Grameen America Launches Member Development Program

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a new Member Development Program focused on financial literacy, business training, and digital education. The program is designed to give Grameen America’s entrepreneurs additional tools to grow their businesses, increase financial health, and equip them with knowledge to better provide for their families. Grameen America kicked-off the program with partner organization, The Financial Clinic, on August 2nd. The Financial Clinic, whose mission is to build working poor people’s financial security, will work with Grameen America to create a modular monthly training program for borrowers. The program will utilize a train-the-trainer model to deliver education spanning a range of topics which will include credit fundamentals, basic accounting, budgeting, health, benefits access, and digital training.

The program will leverage Grameen America’s weekly center meetings to bring members together for discussion around these topics. Grameen America’s Center Managers (field staff) will lead trainings. Often regarded as life coaches, Center Managers develop personal connections with each Grameen member through weekly center meetings. The Member Development Program will empower Center Managers to continue guiding member growth through an ongoing series of modules.

This project is largely made possible by Grameen America’s recent transition to 100% cashless and paperless operations. Technological innovations, which include a cloud-based loan management system and digital transactions, have made field staff more efficient in day-to-day transactions, freeing up time for new programmatic initiatives. We are excited to scale up this program which will supplement our introductory financial training course and elevate the value of the Grameen member experience.