Sa-Dhan, an association of community development finance institutions in India will host a National Microfinance Conference in New Delhi on March 31, 2009. The conference is centered on the theme, ‘Microfinance Ecosystem: Equilibrium Between Growth & Effectiveness’. One of the goals for this event is for Sa-Dhan member organization to come together with academicians, practioners [...]

We have written about microinsurance before, including SKS’s Vikram Akula’s decision to develop a product for his customers. Now, Bajaj-Allianz and CARE India will be developing a product of their own. In an interesting partnership between the charity and a commercial company, this venture will aim to help individuals substantially improve livelihoods through the safety net [...]

It’s that time of year again – Atlas Corps is seeking fellows for their 2009-2010 fellowship.  This is a great opportunity for nonprofit/NGO leaders from around the world (including India!) to learn from, experience, and exchange ideas with organizations in Washington, DC or Bogota, Colombia. Atlas Service Corps seeks nonprofit leaders from around the world [...]

Day 2 The second day started off by getting down to business immediately. Madhav Chavan of Pratham was the first speaker and his mandate was to enlighten the gathering on “How to scale up an organization?”. It really was a treat listening to him. During the course of his talk, he touched upon many other [...]

One of the most recognizable names in Indian microfinance has decided to step down from his role as CEO. Vikram Akula, the visionary founder and leader of SKS Microfinance will step down. Mr. Akula says that this change will allow him to focus on a new initiative – microinsurance.  As MicroCapital reported earlier this year, SKS [...]

Editor’s Note: Aparna Dalal works with the Financial Access Initiative, a research consortium between New York University, Harvard, Yale, and Innovations for Poverty Action. FAI is focused on finding answers to how financial services can better meet the needs of poor households. FAI aims to provide rigorous research on the impacts of financial access and [...]

Last night I had the good fortune of sitting in on a talk given by Nancy Barry, a pioneer in the field of creating private, market-based solutions to poverty alleviation for women across the globe. Her talk was very powerful and on many points, spot on accurate in my opinion. A veteran of the World [...]

India Post has inked an agreement with National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to facilitate micro-credit to women-run Self Help Groups (SHG) in eight states and north eastern states. In this strategic partnership, India Post will lend the unparalleled reach it has gained into India’s remote villages and the credibility as a reliable family [...]

Here are two stories from Microcapital.org: Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) and Lok Capital LLC have decided to jointly invest $1.5 million in Arohan Financial Services Ltd., a MFI located in Kolkata. Partnering with traditional MFIs like SKS India, companies like Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (Basix), Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance and TATA AIG Life [...]

The ThinkChange India staff is committed to providing our readers with interviews with people we believe are at the brink of something special but have for the most part been overlooked by the mainstream media. Readers will be able to see other conversations under our TC-I Changemakers tab. A few weeks back Aishwarya spoke with [...]