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Columbia SIPA October 25, 2008 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Workshop in Development Practice Preliminary Terms of Reference Fall 2008-Spring 2009 Title: Assisting Grameen America with Research on Immigrant Communities in New York City Client/Host Agency: Grameen America Background: In 1983 Professor Muhammad Yunus, Winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, established Grameen Bank, a bank serving the poor with small loans in Bangladesh. Its mission is to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship. Since its creation, Grameen has successfully provided over 7 billion dollars to 7.58 million individuals in rural Bangladesh. In past years, Grameen has extended its concept of eradicating poverty through micro-lending overseas and today has established programs in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Turkey, Indonesia, Zambia, Kosovo, China and Mexico. Grameen made headlines when it opened its first branch in the United States in November 2007. This pilot program was established in Jackson Heights, Queens because it is New York’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood, with residents from Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa. Grameen felt that low-income immigrants could be well served by offering them the same group lending and savings model offered to other clients around the world. The first disbursement in Queens was made on January 15, 2008 and as of mid-October 2008, $927,154 in loans had been made to 350 borrowers. Presently, Grameen America is considering expanding its business to Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan. For this reason, Grameen America has partnered with SIPA through the Workshop in Development Practice to assess the financial needs of low-income immigrants in these areas. Objective: The overall objective of this project is to assist Grameen America in conducting preliminary research to support the expansion of the organization into additional boroughs of New York City, namely Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan. Due to the success of the Queens program, there has been an expressed demand for Grameen America services from individuals in low-income communities in these areas. The project will be instrumental in assisting Grameen America to find and best serve potential borrowers among immigrant communities in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan. Students will conduct both primary and secondary research on immigrant communities, their financial needs and supporting community organizations in these areas. This information will culminate in a business plan for each target borough and will help Grameen America strategically expand into that area. The project will enable SIPA students to learn not just about immigrant neighborhoods in New York City, but also the working of the Grameen model, the first lender of microcredit to the poor who do not qualify for loans from conventional banks. Tasks: Identify three immigrant communities in one of the listed boroughs in order to model the study on these groups; gather socioeconomic and demographic data on this population; analyze the motivation of the members of these three groups for having left their countries of origin; and research supporting institutions or organizations in their countries of origin; Assess whether there are wealthier groups of immigrants from the same country of origin in the area and their level of support for their lower-income compatriots; Assess the financial needs of these low-income immigrant groups and whether they would be interested in small loans; analyze savings trends and credit ratings among individuals and families in these communities; and Develop a strategy for Grameen America to reach out to these immigrant communities by creating an annotated list of local immigrant groups, community organizations, religious institutions, etc. with whom Grameen America might partner and access potential borrowers. Deliverables: The expected deliverables for the project are: 1) A detailed work plan with expected dates for completion of each task. 2) A draft outline, draft report and final report, which should include a draft of a business plan for expansion of the Grameen program, key findings and recommendations. 3) A short final presentation of the research group’s findings and recommendations to the Grameen America, in addition to SIPA faculty and students. Requirements: The members of the SIPA team should have the following qualifications: Strong research and writing skills. 2 At least two members should have Spanish language skills. Qualitative interview skills are very helpful. Experience in the microfinance sector would be helpful, but not necessary. Desire to learn about immigrant neighborhoods. Good people skills in order to gain trust among immigrants. Logistics: Members of the SIPA team should be willing to go on several field trips to Brooklyn, The Bronx, or Manhattan in order to carry out the research. Grameen America will provide the team with relevant background documents and logistical support for their field research. 3 .
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