PROPOSAL FOR MICROFINANCE TRAINING CONFERENCE

Transcription

1 PROPOSAL FOR MICROFINANCE TRAINING CONFERENCE

2 Executive Summary Global Brigades Panama hosts yearly training conferences for community members from rural Eastern Panama in order to support newly established community banks. The community bank model brings safe and reliable savings and loans financial services as well as financial training and education to under-resourced community members. The conference brings four representatives from each community bank into Panama City for three days in order to: Benchmark community bank successes with the advances of each bank within the Business and Microfinance Programs; Introduce boards of directors to one another, ensuring that community members can share in the experience of their economic development and financial opportunities; that it is not an individual experience; Provide extensive in-depth trainings and interactive workshops to many community members simultaneously in a centralized location. The Business and Microfinance Programs are expected to expand from 15 established community bank to 20 by the end of 2015, extending financial services and education to excluded populations across the region of Eastern Panama. The conference expects to host up to 80 individuals. The second annual training conference will emphasize: That communities across Eastern Panama can achieve their development goals; That financial inclusion provides opportunities for growth and change; That Global Brigades is invested in the long-term development strategies of these communities, utilizing local technicians from the regions to facilitate weekly meetings; A framework that is community-based, sustainable, scalable, and successful in order to empower community members with the tools needed to drive one s own development. Global Brigades will cover all administrative costs through donations from our volunteers, who travel to Panama to participate in 7-9 day brigades. We are requesting support from supporters, donors, and volunteers towards to costs associated with the training conference, coordination, and logistics. 1

3 CONTENTS Executive Summary 1 Contents Page 2 Section 1: Context Background to Global Brigades Background to Panama Background to the Business and Microfinance Programs 3 Section 2: Objectives of Global Brigades in Support of Development Projects in Eastern Panama 5 Section 3: Envisaged Process Overview of Training Conference Use of Training Conference as Facilitation Tool that Builds Upon Global Brigades Methodology Necessity of Additional Funding for Conference 7 Section 4: Conclusion 8 Section 5: Budget Details Minimum Cost Estimates for 2015 Training Conference Maximum Cost Estimates for 2015 Training Conference 10 Section 6: Appendix 11 1 Global Brigades Annual Report from Conference Itinerary Detailed Conference Budget

4 Section 1: Context 1.1 Background to Global Brigades Global Brigades is an international non-profit that aims to empower local communities to meet their health and development goals through collaboration amongst university volunteers, local teams, and community members. A brigade is a 7-10 day skill-based volunteer trip, where students work with one of ten programs and travel to one of four partner countries: Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, and Ghana. The ten programs tackle community development from multiple angles through Global Brigades Holistic Model: an approach of simultaneously implementing health, economic, and education programs to meet a community s development goals. The mission of Global Brigades is to empower volunteers and under-resourced communities to resolve global health and economic disparities and inspire all involved to collaboratively work towards an equal world. The vision of Global Brigades is to improve the equality of life by igniting the largest student-led social responsibility movement on the planet. Global Brigades has in fact become the world s largest student-led social responsibility movement, mobilizing over 40,000 volunteers from six different countries since its inception in Background to Panama Panama is one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America. Since the handover of the Panama Canal in the year 2000, Panama has seen an economic boom. The development of a strong banking industry is attracting international corporations to come to Panama City, leading to a higher standard of living compared to some of its Central American neighbors. For the past few years, the GDP real growth rate has regularly climbed to over 10% per year, and Panama boasts a regionally high per capita GDP of approximately $16,000. For a country of almost 4 million people, half live in Panama City; an example of recent modernization and prosperity. However, this prosperity has remained concentrated in the city, and the growth of Panama s economy has resulted in a Gini coefficient as one of the worst in the region, on par with Nigeria, Brazil, Rwanda, and Swaziland. Panama is unique in its disparity; it has skyscrapers and millionaires only an hour away from communities without access to basic services, such as clean water, healthcare, and financial services. Poverty rates, once you leave the city, jump to over 50%. The disparity is most stark among the indigenous people, who make up only 8% of the population. About 95% live in poverty, and more than 50% live in extreme poverty; a term which means living on less than $3 per day. Within these rural communities, banks are few and far between, limiting access to financial resources and institutions. 1.3 Background to the Business and Microfinance Programs The Business and Microfinance programs seek to create sustainable economic development solutions to improve the overall socio-economic level of under-resourced communities. This goal is advanced by improving or expanding micro-enterprises while working through community owned and operated community banks. Global Brigades staff work with communities to establish the community banks and provide follow-up. Financial education and micro-enterprise counseling are provided through the utilization of student volunteers during 7-day trips to Panama through Business and Microfinance Brigades. 3

