Oct. 25 event on Microfinance with SKS Founder!

I became a member of Women Advancing Microfinance (Chicago chapter) as a senior at the University of Chicago last year.  Now that I'm back in the NYC area, I just joined the WAM-NY chapter.  Although this is a group largely made up of women (by definition), men are also welcome to attend. 
Happy networking!
~Katharine

Can the Profit Motive Improve Microfinance?

Where: 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street New York, NY 10021 When: Monday, October 25th, 2010 Program: 6:30 - 8PM Reception: 8 - 9PM

Asia Society, Schwab Foundation, and WAM-NY, are pleased to invite you to a debate on whether the profit motive can improve microfinance.  SKS, the largest microfinance company in India, successfully went public this summer, becoming the second such business to do so. Is the creation of a large, publicly owned and profit-making enterprise the best-or the only-way to take the benefits of microfinance to the millions of poor people who really need it? Are such businesses more or less likely to maximize public good by giving vital and affordable financial services to those currently living outside the retail banking system? In his new book, A Fistful of Rice: My Unexpected Quest to End Poverty Through Profitability, SKS chairperson and founder, Vikram Akula, has written a powerful brief answering this question in the affirmative. Microfinance pioneer, Nobel Prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus, disagrees, as does Alex Counts, President and CEO of Grameen Foundation, and author of Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance are Changing the World. Join Alex Counts and Vikram Akula as they debate whether public companies and a forprofit approach are the best ways to take microlending affordably to scale. The debate will be moderated by Niki Armacost, Co-Founder, Arc Finance. To RSVP, please call the Asia Society box office at (212)-517-ASIA (M-F 1pm-5pm) and specify that you are a WAM-NY member. $10 Asia Society and WAM-NY Members $12 Students $15 Non-members No cancellations, exchanges or refunds. We look forward to seeing you! WAM-NY For program information, please contact: Yoshie Ito at Asia Society (212)-327-9381