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ACCION
Microfinance Pioneer, Marks 50th Birthday
with New York Gala
Vikram Pandit Honored
Volunteer Organization for Latin America Evolves into Global
Nonprofit Building 62 Microfinance Institutions in 31
Countries and Four Continents
Photos by:
Sylvain Gaboury/PatrickMcmullan.com
Additional photos:
Blacktiemagazine/GMK
ACCION International celebrated at Cipriani
42nd
Street, New York City; |
this year marks the international
microfinance pioneer’s
50th Anniversary
and the
20th Anniversary of ACCION in the United States.
The Gala raised over $1.6 million for this important work.
The evening honored Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit.
Hosted by Gala Co-Chairs Amy Butte and John
Heimann,
and Board Chair Diana L. Taylor.
The
evening’s emcee was Tina Brown.
“The work that ACCION does can be life-changing,” said Diana
Taylor. “Our clients’ optimism and commitment to hard work
reaffirms one’s faith in the ability to thrive through
personal effort. Microfinance provides them with critical
tools to do just that.”
“Since we began, microfinance has grown in scale by orders
of magnitude, serving 150 million of the world’s
entrepreneurial poor,” said Michael Schlein,
ACCION
president and CEO. “But there are billions more of the
world’s poor who could benefit from access to financial
services. Our vision is to build a financially inclusive
world and give people the financial tools they need to
improve their lives. To accomplish this, we will build the
next generation of top-tier microfinance institutions, push
the frontiers of financial inclusion beyond MFIs, and build
a strong microfinance industry with the highest possible
standards.”
The Gala Dinner Committee included Henry Miller,
chair, Lourdes Barreneche, Solana Cozzo,
Russell Faucett, Laura Giadorou-Koch, Gina
Harman, Yaz Hernandez, Tara Kenney,
Michael Lexton, Barbara Lucas, Daniel Martin,
Richard Neeson, Elizabeth Phillip, Leslie
A. Puth, Michael Schlein, Nancy Sherwood
Truitt, and Diana L. Taylor.
Guests included
H. E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser and Mrs. Muna Rihani,
Alfredo Anzola, Tom Barry (CEO Zephyr),
Joseph Blatchford (ACCION Founder), Jerry Brady (ACCION
Co-Founder), Stephen Brenninkmeijer, Titus
Brenninkmeijer, Meredith and Tom Brokaw,
Tina Brown, Bill Burrus, Amy Butte
Liebowitz, Lisa Caputo, Carlos Danel
(Co-CEO Compartamos Mexico), Luis Felipe Derteano (ViceChair
MiBanco Peru), Sir Harold Evans, Robert Fox,
Gary Glenn (ACCION Co-Founder), Alex Gonzalez,
Tom Goodman, John Hammock, Gina Harman, John and
Maria Christina Heimann, Yaz and Valentin Hernandez,
Terry Holcombe, Joan Hornig, Kurt Koenigsfest (General
Manager Banco Sol Bolivia), Princess Kristina Kovalenko,
Carlos Labarthe (Co-CEO Compartamos Mexico), Brian
Leach,
Ambassador John Langeloth Loeb, Jr.
and Sharon Handler, Eugene Ludwig, Manuel Medina-Mora
(CEO Banamex), Gregorio Mejia (Managing Director
Finamerica Colombia), Susan Mercandetti, Maria
Otero (Under Secretary of State), Jeffrey and Liz
Peek,
David and Leslie Puth
(Executive VicePresident State Street Bank), Martin and
Jean Shafiroff, Jack Tamagni, Jordan Tamagni, Francesco
Vanni d’Archirafi, and Faye Wattleton as well as
many leading financiers from two hemispheres.
The evening began with a cocktail reception at 6:30 where
tableaus of ACCION’s work were displayed. Dinner followed at
7:30 where Tina Brown welcomed guests and gave the opening
remarks followed by a two-minute video of Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton, saluting ACCION and
emphasizing its role in Latin America.
"I am here tonight because of two women whom I admire - Gina
Harman – who heads the ACCION U.S. Network – and Diana
Taylor – ACCION’s board chair. These two women are smart,
effective, and completely committed to ACCION’s mission. For
all of us who believe that investing in improving the lives
of women and their children, it is a mission near and dear
to our hearts. Because that is what microfinance is
doing. Empowering women, uplifting families, stabilizing
communities – these are powerful ideas - and they have
propelled ACCION’s work for 50 years" s
aid Tina Brown in her
opening remarks.