5 Within the structure of the community banks is the shared responsibility and accountability of its members. Community banks are 100% owned by communities themselves, and it is with the support of Global Brigades that the bank and its members grow and thrive. However, without access to financial resources and institutions, community members have been excluded from any formal means of savings, accessing credit, or financial education. As a result, such issues perpetuate the cycle of poverty within rural Panama. With this in mind, Business and Microfinance Brigades aim to break this cycle by providing access to basic deposit and lending services through a community bank model. The concept of this model is simple; rural men and women pool their limited financial resources together to create a base of funds to begin distributing loans, as well as enabling a secure and reliable method of savings. When loans are repaid with interest, more loans can be distributed. The accrued interest of these loans grows the fund of the group allowing them to pay small interest out to the savings accounts within the community bank, providing incentive for membership as well as positive feedback for responsible financial behaviors. The financial literacy workshops are one of the most important and most sustainable aspects of our Business and Microfinance programs. This is how we implement our financial literacy curriculum, which was developed by a partner NGO that works throughout Latin America, called PROMIFIN. The curriculum breaks down lessons about financial education into 4 modules and 24 topics that can be taught throughout the brigades, marking progress of the community and the individuals that take part. Each brigade will teach a section of this curriculum, determined prior to their arrival, and Global Brigades staff and technicians will perform the necessary follow-up and support to ensure that each topic is well understood. The relationship to each of the partner communities is fundamental to the success of Global Brigades methodology. This relationship is based on trust and mutual respect. Identifying trust as such a crucial component has led Global Brigades to hire local technicians from the communities we partner with. Our full-time technicians fulfill their weekly schedule by visiting each community bank during their designated meeting time, to provide operational support and educational workshops to the members of the community bank. The use of local technicians demonstrates to the communities that we are not just an international NGO looking to begin projects and then leave, but that we are committed to the long-term development and growth of the communities of Eastern Panama and the community members within them. Since the introduction of the community bank model in November 2013, 15 community banks have been established, as of May Details of our work are included in our annual report from 2014 (see Appendix 1). 4

6 Section 2: Objectives of Global Brigades in Support of Development Projects in Eastern Panama The overall mission of Global Brigades Business and Microfinance programs can be summarized in the following statement: To empower economic development in under-resourced communities in Panama with limited or no-access to credit through volunteers that provide micro-enterprise consultations, using community banks established and monitored by Global Brigades in order to foster a culture of savings and growth. We do this through: Utilizing university students and young professionals to implement community development projects through community banks by promoting micro-enterprise development, strategic organizational counseling, and financial literacy education. Providing personalized support and follow-up to each community bank prior to and following each brigade. Ensuring a weekly presence in each community, training and developing the capacities of each member and community bank leader with trained local technicians and other Global Brigades staff. Hosting an annual training conference in Panama City, bringing the boards of directors of each community bank under the same roof to provide multi-day in-depth training exercises and workshops, highlight accomplishments and challenges, and introduce goals for the future. The aim of Global Brigades is to assist communities in the development of their health and development goals. The establishment and support of community banks are at the core of our development methodology, providing a community-owned model that brings basic access to credit and saving services to communities as a resource for personal savings, credit to businesses, and a source of funds for community and/or Global Brigades partnered projects through our other programs. Our community bank methodology consists of a four-phase cycle that ensures that each bank is operating sustainably and without the need for external capital infusions within its fifth year of operation. The ultimate goal of Global Brigades is to sustainably transition out of every partnered community we work with, after having responsibly provided (?) each community with the understanding, tools, and resources in order to continue the process of development. At that point, Global Brigades acts primarily as a monitoring organization in order to provide oversight and administrative/technical assistance when needed. Funds are leveraged through the donations from volunteers that participate in 7-10 day brigades. The organization and its activities are entirely funded through these donations from volunteers, who fundraise the cost of their brigade in order to pay for the programming, logistics, operations, and administrative costs. Securing additional funds are necessary to promote and execute activities that fall outside of typical brigade s scope, such as the annual training conference. 5

