Last night I discussed Opportunity Fund's microlending program at the World Affairs Council of Northern California's conference on "Innovation in the Face of Crises". We were honored to join in the discussion on the most promising solutions to some of the world's biggest problems.

 It was a busy night. I sat down for an interview to discuss the "innovation" of microlending and Opportunity Fund's work in this industry since 1995.  The interviewer asked about our most significant innovation in the face of a crisis, and I was glad to talk about Opportunity Fund's ability to continue lending to small businesses throughout the recent credit crunch. Our work, and the work of microlenders across the nation, has become even more important than ever in that regard.

The evening continued with a "Take Action" event, where Opportunity Fund (along with about 15 other great non-profits) offered conference attendees a way to take their new ideas and excitement about effective solutions to the world's great problems.  Folks continue to be amazed that microlending is even happening here in the United States. Many conference attendees I spoke with had heard Matt Flannery, CEO and co-founder of Kiva, speak on a panel earlier in the day.  They were excited about microfinance and even more excited to learn Opportunity Fund is doing it here in their own backyard. Because the night was about "Taking Action", we offered people three ways to get involved in microfinance:
 

I participated in a "roundtable" yesterday with Speaker Pelosi to discuss the impact of the Recovery Act in San Francisco. The small group discussion included department heads from City government and other recipients of stimulus funding. It was followed by a press conference, at which our client William Ortiz spoke, along with Speaker Pelosi, Mayor Newsom, the Police Chief and the Chancellor of UCSF. William did a great job as usual, explaining how he used a $10,000 loan from Opportunity Fund to double his workforce during the recession.

This week has been particularly busy around Opportunity Fund as we strive to help truckers beat a February 16th deadline to retrofit their truck engines as new EPA emissions standards go into effect.  Truckers told Opportunity Fund yesterday that without these loans, they would have to give up trucking or move their business to another state.  We’ve made 24 loans to truckers so far.  Yesterday we we

It was of course great to hear President Obama place a high priority on providing credit to small businesses in Wednesday night's State of the Union speech. Trouble is, no one seems to know what he meant when he mentioned "$30 billion for community banks,"

I went on a last-minute trip to DC last week, so speak truth to power. Officials from the Treasury Dept. had visited San Francisco the prior week, and we took them to meet our client, William Ortiz of Gentle Parking. William told them about how he has been able to create 12 jobs, many of them for at-risk youth, after receiving a $10,000 loan from Opportunity Fund.

William Ortiz Cartagena, an Opportunity Fund small business client, was invited to speak at a U.S. Treasury/SBA Small Business Forum in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, November 18, 2009.   He addressed a group including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Small Business Administrator Karen G. Mills, Obama Administration officials, Members of Congress, and representatives from small businesses across the country. William is the proud owner of Gentle Parking in San Francisco...

U.S. Treasury hosted a small business financing forum on today in D.C. and invited Opportunity Fund microloan client William Ortiz-Cartagena to address the forum. William Ortiz-Cartagena told the forum he could not get a loan from a traditional bank to launch his San Francisco parking lot company, Gentle Parking LLC, earlier this year and turned to Opportunity Fund for a $10,000 loan. The loan allowed him to expand to multiple locations and hire 12 employees.

Those of us who make microloans here in the U.S. are thrilled that Kiva has brought so much attention to domestic microfinance of late.

Opportunity Fund has been making microfinance loans in the U.S. for fifteen years. Kiva is bringing new attention to our work, and Kiva’s users are providing us a wonderful new source of capital.

Maria Shriver, First Lady of California meets Opportunity Fund client, Tonya of Plumbwerx

Setting Up at the Women's Conference

Happy Marketing Small Business Loans