Grameen America

Description

Grameen America is a nonprofit microfinance organization, headquartered in New York, whose mission is to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship by offering loans, savings programs, credit establishment, and financial services to low-income families and individuals in the U.S. Grameen America is built upon the success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which, along with its founder, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, was jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their pioneering work alleviating poverty and establishing economic rights as a human right. Grameen America launched its first branch office in Queens in January 2008 and has since expanded services to Omaha, NE, as well as Upper Manhattan and Brooklyn, NY.

Since its inception, Grameen America has disbursed over $3.5 million in micro-loans, with a repayment rate over 99%, to more than 1,800 people in the U.S. who live below the poverty line and have limited or no access to financial services. Grameen America's borrowers have saved over $235,000 and have gained high credit scores through the reporting of their repayments to Experian.