7 Section 3: Envisaged Process 3.1 Overview of Training Conference The conference spans for 3 days, Friday through Sunday, allowing time for the transportation of the boards of directors from Eastern Panama and back. Transportation, accommodations, and meals are provided. The days are composed of various presentations and interactive workshops. Details of the daily itinerary from 2014 are included (see Appendix 2). Each day s activities ranges from 5 to 8 hours, the majority led by Global Brigades Program Officer and founder of the Microfinance Program in Panama, Pablo Garron, though other workshops were presented by various Global Brigades staff including the Program Manager, coordinators, and technicians, building upon the relationships cultivated through the weekly meetings. Time is also given to community members from specific community banks, highlighting case studies from different communities, allowing individuals to speak for themselves about their successes; feedback coming from a source within the community rather than Global Brigades. 3.2 Use of Training Conference as Facilitation Tool that Builds Upon Global Brigades Methodology In order to ensure both the comprehension of financial literacy topics and the strength of operational capacity, clear expectations and responsibilities as well as a structured and consistent schedule must be in place. In November 2013, Global Brigades began this process of establishing and supporting the first community banks in the provinces of Panama Este and Darien, and have consistently executed a weekly schedule of visitation and training sessions since. The process culminated in the first training conference from November 14-16, 2014, in Panama City. Global Brigades hosted this conference in order to benchmark, introduce community banks to one another, and provide community banks with the opportunity to share their strengths. These are crucial components of the community development process, and require additional time, a different structure, and an environment atypical of day-to-day operations. The conference accomplishes many things that our 7-10 day brigades are unable to fulfill, due to the inherent structure of the brigade. While volunteers are provided extensive preparations prior to arrival, and facilitation techniques upon arrival, it is the follow-up and support provided by Global Brigades staff that ensures that the transmission of information is done appropriately. The weekly meetings follow this methodology. The conference is able to build upon this and provide invaluable trainings in the context and setting for each community bank to experience concurrently, while also simultaneously introducing each community bank to this larger community of Global Brigades supported community banks. The motto of last year s conference was Inclusión Financiera: Generando Cambios y Oppotunidades (Financial Inclusion: Generating Changes and Opportunities). Individuals from rural communities in Eastern Panama have been told they cannot participate in the formal financial institutions that can enable responsible financial planning and growth, and this exclusion has become internalized. On various occasions prior to the establishment of the first community banks, community members told Global Brigades, we are poor; we cannot save. What Global Brigades is demonstrating through the successful model of community banks is that this is simply not true. The inclusion of the rural poor enables a community to save, invest, and grow. A yearly conference to highlight successes, provide indepth training, and build upon the educational curriculum not only includes community members in the development process, but also demonstrates legitimacy of the term financial inclusion. 6

