Microlending – small loans made to poor entrepreneurs to help them start businesses, moving them from poverty to self sufficiency – will be the subject of a panel discussion Sept. 29 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 8005 of the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. The free, public program is sponsored by the Institute for Business & Professional Ethics (IBPE) at DePaul University.

Often associated with efforts to alleviate poverty in developing countries, microlending programs also are offered by non-profit agencies in Chicago to help city entrepreneurs start businesses and support themselves. Reflecting this fact, speakers from local and international microlending organizations will participate in the discussion. The panelists will be: Kate Johnson, director of marketing and lending at ACCION Chicago; Virginia D. Klein, executive director of the Institute of Integrated Rural Development (IIRD) North America; and Linda Bryant Valentine, managing director and general counsel of the Opportunity Loan Guarantee Fund I. The forum will be moderated by Patricia H. Werhane, the Wicklander Chair of Business Ethics and director of the IBPE at DePaul

Werhane – who hosted panel discussions last year about the problem of local and international sweatshops victimizing poor workers, particularly women – said exploring the subject of microlending extends this discussion to solutions.

“What we can learn from microlending programs is that with a small amount of resources and encouragement, poor people can improve themselves financially and gain self-esteem, providing an alternative to working in sweatshops,” she said. “The idea of microfinancing and microlending is that people can learn to help themselves as entrepreneurs on a small scale, if they have access to funding without collateral, if they have access to help in managing their businesses, and if their funding source is a loan, not a gift, that is expected to be paid back.”

“For example,” Werhane continued, “one of the larger microlending programs, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, has pulled more than three million women out of poverty in that country and is working with two million more.”

On the local level, panelist Johnson will discuss ACCION’s microlending programs in Chicago. The non-profit organization headquartered in the Pilsen neighborhood provides credit and other services to small business owners who do not have access to traditional sources of financing. ACCION has disbursed more than $3 million through 600 loans, averaging $5,000, to 300 active clients and start-up businesses. It has helped launch enterprises that include a hair salon, a lead abatement service, a day care center and a talent agency, among others. Johnson leads ACCION’s efforts to develop effective long-term community partnerships working closely with local banking centers, small business development centers, chambers of commerce and other community organizations in Chicago to help small business owners.

Klein is in charge of raising awareness of IIRD’s programs to eradicate poverty in rural areas of developing countries. Her work includes developing funding sources for the expansion of the institute’s work and creating outlets for goods produced in Bangladesh. A former syndicated columnist, she met Mother Teresa in 1987 and became a regular volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity in the United States, India, Nepal, Kenya and Mexico. Her non-profit work also has included counseling Missouri prison inmates and managing youth leadership and inner city school programs sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Valentine guides the Opportunity Loan Guarantee Fund I, an investment fund established by Opportunity International to support microfinance organizations as they leverage their capital to grow their loan portfolios with debt financing. Opportunity International is one of the world’s largest microfinance institutions, providing small business loans and financial services to poor people in 28 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Begun in 1971, Opportunity had a 36 percent compound annual growth rate in loan clients from 1999 through 2004, and made over one million loans in 2004. Valentine came to Opportunity from Motorola, Inc., where she had served as senior vice president and general counsel for its communications businesses.

For more information about the panel discussion, call the IBPE at 312/362-8786.