Monday, June 17

Sustainable Livelihoods and the Portfolios of the Poor

Morning Session – Malcolm Harper

• What are livelihoods? What are OUR livelihoods
• Sustainability, Sustainable livelihoods and the five capitals: (natural, physical, human, social and financial)
• How do poor people manage their financial lives? Since formal microfinance only reaches a fraction of the poor how do the rest cope with life’s shocks?
• Microfinance: It’s Theory of Change and its place as an economic tool for livelihood development

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speakers Wajiha Ahmed and Kristy Bohling from, Bankable Frontier Associates (invited)

• Some important research looking at the impact of microfinance on the lives of the poor
• The Poor and their Money and Portfolios of the Poor. http://www.portfoliosofthepoor.com/
• A look at a U.S. version of the Portfolios studies

Tuesday, June 18

Extreme Poverty and Ladders of Economic and Social Progress
the Grameen Bank Experience and the Coming of Age of Microfinance

Morning Session – Malcolm Harper

• Reaching the Very Poor. Why MF does not benefit the poorest.
• How MF injures the poorest people, hence it may be better if it does not reach them.
• Schreiner's PPI tool as a tool to identify who is poor; Students use the tool to measure their own wealth/poverty level.
• The BRAC TUP programme; it aims to 'graduate' poor people to 'grown-up' MF; is that such a good thing?
• Discussion and case study on whether and how to reach the poorest people, with mobile phones and otherwise.

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Michael Swack

• A brief history of the growth and formalization of the microfinance field over the past 20 years
• The Grameen model of lending to women in groups and the introduction of savings models
• The debate over minimalist versus microfinance plus models of growth and expansion
• Microcredit and microfinance on a global scale - commercialization, regulation, involvement of mainstream capital markets through IPOs, securitizations, entry of commercial banks, sowing the seeds of a crisis in microfinance

Wednesday, June 19

Traditional and New Forms of Financial Services for the Poor

Morning Session – Malcolm Harper

• The economics of microfinance: a look at the Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, sources of capital, transaction costs, interest rates etc.
• Customary finance and early banking- savings as the basis for most traditional financial intermediation devices, including the Raiffeisen and other early experiments.
• Self Help Groups in India and Savings Led MF - main features, and associated weaknesses, of government lead approaches to poverty alleviation through financial services.

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speakers: Jeff Ashe, Independent Consultant and Vinod Parmeshwar, Oxfam America - http://www.oxfamamerica.org/issues/community-finance

• The Savings Revolution how savings groups are transforming the financial services landscape
• Oxfam’s Saving for Change, other methodologies including a Savings group simulation.

Thursday, June 20

Things fall apart – the Commercialization of Microfinance: Market Success, Client Failure and
Innovative Approaches to Financial Services for the Poor

Morning Session – Malcolm Harper

• Compartamos, the Andhra Pradesh crisis – future of MF? What’s wrong with Microfinance and why microfinance must transform to regain its anti-poverty focus. Financial inclusion and reaching the very poor. Do MF and/or other approaches meet the needs of the very bottom of the pyramid?
• Is there really a fortune at the bottom of the pyramid? A look at Grameen Bank’s move towards a Social Business and Social Enterprise approach. How does this new approach differ from providing microcredit and isn’t this what Mohamed Yunus should have been doing 30 years ago to truly address the livelihoods of poor Bangladeshi women?

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speaker James Hokans, Bankable Frontier Associates - http://www.bankablefrontier.com/

• Housing Microfinance - key loan features of housing microfinance, attributes of the mutual self-help, “co-financing” housing process and the supply-side institutions
• Technology and Development Finance – Transformative m-banking and the use of mobile devices and mobile money schemes to enable low-cost domestic payments and money transfers including M-PESA in Kenya, Smart Money and GCASH in the Philippines

Friday, June 21

A New Path Toward Livelihood Development -
Social Enterprise and Social Responsible Investment

Morning Session – Yusi Wang Turell Guest speaker in a Live Simulcast Webinar with Greg Van Kirk, Community Enterprise Solutions - http://www.cesolutions.org/

• What is social entrepreneurship and how does microfinance fit into a social business framework?
• How is the social enterprise field growing in the United States and in the developing world
• SMDP Webinar with Gregg Van Kirk CES (virtually via webinar internet platform) with active class participation in Q and A.

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speaker Drew Tulchin, Social Enterprise Associates - http://www.socialenterprise.net/

• What is SEA and how does it use Business solutions applied to social problems to achieve public good?
• What is socially responsible investing?
• How can social enterprises raise capital by connecting with banks & credit unions, social & faith-based investors, private placements, crowd-funding, impact investing etc.
• Group activity in which participants will design a SE program, evaluate a SE program and get a feel for how SEs are structured, managed, governed, funded, evaluated for impact and contribute to a sustainable economy.