8 3.3 Necessity of Additional Funding for Conference As previously mentioned, the volunteers that participate in Global Brigades projects are typically university students, and all funding is derived from donations fundraised by volunteers and the university chapters they belong to. These funds are utilized to cover all of the costs of the brigade, as well as the day-to-day operations of the Global Brigades Foundation. Volunteers participate during school vacations, and as such, there are high seasons (winter and spring break) and low seasons (fall months). During low seasons, our funding drops off, while our operations continue. Scheduling the conference in November is strategic, allowing staff to utilize their time more effectively during the conference and not have to prepare and execute multiple brigades. However, this comes at the cost of a paradoxical reduction of fund-generating brigades. The conference is during a time when student presence is at a minimum, though the active process of development must be sustained. Additionally, the Business and Microfinance programs are continuing to expand in Eastern Panama, partnering with more communities that want to establish their own community banks. Last year s conference hosted 40 community members from as far away as Pueblo Nuevo, an indigenous community approximately four and a half hours east of Panama City. As expansion continues, community banks will be established as far east as Yaviza (the end of the Pan-American Highway) and many new boards of directors will attend the training conference. In 2015 alone, 5 new community banks have been established and the goal is to establish 5 more by the end of the year. The conference will cater to a potential 100% increase in participants, and additional funds will be necessary. The doubling of scale of our programming operations will require more staff, resources, and more than ever a more centralized training exhibition, maximizing the number of individuals receiving the same training at the same time. It is for these purposes above that Global Brigades Panama is in search of quality partnerships that would like the opportunity to support CSR and community development projects alike. A detailed budget of last year s conference is attached (see Appendix 3). Pending a full review of next year s budget, Global Brigades Panama can commit approximately $4,000 to the conference in November The majority of the 2015 budget will be used for costs incurred by the expansion of Global Brigades Business and Microfinance communities, including seedcapital disbursement, technician costs, and materials. Approximately $4,000 of leftover funds can be allocated to the conference, requiring additional funding in order to host the next training conference. 7

9 Section 4: Conclusion In summary: Global Brigades is requesting support from supporters, donors, and volunteers for the generation of additional funds in order to host the second annual microfinance training conference for community banks. The training conference is specifically aimed to work within Global Brigades existing methodology, benchmark the Business and Microfinance Programs with the successes of each community bank, provide a platform to introduce community banks to one another, and provide in-depth training workshops to community bank leadership. Our model is demonstrating successes (see Appendix), and as we continue to expand further into Panama s most under-resourced province, Global Brigades is continuing to support financial inclusion in order to generate opportunities for excluded populations. Global Brigades already has support and partnerships with two Panamanian governmental agencies, including the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Development, to focus on the long-term development of Eastern Panama. We believe that our history of achievements coupled with the investments we have made with local staff and our community partners qualifies us to earn your support to ensure the success of this project. 8

10 Section 5: Budget Details 5.1 Minimum Cost Estimates for 2015 Training Conference The following budget is taking into account the current expansion of Business and Microfinance communities, allocating a minimum of two additional communities by November 2015 (17 communities total). This would ensure the participation of 68 community members (4 board members x 17 communities = 68) plus the addition of an estimated 8 staff members, for a total of 76 individuals. Many of the costs only affect the 68 community members, which is reflected below: NOTE: Global Brigades Panama can allocate approximately $4,000 to the conference, resulting in the amount of additional funding needed to be approximately $10,

11 5.2 Maximum Cost Estimates for 2015 Training Conference The following budget is taking into account the current expansion of Business and Microfinance communities, allocating a maximum of five additional communities by November 2015 (20 communities total). This would ensure the participation of 80 community members (4 board members x 20 communities = 80) plus the addition of an estimated 8 staff members, for a total of 88 individuals. Many of the costs only affect the 80 community members, which is reflected below: NOTE: Global Brigades Panama can allocate approximately $4,000 to the conference, resulting in the amount of additional funding needed to be approximately $13,

12 Section 6: Appendix 1. Global Brigades Annual Report from 2014 In the following link is the most recent report compiled by Global Brigades Panama Conference Itinerary 2014 In the following link is the itinerary of the first annual microfinance conference in November Detailed Conference Budget