Grameen Foundation
Founder	Alex Counts
Type	501c3
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Washington, D.C., USA
Key people	Alex Counts – President & CEO Susan S. Davis – Chair Muhammad Yunus - Founding Board Member
Area served	Asia, Africa, the Americas, Middle East
Focus	Poverty
Method	Microfinance
Slogan	Empowering people. Changing lives. Innovating for the world's poor.
Website	www.grameenfoundation.org

Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, is a global 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Washington DC that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global network of partner microfinance institutions. Its CEO is Alex Counts. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... For the sequel to the computer game Entrepreneur, which has no article of it own, see The Corporate Machine. ... 501C3 refers to section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code that exempts payment of federal income taxes for groups that are organized for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: , Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Bengali: , pronounced ) (born June 28, 1940) is a Muslim Bangladeshi banker and economist. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere historically considered to consist of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... Microfinance is a term for the practice of providing financial services, such as microcredit, microsavings or microinsurance to poor people. ... Look up slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible... 501(c)(3) is the type of non-profit organization that is dominant in the United States. ... A non-profit organization (abbreviated NPO, or non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support an issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes, without concern for monetary profit. ... Flag Seal Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location Location of Washington, D.C., with regard to the surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia. ... The Grameen Bank (Bangla: গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the impoverished without requiring collateral. ... Microfinance is a term for the practice of providing financial services, such as microcredit, microsavings or microinsurance to poor people. ... Microfinance is a term for the practice of providing financial services, such as microcredit, microsavings or microinsurance to poor people. ...

It is separate from organizations called Grameen Foundation in different countries, such as Grameen Foundation Australia.[1]

History

The Foundation was founded in 1997 as a vehicle to replicate the model of Grameen Bank beyond the borders of Bangladesh and increase the access of poor people to microfinance by millions worldwide. Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, sits on the Board of Directors. The Grameen Bank (Bangla: গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the impoverished without requiring collateral. ... Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Bengali: , pronounced ) (born June 28, 1940) is a Muslim Bangladeshi banker and economist. ...

Approach

Grameen Foundation operates under the mission, "to empower the world's poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity through access to financial services and to information."[2]

Reach

As of May 2007, Grameen Foundation works with 41 microfinance institutions reaching 3.6 million clients across 19 countries. In total, the network impacts an estimated 18 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. [3] World map showing the location of Asia. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere historically considered to consist of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

In April 2007, the Grameen Foundation and Abdul Lateef Jameel Co. joint venture was formally established under the name Grameen-Jameel Pan Arab Microfinance Ltd. Known as Grameen-Jameel for short, it serves the Middle East and North Africa region where it represents Grameen Foundation. Grameen-Jameel is currently headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon.

The network includes:

• Negro Women for Tomorrow Foundation^{[citation needed]}

Further reading

• Yunus, Muhammad (1999). Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 1-891620-11-8. 
• Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Stock of What We Know; Nathanael Goldberg, December 2005.
• iinnovate podcast series interviews Alex Counts, founder and CEO of Grameen Foundation

External links

• Official site
• Grameen-Jameel Pan Arab Microfinance Ltd.
• Grameen Foundation Australia, replicating the Grameen Bank model within South East Asia
• Nokia, Grameen Collaborate for African Villages Highway Africa News Agency, November 25, 2005. [4]