Our Blog

BwB Impact Story: Social Media Strategy & Communications Support for The SEEP Network

Friday, October 24, 2014 - 10:00

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The "5 P Approach" for Developing Successful Volunteer Engagments

Thursday, October 23, 2014 - 13:18

Corporate volunteer programs can create significant value for the causes served, the company sponsoring the programs, the employees who volunteer, and the nonprofits that participate. In late 2008, Grameen Foundation launched Bankers without Borders® (BwB) to build the capacity of poverty focused social enterprises to manage and scale their operations and to expand their services to the poor; increase volunteerism in the social sector; and create an efficient operational framework to mobilize, engage, and leverage the resources of the private sector and volunteer consultants to support... Read More

Recording of "Using Data to Improve Anti-Poverty Strategies" Webinar Now Available

Thursday, October 23, 2014 - 08:10

Please enjoy this recording of our webinar "Using Data to Improve Anti-Poverty Strategies." Poverty is a global problem and a major cause of human suffering, and yet it has historically been difficult to define and nearly impossible to objectively measure. Today, tools such as the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) make it possible for anyone working with impoverished populations to objectively measure poverty, unlocking meaningful insights that can dramatically improve poverty-reduction strategies.  In this webinar, Julie Peachey, Director of the Social Performance Management Center at... Read More

Diamond Volunteer Profile: Andrew Simmons

Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - 08:15

As part of Pro Bono Week, Bankers without Borders is recognizing some of our outstanding volunteers whose commitment and dedication helps us fulfill our mission to connect the world's poor to their potential. Andrew Simmons, Technology Project Manager for JPMorgan Chase Ohio, has over 10 years of IT experience in managing complex infrastructure installations and internal optimization efforts such as cost saves and inventory remediation. Additionally, he has substantial experience in financial and data analysis as well as PMO creation, training and resource forecasting and planning. For the... Read More

It's Pro Bono Week! Five Ways You Can Get Involved

Monday, October 20, 2014 - 10:56

This week, October 19-25, 2014, is Pro Bono Week, a global celebration recognizing professionals (like you!) who make a difference by using their skills and the nonprofits who harness that pro bono service to further their missions. This year alone, 274 BwB volunteers donated more than 95,000 hours of their time and expertise on 163 projects serving 48 social enterprises and poverty-focused organizations around the world. That’s an estimated $2.83M in pro bono services! That’s incredible! Over the next week, Bankers without Borders will be honoring some of our most dedicated volunteers (like... Read More

Diamond Volunteer Profile: Jennifer Vignone

Monday, October 20, 2014 - 10:46

As part of Pro Bono Week, Bankers without Borders is recognizing some of our outstanding volunteers whose commitment and dedication helps us fulfill our mission to connect the world's poor to their potential. Jennifer Vignone is an Information Architect & User Experience Designer for JP Morgan Chase New York. With over 20 years of print and web work experience, including 15 years of experience in the financial industry, working within Information Technology and branching into the institutional and corporate environments, she’s a leader in using best practices design principles and... Read More

GF Fellow Katherine Tan: Full Circle

Thursday, October 16, 2014 - 10:00

My parents think I’m crazy to quit my job at the world’s largest hedge fund to spend a year in Washington DC and Uganda with Grameen Foundation, learning from the inside out how to run a global organization innovating to empower the poor. I think crazy is a strong word. Trading in my Upper East Side apartment for four months in college intern housing with six roommates in DC and eight months in the field in Kampala feels to me more like coming full circle. I remember taking trips to China when I was twelve and walking up creaky stairs to my grandparents’ tiny apartment where I lived from ages... Read More

Upcoming Webinars: October 22nd and October 23rd!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - 08:23

Please join us for two upcoming webinars! Webinar: Using Data to Improve Anti-Poverty Strategies Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT Learn more and RSVP HERE. Poverty is a global problem and a major cause of human suffering, and yet it has historically been difficult to define and nearly impossible to objectively measure. Today, tools such as the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) make it possible for anyone working with impoverished populations to objectively measure poverty, unlocking meaningful insights that can dramatically improve poverty-reduction strategies... Read More

GF Fellow Rowan Emslie: Nairobi doesn't seem to have changed all that much since I was last here back in 2012

Monday, October 13, 2014 - 11:40

There are some new buildings but many of the old, abandoned ones remain. There are a couple of new roads. They don't seem to have made a dent in the near legendary traffic jams of Kenya's capital. Thanks to some innovative mobile researchers there is a better mutatu map which might help you work your way around the regular jams, like the one on Ngong Road where Grameen's Kenyan office is. Drivers can now look up and send live traffic information on their phones if alternate routes start to slow down. That is the Nairobi I remember: a city full of people finding creative solutions to problems... Read More

Hitting the classroom – leveraging bright young minds on our mission to end abject poverty.

Monday, October 6, 2014 - 14:57

What do Bankers without Borders (BwB) and a handful of University of Maryland students have in common? In my mind, it is the potential to bring about great change. Recently, I teamed up with fellow BwB team members, Shannon Maynard and Sabrina Quaraishi, to deliver a day-long orientation to a dozen of students from the University of Maryland’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership. The Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management program prepares undergraduate and graduate students to be leaders in addressing problems in our global society through substantial hands on experiences.   This... Read More