PoverUP

PoverUP is a student grassroot movement created to raise student's awareness on the power of microfinance in high schools and universities on a global scale. Dedicated to lifting people living on less than $2 a day out of poverty through micro-credit funding.

Mission:
* Mobilize and unite students around microfinance and its power to fight poverty.
* Launch a major eCampaign committed to lift over 1 million people out of poverty within the next 10 years.
* Plant the seeds of a student microfinance grassroot movement

PoverUP eCampaign:
1st Student Microfinance Global Day: April 22, 2011 "PoverUP Your World"

* Students worldwide will fight poverty by donating $5 to $10 at a time through mobile giving.

PoverUP is an approved Ashoka Youth Venture!


1. What issue will your venture address?

2.5 Billion people live on less than $2 a day. About half of the people microfinance reaches successfully get out of poverty. However, very few students are involved in finding sustainable solutions to poverty, like microfinance. Those who are interested act separately. PoverUP's mission is to educate students about global poverty and the benefits of microfinance. Our goal is to help lift 1 to 3 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years by igniting a student grassroots movement. With PoverUP Your World – the First annual Global Student Microfinance Day – we will fight poverty worldwide through $5-$10 student donations/investments. The campaign will reach out to the 38 million students in the US and more than 100 million students in the Developed World. PoverUP's interactive action platform and innovative technologies (mobile giving, interactive loaning website, ...) will enable students to help alleviate poverty by providing loans to microfinance institutions, MFI projects and micro-entrepreneurs.

2. Why are YOU pursuing this specific issue?

I believe, as Mr. Bill Drayton has stated in the past, that "youngsters are too passive and are never encouraged to run anything on their own" (NY Times Sunday November 16, 2008). While dividing my undergraduate education between Wellesley College, Harvard Universtiy, and MIT and realizing that 95% of all the students I talk to have no idea what microfinance is, I wanted to create a startup that lets students have an opportunity to get involved in different aspects of economic development and recognize the impact that microlending is having on countries all over the world (including the United States). Inspired by Muhammad Yunus’ book, Banker to the Poor, I want students to know that they too can be a force of change.

3. How will your venture address this issue? Help us understand what you do and how it helps.

PoverUP's team is comprised of students from high schools and prominent universities who are passionate and dedicated to bringing awareness of microfinance as a necessary tool for fighting poverty. Most were inspired to spearhead PoverUP following field experiences in Argentina, Gabon or Myanmar, classes on globalization and development economics or hearing keynote speakers Mohammad Yunus and Jacques Attali.

Since April 2009, we have already contacted over 50 high schools, given many presentations and have help launched several microfinance clubs in the NY tri-state area. In addition, we have contacted over 25 prominent university microfinance clubs such as Penn MFC (the first and the largest MFC with over 500 members), Microlumbia (the first student managed microfinance fund), Wellesley College and Cornell MFC... These student organizations have embraced PoverUP and have dedicated entire teams to work with PoverUP.

With Sparkseed's help, PoverUP will be able to launch a Premiere “PoverUP Your World” event on Wednesday November 17th, 2010, in preparation for the Global Student Microfinance Day April 13th, 2011. The idea is to target a select group prominent of high schools and universities in the US (50 to 75 top schools including all universities in the Ivy League) before going global on our Global Student Microfinance Day. Buzz generated on this Premiere launch should generate additional media coverage subsequently catalyzing hundreds of universities and high schools to join the movement and ensure the Global Day’s success. One event will feed on to the next campaign. Sparkseed funding will provide some of the necessary matching gifts, additional mobile giving technology expenses and enhance our dynamic website.

Our vision is that PoverUP will continue to build a very successful microfinance platform that will allow students to learn, invest and join a community of burgeoning young social entrepreneurs and will be on its way to lifting 1 to 3 million people out of poverty. We plan to have several hundred microfinance clubs investing, communicating and uploading their research on our platform. In the next 3 years, we plan to increase our global reach. Our annual 'PoverUP Your World' campaign will be an international event (US, Europe and Asia) sponsored by top corporations and will evolve into an ongoing campaign. We will have expanded the number of MFIs on our action platform, offered summer internships for high school, undergraduate and graduate students with our partner MFIs, simulcast lectures given by world renowned professors and social entrepreneurs, and organize an international annual conference. We plan to keep our venture going and growing by attracting more students, sponsors, and MFIs via our website, on-sight presentations and media advertising.

• Hillary Clevenger wrote (2 years ago):

  @Harvard Microfinance Conference!

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