Perhaps there is no higher calling than advocating for social change to help those individuals who have been marginalized. My guest today is all in when it comes to using micro-finance to make an impact to help people all around the world, and the improvements in the lives of men, women, and children are immeasurable.
Andree Simon is president and CEO of FINCA Impact Finance (FIF), a micro-finance institution providing access to financial resources to underserved communities worldwide, with more than 10,000 employees in 20 locations around the world, including Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan, and more. Andree spends most of her time helping local businesses make a global impact. In this episode, Andree shares how financial literacy, access to financial tools, and economic empowerment underpin greater gender equality. She shares how supporting entrepreneurship and economic transformation abroad actually helps all boats rise, and why and how to include men and boys in the fight for gender equality.
Finding her dream job
Andree knew when she started out in her business career that she had no idea exactly where she would end up. Always being passionate about social change and keenly interested in economics, Andree moved from the policy realm into the finance arena. FIF was her dream job because it combined the business aspect and the social change aspect, which makes her feel very satisfied with the work she does every day.
Her passion for social impact
Andree attributes her passion for social change to her parents, who were “conservative hippies” living in the San Francisco Bay area when she was born. Her parents were both teachers and social activists who lived a modest lifestyle and gave their daughter a passion for the world with a sense of humility. Andree believes her conservative view and free-thinking come from understanding what it means to work hard every day.
Solutions for women
A lot of FIF’s work is done with women because micro-finance is about helping those who are financially marginalized, and those are more often women than men. FIF’s work in the 20 developing countries is about reaching out and helping women with businesses so they can pay for their kids’ education, medicine, and other basic needs. Since women are the most often financially excluded, FIF’s core component is oriented to helping those less literate, with less access, and less technology so they can understand and leverage their economic power. FIF gives access to women so they can make the best use of loans in the most productive ways.
Core values and relationships
FIF is a unique player in the finance world because their credit staff generally live and work where their clients are instead of people having to go into a bank branch. Warmth, trust, and responsible financial services are core values at FIF, with a strong connection to community being foundational. Warmth and trust are developed through the lasting relationships between clients and credit officers. Andree explains how a client finds FIF and goes through the process of working with a credit officer over time.
The major players in micro-finance
Even though women are the major players in micro-finance, Andree says that about half of FIF’s clients are men. Gender parity and greater gender representation at all levels are always at the forefront of Andree’s focus. Since women are most financially marginalized, giving women economic power and improving their ability to advocate for themselves help elevate their standing in their communities, and other factors are affected, like GDP and childhood health.
Why Andree has taken up the fight
You may wonder why a white woman of “privilege” has taken up the fight for the marginalized, and Andree admits that the question is fair. She is hugely passionate and committed to the changes FIF is making around the world. Even though she doesn’t consider herself to be privileged, she never feels like an imposter in her work. Along with her amazing team of people, Andree fully leans into her leadership role with passion, commitment, and a desire to improve the lives of others.
The movement to greater gender equality
Financial literacy and economic empowerment help underpin the movement to greater gender equality and healthy, stable states. Money gives power and choice, so women with no money or access to financial tools have no power or choice. Financial education and capability are significant players in the process to bring more opportunities, and this literacy goes far beyond what you might learn in a classroom when you can’t yet see the application of the knowledge.
Your friendly neighborhood advocate
In any other context, meeting with your credit officer is looked at with dread and even fear. With FIF, a client’s credit officer is someone who supports you around your goals with accountability. Andree explains how support and accountability can make all the difference!
Challenges and lessons learned
Change is hard. We are geared with our behaviors in a certain direction, but disruptors like technology advances make change inevitable. The many changes and innovations happening in the world of international banking and finance affect FIF’s operations and procedures. Andree is a proponent of using machines for what they do best and using human beings for what they do best, which is building relationships.
Motivating people to support the vulnerable
How does Andree encourage others to join the effort to make a difference in others’ lives? She says that there is still much work to be done, but a key component is to enlist the help of people who want to make a long-term social impact. Over time, FIF’s work has proven to be a very reliable way of increasing people’s access to financial tools. One ongoing need is to integrate more forward-thinking technology into the traditional approach.
Engaging men and boys in the cause
Andree says it’s critical to engage men and boys in the struggle for gender equality. If you want to make a difference in the world, you want an army of allies in making change happen, and you can’t exclude anyone. In Andree’s experience, many men are champions in the gender parity fight, so don’t count them out!
Highlights of this episode:
- 3:17 – Where she got her passion for social impact
- 5:12 – Solutions for women
- 7:34 – Why the FIF model won’t work in the US
- 11:56 – How FINCA’s core values keep them true
- 17:04 – Why micro-finance mostly applies to women
- 19:13 – A privileged white women leading the fight
- 26:02 – Strengthening the gender equality movement
- 31:59 – The work of a FIF credit officer
- 35:58 – Challenges and lessons learned
- 42:57 – Motivating people to support the vulnerable
- 46:09 – Why we need men and boys in the fight
Resources mentioned:
Find Andree on Twitter: @FINCAImpact @AndreeSimon
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