First of all, let me be the 2nd person to welcome you to myKRO.org! I’ve written about microfinance numerous times on my personal blog over the past year, but I fully anticipate the majority of my microfinance-related content will be written here at myKRO.org from now on. With that said, for those of you that read my blog, you’ll know there was a panel discussion at the University of Washington relating to microfinance tonight. The panelists all had a tremendous amount of experience with microfinance:

• Rick Beckett, CEO of Global Partnerships
• Peter Bladin, VP of Grameen Foundation and Director of Grameen Technology Center
• Terry Provance, Executive Director of Oikocredit USA
• Sangita Sigdyal, Deputy Director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign
• Carol Welch, former U.S. Coordinator of the U.N. Millennium Campaign

The panel discussion was moderated by Penny LeGate from KiroTV and sponsored by the Puget Sound Millennium Goals Project and the Center for Global Studies of the Jackson School at the University of Washington.

The discussion touched on a number of topics that we intend to explore in more depth here at myKRO in the coming months — including the different tiers of microloans (1, 2, and 3), the different types of social enterprises (financial services provider, integrated services provider, community wealth creator, and next social enterprise), the fact that Latin America has roughly 60 million potential borrowers, yet is only serving 9 million borrowers now, and Mifos.

However, in the meantime, I wanted to share several photos from the event:

It’s a blistering hot day. A child runs by you, nearly naked, his skin smeared with mud and powdered by dust, his bare feet pattering down a road littered with garbage.

Under the shady branches of a mango tree sits an ebony faced woman, fanning herself, rearranging the countless pieces of gum and candies she has for sale in a deteriorating wooden briefcase.

You look over your shoulder. Now you see a lightly-framed man atop a rickety old bicycle, his face worn by years in the sun. He pedals slowly towards you, dragging behind him a cart full of brightly colored peppers, squashes, carrots and eggplant.

Now you look forward, and you realize that on just this one road people are running all types of businesses—they offer candies, vegetables, used clothing, tires, gasoline by the quart—you realize that you can change the faces, and you can change the country, but the micro enterprises you see on this very road, and the poverty you feel are commonplace to at least 90% of the world’s population. The very thought that so many people live so meagerly bears heavy on your heart, but then you realize that although their businesses are small and they are poor, these people are using their skills and creativity to make a living, and that they have the same potential to succeed as you do, the only difference is that they do not have the same access that you do, to education and credit.

In today’s world, in a modern and developed world, credit is an undeniable necessity. To say that credit has played a central role in the development of the richest nations, companies and entrepreneurs is indisputable. But what about the poor nations, the 90% of the world who lives outside of that ‘developed’ realm of life? We talk and debate year after year about how we can help our worlds poor, how we can eradicate hunger, how we can lift the poor out of poverty—and as we spin in circles trying to find the answers, we forget that the answer is actually very simple, that the answer lies in the potential and abilities of each individual out there, that it is not us, the ‘rich’ who are going to change their lives, but rather they themselves. The vast majority of the poor are intelligent and creative individuals, individuals that when given basic skills and tools that the ‘developed’ world has at their fingertips, prove that they too can excel as entrepreneurs, and productive members of their societies.

At myKRO.org, we believe that micro credit, the extension of small and manageable amounts of credit, and business training to the worlds poor is a dignifying, sustainable, and realistic way of alleviating poverty and extending the opportunity to a better future to our world’s less fortunate.

We invite you to read more, and to share your thoughts on how we can use this wonderful tool to make our world a better place. If you are interested in helping out, there are a couple ways to help:

• If you know anyone passionate about microfinance, let them know about myKRO.org
• For those who are interested in contributing as authors, please see our “Write for myKRO.org” page.
• Spread the word with your blog or other social network