable capital and group support with a hand up from Grameen America.

The dynamic Grameen America team, led by Branch Manager Rashidull Alam is located in Fruitvale, CA,  and will provide our holistic poverty alleviation products: microloans, savings, credit building and financial literacy.   

Mr. Alam  joins us from  his recent microlending leadership in  Zambia.  He became an expert in the Grameen model through his experience working with Professor Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. 

Oakland  is an important focus for Grameen America and our supporters since as many as  22% of the residents’ income  fall below the poverty line.  We are pleased to join the committed group of microlenders and  organizations serving the Bay Area and California who are dedicated to providing much-needed services and opportunities to those in need. 

We will keep you informed from the field with more photos and stories of Borrowers’successes!

On my subway ride to work the other, I came across a NYTimes article, "Pictured: A World at 7 Billion",a visual time capsule with hundreds of photographs. I was fascinated. The time capsule is to be opened in twenty years, when children born today can look back at what the world looked like when they were born. This one was my favorite, perhaps that’s because I lived in Senegal for two years, so it has a special place in 

my heart. 

Working here, my days are focused on strategies for poverty alleviation in the United States; therefore my thoughts naturally drifted towards a conversation in 2031 telling 20 year-olds what poverty was like here when they were born.  My sphere of influence, my Grameen America team, my microfinance colleagues, my public health peers, and beyond is collectively and effectively shifting the poverty paradigm.  I can’t wait to see the expression on the faces of the next generation when we describe poverty,which for them should be a distant phenomenon.

“One day our grandchildren will go to museums to see what poverty was like." Professor Muhammad Yunus

By Katherine