Global X interviews Geoff Davis, president and CEO of Unitus, a "microfinance accelerator" with a hybrid model combining best practices from investment banking, consulting and venture capitalism.

A business entrepreneur turned social entrepreneur (he launched a web company, worked in biotechnology and was part of a translation agency), Geoff Davis discovered "the power of microfinance to harness market principles and apply them to social issues."

The Unitus portfolio of microfinance institutions now serves three million families, 140% more than last year. Geoff Davis explains his success: "It starts with a vision for a better future, and a strong culture based on values and principles."

And it takes talent: "It's a people business! The Unitus team left corporate positions at National Geographic, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and McKinsey, and they now apply their business skills to solve social problems."

His advice: "Think big! Think grand! Be audacious! Be bold, and powerful forces will come to support you. You will be able to attract top notch talent."

Yes, it's all about the talent: "Do anything you can to get the best people you can. There is nothing more expensive than a quick, medium hire. And there is nothing better or more powerful than an amazingly talented hire even if you have to take time and leave the position open to get it."

Global X interviews Edgardo Salomón, a Mexican professional banker who discontinued his banking career in 2003 to work for social impact. He launched a micro-finance institution, FINSOL, which now serves 250,000 clients in Mexico and just opened a branch in Brazil.

Edgardo Salomón's secret to success? Hiring both NGO social workers and commercial bankers to work together in his management team.

"The most important challenge is access to managerial talent. The reason we launched new operations in Brazil is not only because there is high demand there, but also because there is access to very good talent." He adds: "Capital is always available for good projects. The main problem is talent."

Another priority: "There is no success without scale, and that's why networking is so important and that's where Unitus can help us."

A final piece of advice: don't rely on consultants! Edgardo Salomón initially hired a team of expensive international advisors. "Then we decided to do just the contrary to what they advised us to do!"  Instead, Edgardo Salomón simply asked a lady working on a street corner what kind of financial services would help her, and that's how he found out what FINSOL had to do.

Watch this short interview then read the Unitus case study.

¡En español!

Julian Costabile tells Global X that he launched FIS in Argentina after reading Muhammad Yunus's book. He loved the ideal of putting the money behind the people. "A very powerful idea!"

Launched in 2002, FIS now has 4,000 clients and is the second largest MFI in Argentina. In addition to loans, it provides solar panels to families living in zones where there is no commercial electricity. "Yes, there are people in 2007 who have never had access to electricity," explains Julian Costabile.

Listen to his advice to fellow social entrepreneurs: "Find a couple of mentors or advisors compatible with your mission who have 20 or 30 years more of experience and who can help you go through the entrepreneurial phase in a better way."

Watch this short interview then read the Unitus case study.

¡En español!

Global X interviews P. N. Vasudevan, an entrepreneurial leader with a background in commercial finance who is now CEO of Equitas, a for-profit microfinance institution working in Bangladesh and India.  

He remembers noticing that poor women usually don't have a place at the table because they don't bring food, "but microfinance creates a perceptible shift in the power balance" when women start bringing revenues.

Microfinance helped P. N. Vasudevan open his eyes. As he tells Global X, he now realizes that he never noticed women cooking on the sidewalk by his house and young children defecating on the street without any supervision, then going back to eating without being cleaned up.

"I never saw it in the past, even though it happened every day, but I just never noticed." 

Watch this short interview then read the Unitus case study.

Global X interviews Urmee Mehta Mankar, with Mumbai-based microfinance institution Swadhaar (Self Support). Even though this microfinance institution is quite young (it was launched only two years ago), there is lot to be learned from this interview.

You may want to pay attention to Urmee at 2'27" into this interview, when she recommends to "get out into the field and learn about the market reality." Before launching Swadhaar, Urmee and her CEO spent a year in several slums in Mumbai to find out what Swadhaar's potential customers really needed.

To their own surprise, they found out that women were willing to pay higher interest rates but didn't want to work in groups and be held responsible for other's financial situations. Her advice: "Go out and understand the market!"

Urmee then tells Global X a very moving story, one that involves a 12-year old boy who was selling tissue paper boxes at a Mumbai intersection. Urmee was fascinated by his sense of pride when he told her: "I am not begging, I am doing my job!"

She concludes: "This is typical of the spirit of the people that we are trying to help. He has become my mascot!"

Watch this short interview then read the Unitus case study.

In this three-minute interview with Global X, Dhattatreya Hosagrahar, CEO of the Institute of Integrated Resource Management in India explains why he is helping the indigenous tribal people of Assam: "I had an accident in 2002..."

He also describes his success metrics: "Our team members, who work day and night for the organization."

Watch this short interview then read the Unitus case study.

While traveling in the Philippines, Global X had a chance to talk to Harsha Moily, CEO of MokshaYug Access (MYA), a microfinance institution based in Karnataka that has close to 100 employees and US$2 million in loans.

MYA goes beyond microlending. Harsha Moily's philosophy is that microfinance should always include a wide range of financial services and other offerings for the poor. His advice: "Focus on the needs of the customer!"

Which is why MYA offers goat, cow and buffalo insurance: the death of an animal can have catastrophic consequences, as a source of income disappears and farmers can't pay back their loan. MYA needs to provide risk mitigation.

Why is Harsha Moily doing what he is doing, asked Global X? His response: "I can't be a spectator to what's happening India. I need to be a player."

Watch this three-minute interview then read the Unitus case study.

While in the Philippines, Global X had a chance to interview Vincent Perlas, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Lifebank Rural Bank, a microfinance institution that helps marginalized women in rural areas get out of poverty. See the Unitus case study to better understand the challenges he is facing and the solutions he is bringing.

Vincent Perlas, a medical doctor by training, was quite dissatisfied with medical practice and entered the field of microfinance to "use the power of finance to move lives of people, to be of service to them. And I knew that traditional banking would not have helped those who really needed help."

The visits in the field keeps him moving, especially the stories of lives that have been changed. He remembers a woman with physical disability (she can't easily express herself) who received a first loan of 4,000 pesos/US$80 to open a convenience store. She has done so well that she has extended her operations in the pig meat industry, transportation business and ready to wear garments. She now owns a huge house with all the appliances, send her children to school. She even asked her husband to quit his job to work for her!

Vincent Perlas has three ingredients to success:

1. Spirit
As a social entrepreneur, you have to be persistent, even (or especially) when things don't work well: "When you are in hell, you go on. We had the will to move forward."

2. Methodology
Vincent Perlas learned from another institution based in Bangladesh, but adapted the business model to the local context. Lifebank grew quickly "thanks to the right methodology, the proper approach, and simplified, cost-effective standardized model."

3. Gas to grow
Unitus opened many doors for Lifebank by helping them get international rating, which in turn helped them get funding very quickly.

Vincent Perlas has a piece of advice for fellow social entrepreneurs: "Face the challenges! There is light at the end of the tunnel."