Grameen Foundation empowers the world's poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity through access to financial services and to information.

We support microfinance programs that enable the poor, mostly women, to lift themselves out of poverty and make better lives for their families.  To do this, we partner with a worldwide network of microfinance institutions.  Our work focuses on four key areas:



Supporting microfinance institutions
Our partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) work on the front lines daily, meeting the needs of clients and reaching out to others who can benefit from microfinance. To help them be efficient and effective and increase their outreach, we provide microfinance program support in the form of funding, technical assistance, training and new technology.



Harnessing the power of technology
Grameen Foundation's Technology Center is the leader in information and communications technology (ICT) initiatives that are dedicated exclusively to advancing microfinance. To help microfinance reach its full potential, we are driving industry-changing innovations that increase the efficiency of microfinance institutions' operations, create new microbusiness opportunities for the poor, and provide telecommunications access for the world's rural poor.



Connecting microfinance institutions with capital markets
Our Capital Markets Group is harnessing the vast resources of local and international capital markets to bring new financial resources to our microfinance institution partners.  With more than 400 million poor people cut off from financial services, there is a huge, unmet need for microfinance.  To reach them, MFIs need capital beyond the traditional philanthropic support to rapidly expand their operations and increase outreach.



Expanding microfinance industry knowledge
New ideas and innovative thinking will drive the expansion and effectiveness of microfinance. Knowledge sharing is an important component of our work. To have the greatest impact on global poverty, we are committed to sharing ideas and innovations with the wider microfinance community. We hope this "open-sourcing" of information will guide other organizations in improving the industry's outreach to the more than one billion people living in abject poverty.

The Foundation was founded in 1997 by a group of friends as a vehicle to replicate the model of Grameen Bank beyond the borders of Bangladesh and increase the access of poor people to microfinance by millions worldwide. Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, sits on the Board of Directors.