UPS Awards Centennial Grant to ACCION for Work in Microfinance

By John-Paul Maxfield / November 20, 2007 / 2 minutes of reading

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ACCION(R) International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance, recently announced that it has received a $400,000 Centennial Grant from UPS to support its work in delivering financial services and training to the world’s entrepreneurial poor.

UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year by creating the Centennial Grants Fund, awarding a total of $1m to global microfinance organizations. ACCION will use the funds to expand the reach and sustainability of microfinance in various countries around the world.

The grant will support ACCION’s microfinance activities in four key areas:

Increasing the number of microentrepreneurs to whom ACCION USA makes loans through its regional U.S. offices;

Working to extend innovative and efficient financial services to more of the world’s poor, especially in such high-population countries as Mexico and Brazil;

Reaching more microentrepreneurs in regions new to ACCION, such as China and India; and

Developing new products and services, such as savings and remittance instruments, specifically tailored to the needs of the poor.

"ACCION is deeply appreciative of UPS’s confidence, and honored to help them celebrate their centennial in such a way," said María Otero, ACCION president and CEO. "UPS and ACCION share a commitment to providing the world’s poor with access to microfinance, so that they can work their way out of poverty."

Via: (ACCION(R) International)

About The Author

John-Paul Maxfield

John-Paul Maxfield is the founder of Waste Farmers. Waste Farmers is a next generation sustainable agricultural company focused on helping humanity meet current and future food demands, while decreasing agriculture’s environmental footprint. The Company started in 2009 with $9,000 and a belief that idealism and capitalism can coexist. Today Waste Farmers has evolved into an innovator respected by leaders in the global community for developing simple solutions to the complex problems of modern agriculture and food security. Prior to starting Waste Farmers, John-Paul founded the "The Inspired Economist", a blog focused on covering the people, places, ideas, and technologies inspiring positive change and redefining capitalism. In addition, John-Paul served as an Associate a private equity group specializing in small to mid cap service companies. In this capacity he focused on planning, forecasting, budgeting, and performance evaluation of MBH and its designated subsidiaries. Prior to joining MBH, John-Paul was an Analyst with Alvarez and Marsal where he spent the majority of his time on a team that aided Louisiana’s Recovery School District with the restoration of public schools post Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. John-Paul is active in the Colorado community, serving on the Board of the Rocky Mountain MS Center. In 2007 he was selected as one of the “Fifty for the Future” by the Colorado Statesman and is a graduate of the inaugural class of Impact Denver. John-Paul holds a BA from the University of Colorado.

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