Michael Schlein, CEO of ACCION, continued the program
sighting ACCION founder, Joseph Blatchford and
cofounders Jerry Brady and Gary Glenn in the
audience. Diana Taylor acknowledged past ACCION CEO’s,
asking them to stand,
including
Maria Otero
(2000-2009), William W. Burrus (1980-1996), John
Hammock (1973-1980) and Terry M. Holcombe
(1969-1973).
Also in the audience was Alfredo Anzola Jr., son of
founder Alfredo Anzola of ACCION in Caracas, who
traveled from Venezuela to attend that evening.
Diana Taylor also thanked the evening’s lead sponsors
Banamex, Edythe and Eli Broad, Citigroup,
Ray & Barbara Dalio, MasterCard and TATA
Consultancy Services.
After the main course was served, Tom Brokaw talked about
Citigroup and Vikram Pandit’s historic role in supporting
ACCION and other global microfinance initiatives. But it was
Diana Taylor who presented the award to Vikram Pandit.
Before dessert two microfinance clients spoke passionately
about their experiences; from Cameroon, Bernadette Ledes
Ngo Mbimka and from San Diego, Lidia Calzado.
Closing remarks by Michael Schlein and Diana Taylor
concluded the dinner promptly at 9:30. However Latin music
encouraged guests to dance until 11:30.
The décor reflected ACCION’s global footprint and the
vibrancy of the countries and cultures in which they work.
Guests were greeted by a bustling, tropical market scene
with fruits, vegetables and flowers under the shade of large
trees. Tablecloths were handmade in Ghana of colorful West
African fabrics. Centerpieces by Blondie’s Treehouse were of
red and yellow flowers accented with chocolate/green leaves
nestled in rough wooden, hand-hewn containers.
Gift bags were made by disabled people in India out of
recycled newspaper and contained “Little Treasures from
around the world” that reflected the creative talents of the
countries in which ACCION works. International treasures
include hand-painted boxed (India), silken good luck charms
(China), acai seed bracelets (Brazil), rustic crayons
(Ecuador), garam masala and poisson braise recipe
(Cameroon), and a pressed flower bookmark (Honduras).
National treasures include goat milk soap (New Mexico), majavé
habanero hot sause (Chicago), customized pens (Texas),
signature chocolates (Colorado) and unique soda can tab
accessories (San Diego).
Founded to combat poverty in Latin America in 1961 by Joseph
Blatchford, ACCION initially functioned as a grassroots
community-development initiative, deploying young volunteers
to the barrios of Venezuela to find ways to help the
poor help themselves. In Venezuela, and subsequently in
Argentina, Brazil and Peru, those volunteers engaged in a
variety of infrastructure projects and job-creation
programs.
ACCION first began microlending in Brazil in 1973 – and
continued over the ensuing decades to develop the fledgling
movement’s methodology and technical capacity. To date,
ACCION has helped build 62 microfinance institutions (MFIs)
in 31 countries on four continents, which currently serve
millions of clients through an active loan portfolio of $4.6
billion.
Committed early to building self-sustaining financial
institutions, ACCION has helped to achieve a number of
industry milestones, including the creation of the first
international network of microfinance institutions (1983);
the first loan guarantee fund for microfinance institutions
(1984); the first private commercial bank for the poor
(Bolivia’s BancoSol, 1992); the first microfinance
certificates of deposit for international institutional
investors (1996); the most successful microfinance IPO
(Mexico’s Compartamos, 2007); and the largest microfinance
network in the United States (1991–present).
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the
founding of ACCION’s U.S. microfinance program, launched in
1991 in response to growing income inequality and
unemployment. Today, ACCION is the largest provider of
microfinance in the United States, with operations and
affiliates in New England, New York, Georgia, Florida,
Chicago, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and
California, along with national reach through an online loan
application process.
About ACCION
ACCION is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission
of giving people the financial tools they need—microenterprise
loans, business training and other financial services—to
help themselves. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION
was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973
in Brazil. Over time, ACCION has helped build 62
microfinance institutions in 31 countries on four
continents. Those institutions are currently reaching
millions of clients. The ACCION U.S. Network is the largest
microfinance lending network in the country and has served
tens of thousands of clients with $300 million in loans.
For more information, visit
www.ACCION.org.
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