Country: Kigali, Rwanda
Organization: Hands of Mothers
Overall, my internship experience with Hands of Mothers (HOM) was extremely rewarding for me. I learned a lot about development at the local level though the lenses of women’s empowerment in business, capacity building, and project sustainability.
Read MoreCountry: India
Organization: Vaya
Vaya is a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) based in Hyderabad, India, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana. Vaya is operational in six states in India and is currently the only microfinance firm present in Telangana following the Andhra Pradesh crisis in 2010. Throughout my nine weeks at Vaya my focus was on individual lending.
Read MoreParoma spent almost three months working with the Microfinance programme of BRAC in Uganda. BRAC is an NGO that started as a small post-war rehabilitation operation in the newly born Bangladesh in 1972, and grew to be one of the largest NGOs in the world.
Read MoreJessica Meckler interned at BRAC’s Social Innovation Lab, a development organization headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Jessica’s specified role was to assist the Social Innovation Lab, which is nestled in the Microfinance department, with they Innovation fund for Mobile Money.
Jessica: “My internship solidified my interest in M&E, and the lessons that I learned while at BRAC will help determine my courses for my second year at Fletcher. I already rely on my knowledge from BRAC now.”
Read MoreHeather Lemunyon’s role at AEC (The African Entrepreneur Collective) was to serve as a Global Business Mentor, or and entrepreneurship consultant who worked one-on 0one with AEC’s clients in business planning financial planning, developing strategies for growth, market and sales analysis, and and strategic vision.
Heather: “In every way possible, my time as a Global Business Mentor with AEC was outstanding. Not only did I fulfill all of my personal goals for my internship experience, I was allowed great opportunities to directly and positively impact the growth of East African companies that I hope will continue to grow, increase employment, and continue to develop this region of the world with such large opportunities and potential.”
Read MoreRachel Bass worked as a summer associate for Golden Rock Capital, a newly launched private equity fund focused specifically on Myanmar and generally on the ASEAN region. She hoped to gain insight in the demands and processes of private equity, leveraging her background in Microfinance, further explore finance skills acquired through Fletcher coursework, and contribute to a rapidly growing and evolving Myanmar
Rachel: “I learned more about my own intangible skills while gaining a much greater sense of appreciation for my good fortune. I believe this awareness will help me infinitely during a long career grounded in social service.”
Read MoreTommy Galloway travelled to Myanmar with the goal of identifying lessons about the financial habits of rural and urban communities in Myanmar that could aid in developing better financial tools to improve Myanmar citizens’ financial stability. He partnered with MasterCard to co-author a report that identified ways in which these lessons could be developed into points of market entry as well as ways that MasterCard could contribute to ongoing reform in the region.
Tommy’s research team was able to successfully reach a range of communities in Myanmar, helping to create important connections amongst local organizations that work on social and financial reform. In his second partnership with MDRI-CESD he developed qualitative survey questions and conducted interviews to identify themes about the financial habits and needs of Myanmar’s communities.
Tommy: “Given my abiding interest in Myanmar before arriving at Fletcher, and my intention to focus on the crossroads of development economics and business while there, this summer work was perfectly situated to allow me to step closer to my long term career goals.”
Read MoreNate Stell carried out an evaluation of the OVC team’s vocational training model which provides services (skills, education, microfinance and life skills eduation) to street children, Orphans and Vulnerable Children through interviews with prior participants and key staff to determine if the processes being used are being optimized for success.
Nate: “One key attraction was that the focus of my internship was on designing and implementing an evaluation of a well regarded vocational training program. I was interested in developing a skill set in program evaluation because I am planning my career in the nonprofit management field.”
Read MoreSarah Ryan focused on the Fundacion’s reading glasses microfranchise and investigated new microfranchise opportunities for FP. She was able to meet with microfranchises, loan officers, and potential suppliers. Her business plan suggesting strategic changes in order to grow sales and expand the number of vendors was presented to the directors.
Sarah: “It was extremely useful to get on-the-ground experience in a developing country… and to understand the cultural differences which impact the speed and implementation of new operational models.”
Read MoreMax Mattern had responsibility for implementation of a survey of FINCA Jordan clients. FINCA is an international microfinance institution with a mission to provide financial services to the world’s lowest income entrepreneurs and so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.
In this capacity Max designed the sample and survey strategy, hired trained and managed a team of five surveyors located throughout Jordan. He performed an analysis of the social performance indicators and wrote a report and presented his findings to the CEO of FINCA. The findings will be used to set poverty outreach targets and improve products and services.
Max: “Overall, the internship was an invaluable experience that will surely advance my career goals. I can confidently say that have experience managing a complex proess that employed logistical and analytical skills, as well as personnel management. …I now feel confident that I have the knowledge and skills necessary to begin a successful career in microfinance after graduation.”
Read MoreLiz Henry was assigned by Root Capital’s office in Lima, Peru to investigate and formulate a plan for expanding its loan activity into Ecuador. Using her Spanish language she was able to engage with diverse stakeholders, include personnel international: agencies such as USAID and NGOs such as Catholic Relief Services, directors at the Inter-American Development Bank, representatives from commodity trading firms, employees and consultants at Ecuadorian government ministries, CEOs of SMEs and rural cacao and coffee farmers
Read MoreBernardo Goriupp worked as Project Manager, responsible for design to implementation of a small scale fish farm. This included everything from technical and business modeling to investigating potential sources of funding to developing a business plan to be used for grant applications and for expansion.
Read MoreMichelle worked with two Kiva microfinance partners, BRAC Uganda and Pearl Microfinance Limited. Her goal as a Fellow was to ensure that each institution accurately represented Kiva and was utilizing Kiva funds efficiently. She saw how Kiva’s mission came together in the field and had significant involvement with top management at both MFIs.
The Fellowship reiterated my previously held belief that microfinance alone cannot solve problems in development, and that access to health systems, education, and good governance among other things, is needed for change to be sustainable.
Read MoreElisabeth worked for MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of Opportunity International, on a health microinsurance project for poor, small shareholder coffee farmers in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. She assisted the NGO with marketing and communications.
Read MoreMeghan conducted the Program Evaluation of a microcredit and sustainable agriculture program in Leon, Nicaragua for SosteNica, a U.S.-based nonprofit that funds sustainable agriculture and development initiatives in rural Nicaragua . As the Evaluation Consultant, Meghan developed and conducted an assessment of the socio-economic and environmental impact of this pilot program on its participants.
Read MoreJenya worked at Kompanion, a Microfinance Company established by Mercy Corps. She worked on monitoring and evaluating agricultural extension programs that Kompanion carries out as part of its development mission and also provided recommendations on how to develop a social performance management system for the company.
Read MoreCheney served as the bridge between Kiva, BRAC, micro-entrepreneurs and lenders to streamline the loan posting process, monitor and evaluate repayment schedules to improve the new and emerging micro-finance industry in Sri Lanka
Read MoreQiamuddin researched the prospects for small renewable energy enterprises and the role that micro-finance can play in providing capital to small entrepreneurs to develop this industry in Afghanistan and provided recommendations to First Micro-finance Bank.
Read MoreCheney served as the bridge between Kiva, BRAC, micro-entrepreneurs and lenders to streamline the loan posting process, monitor and evaluate repayment schedules to improve the new and emerging micro-finance industry in Sri Lanka
Read MoreDanielle Cooperated with ACCION Investments to analyze their micro-finance portfolio and performance indicators and to recommend client protection policies.
Courtney worked with NGO’s partnering with KIVA, a web based NGO partnering with MFI’s in over 40 countries, interviewing borrowers and evaluated their needs. She also trained local staff about KIVA.
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