Saturday, June 22

Optional:

Field Visit to the White Mountains, Bretton Woods home of the IMF and the World Bank, waterfalls, vistas, a picnic and fun! Leaving UNH at 9 AM returning by 5 PM

Monday, June 24

Sustainable Microfinance and Approches To Ensure Transparency,
Client Protection and Social Performance Outcomes

Morning Session – Michael Swack

• Banks and Microfinance -– Commercial bank participation and new ways to meet customer needs while reducing transaction costs. An overview of regulatory issues and the role of governments and donors.
• How do MFIs manage risk and protect the financial bottom line? What is the role of board governance, internal controls, and internal audits in risk management?
• Balancing Social and Financial Performance Management - Establishing methods to ensure greater transparency, consistent financial performance, profitability and strong management practices towards the Triple Bottom Line of sustainability. Tools for measuring financial and social performance, ratings agencies, the Progress out of Poverty Index and other tools.

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks

• The SMART Campaign, The Gold Seal of Excellence and Microfinance Transparency – How the microfinance industry attempts to protect customers and promote ethical and transparent standard of operation and service.
  Q & A Skype call with Chuck Waterfield with question developed by students after watching his film
• Listening to Clients and Financial Education – Microfinance Opportunities financial education curriculum and putting the knowledge of clients financial lives into Action.
• Youth Microfinance – Making Cents and strategies for engaging youth in economic development and sustainable livelihood. Live Skype screen share Presentation by Making Cents staff.

Tuesday, June 25

ProPoor Agricultural Value Chain Development and
Sustainable Agriculture in New Hampshire

Morning Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speaker Charlie French, UNH Cooperative Extension. UNH Sustainability

• Be Local - Buy Local - What would NH look like if we were to increase our dependence on agriculture? Challenges for farmers (particularly new farmers) and the local food movement (including Seafood). Cooperative Extension's role in building capacity of growers
• UNH's Food & Society Initiative (FAS) - Building a farm to fork culture of sustainability – UNH Sustainability Academy
• Understanding Value Chain Development an online course developed by CARE and MEDA.

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speaker Richard Pelrine, Inspired International

• How MEDA works in Pro-Poor agricultural value chain development in the developing world (Skype screen share presentation with MEDA staff).
• What is the value chain development approach and how can we engage poor producers into the local to global economy using strategies that maintain the triple bottom line?

Wednesday, June 26

Building Local Sustainable Communities and
Microenterprise Development in the U.S.

Morning Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speakers John Carroll, UNH Natural Resources and Cozette Russell, Filmmaker

• Brookford Farm: Case Study in building local food security and sustainability. Viewing of the Brookford Almanac film. – Cozette Russell
• Local value chain development and the role of local development NGOs, government and MED in challenging poverty in the U.S

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks

• Microenterprise Development in the United States – Credit Led, training led, IDAs and other savings initiatives.
• Field Visit: Exploring Sustainable Microenterprises on the NH Seacoast and Historic Portsmouth (leave by 3 return by 7) dinner on your own in Portsmouth.

Thursday, June 27

Sustainable Agriculture and Microenterprise Field Visits

Morning Session - Bill Maddocks and Guest speaker Luke Mahoney, Brookford Farm

Field Visit to Brookford Farm, Canterbury, NH a “biologically diverse farm that practices sustainable, community-based farming methods, which include careful rotational grazing, a strictly local model for doing business, and a profound respect for the life cycles of the plants and animals in our care”. http://brookfordfarm.com/

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks and Guest Speaker Marilinne Cooper, WREN

• Women’s Rural Entrepreneurship Network (WREN), Bethlehem, NH Developing value chains and support systems for local economic development. http://www.wrencommunity.org/
• Berlin Farmer’s Market, 52 Main St Berlin, NH 03570

Return to UNH by 6:30 PM

Friday, June 28

Putting it all together:
Building the road to financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods

Morning Session - Bill Maddocks and Michael Swack

• De-brief on after Thursday field visits
• What are the strengths and weakness of the various economic development approaches we have explored during the two weeks. From traditional informal channels, specialist microfinance institutions, banks, development finance institutions, NGOs and community owned and managed institutions and other approaches.
• What models and methodologies have the most promise for success? How can we become advocates and promoters of more people and community centered approaches?
• The future of microfinance

Afternoon Session – Bill Maddocks

• World Café - Course wrap up, review and development of student learning action commitments.

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Certificate Closing Banquet

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. You are invited to wear traditional clothing and be prepared to have fun!