Topic: microfinance

One of the biggest problems that low-income people around the world face is the lack of access to capital that might otherwise help them rise out of poverty. Actress Natalie Portman turns the spotlight on her work to promote FINCA's International Village Banking Campaign, aiming to bring financial services to one million of the world's lowest-income families through 100,000 Village Banks by 2010. This talk is sponsored by Stanford's Public Management Program and the Center for International Development.

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and author of "Creating a World Without Poverty."

Microfinance, the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans, has proved to be an effective strategy for raising millions of families from poverty worldwide. Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered the microloan revolution in Bangladesh, saw rural poor and women struggle against deeply institutionalized economic systems, and realized the massive change that small loans could provide. "We did something wrong and poverty is here, so let's do something right so that poverty disappears."

Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, changes traditional principles of banking by putting poor people's needs first. Today Grameen Bank is a powerful organization, which supports poor people by providing microloans, credits, and banking services. Yunus describes the reasons behind his philosophies and how they have led to the launch of new enterprises in various industries in Bangladesh.

Host Sheela Sethuraman interviews Jessica Jackley Flannery, cofounder of Kiva. Based in Silicon Valley, Kiva is an innovative social enterprise that uses the Internet to connect lenders with small businesses around the world. Flannery talks about starting the organization and reflects on some of the reasons for its rapid growth and success. This interview is brought to you by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University.