This quarter my Microfinance & Social Entrepreneurship class if focusing more on the entrepreneurship side (as opposed to the financial statement side) of microfinance organizations.  We’ve had speakers from organizations like the 10:10 Project and the Rocky Mountain Microfinance Institute (RMMFI) describe to us how they got their start and where they hope to go in the future.  Their plans for the future are the areas in which our class has decided to help.  As our final project we are to take a nebulous idea an MFI has for improvement, and turn it into a feasible plan.

The idea I’ve chosen to look at was proposed by the 10:10 Project.  They are a Denver-based MFI that does microlending and microgrants in Kenya.   Considering many of their borrowers are engaged in the agricultural sector, 10:10 would like to start a program of leasing heavy machinery to their borrowers.  Their skeletal plan is to obtain a tractor through donation from a company operating in Africa, then leasing that tractor out to a borrower who would then have the ability to sublet it to other community members.  “Skeletal” being the operative word here.

Though we were just assigned this project last week, I’ve been very excited about getting to work on it.  My background is in logistics, corporate partnerships and corporate social responsibility; the last of which is the path I think a company might follow to help 10:10.  Thus, my first task is to find and contact agricultural machinery companies that are active in the U.S. and Africa to see if this is something they might hypothetically pursue as an act of CSR, or something they could use as a marketing or promotional tool.  I will also need to explain to 10:10 the definitions of CSR and ascertain how willing they would be to let a corporation contribute to decision-making like, “who gets first use of the tractor?”

Outside of these administrative questions I’ll need to see where the tractor will come from, where it will be delivered (head office? branch?), who will provide maintenance should it break down, whether it is a tax-deductible donation, etc.  I think this is a great final project as it not only uses my skills learned in school but also those I’ve picked up before becoming a student.

Outside of classes the Korbel School works incredibly hard to ensure its students find interesting and challenging work for internships and upon graduation.  The main office that facilitates this work is Career and Professional Development.  I have used this office regularly in my time as a student – taking advantage of their resume review services, earning scholarships through the DCC Funds, and now to tailor my resume and cover letter to each job I’m looking at.  That said, I’m currently visiting this office about once a week, and I can’t tell you how helpful they have been!  Though Mr. Musick is offering me personal help in my interviewing skills, negotiation, etc. it has been immensely gratifying to have a second opinion on my resume and general cover letter.  From format, to content and even font, their industry experts have really helped me to highlight my varied and interesting work history.  Their office only works with students from Korbel – not the larger DU campus – so they really know how to word sections and specific qualifications to grab the attention of HR departments in the international relations field.  My favorite part?  They don’t sugarcoat their criticisms.  I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m no expert in resume composition, so I’m happy to have advisors who are not afraid to pull out a red pen and completely transform the document.

I think it’s officially spring in Denver!  We’ve had warm sunny weather for a solid week, and just in time for the Rockies home opener!  I don’t think I’ve ever felt as American as I did staring at a flag half the size of the field, listening to the Air Force band play the National Anthem and watching “Top Gun” do a flyover the stadium with a frosty Coors in hand.  Plus the Rockies dominated the game – a perfect way to start the season.

I’ve only got one class this quarter, and then I graduate in June.  With all my free time (not having homework has been fantastic) I’m putting in more hours at my work study job and diligently searching for a job.  There aren’t many opportunities to work in agricultural trade in Denver, so I won’t be staying in town after graduation.  So far, I’ve applied to organizations as far away as the OECD in Paris and FairTrade in San Francisco, but the majority of the positions I’m looking at are located in the Midwest.  For example, the Institute for Agricultural Trade Policy (located in Minneapolis) is a think tank-type organization that performs research on issues like gender and trade, and suggests policy changes on issues like the Farm Bill.  Land O’ Lakes, also Minnesota-based, has close partnerships with USAID in promoting sustainable agriculture projects internationally.  I’m even hoping to use my degree in combination with my current job in pursuing a position as a director of international admissions.  I’m trying not to limit my options as I feel my degree will allow me to pursue careers in the private, public or non-profit sectors.

Since I’m kicking the applications into high gear I’ll be spending more time working with Mr. Musick on my interviewing and salary negotiation skills.  He’s already helped me tremendously with how to word requests for informational interviews, how to write an effective cover letter, and how to spruce up my resume.  At this point I’m prepared for my first rejections and excited for my first interview invitations!

My trip to Uganda and Kenya was amazing!  When I first arrived in Uganda – being from the Land of 10,000 Lakes – I had to check out Lake Victoria.  I had a great conversation with my guide at the Botanical Gardens about Lake Victoria vs. Lake Superior while he showed me several medicinal and other interesting plants.  I even saw a monkey that had no hind feet, so he walked handstand-like on his front paws.

I spent my first weekend with a group of engineers and architects who do non-profit projects throughout east Africa.  They work for an organization called eMi whose mission it is to “help children and families around the world step out of poverty and into a world of hope.”  I can’t say enough about how wonderful and interesting they all were!  For more information on their Colorado Springs-based organization check out http://emiworld.org/.

Our actual program started on Monday with a visit to the American Embassy and a chat with their Economics and Commerce Officer.  He had some very interesting things to say about Uganda’s economic future.  For now corruption is so high that he tends to advise American companies not to invest in Uganda without serious contingency planning.  He also suggested that Uganda needs to develop their own marketing strategy, particularly for their coffee and fruit juice.  I fully agree with him, because that was some of the strongest and best coffee and sweetest most refreshing fruit I have ever had!

Over the next few days we had meetings with BRAC Uganda, both at headquarters and one of their branch offices.  At their headquarters we grilled our host on their future plans, financial situation, and general structure for several hours.

We also met with their Executive Director who provided some amazingly interesting information on how BRAC plans to make itself sustainable in all of its endeavors – not just microfinance.  Their livestock research division helps Ugandan farmers develop best practices and in the future BRAC hopes to start their own vaccination center (currently all livestock vaccinations must be imported).  Their agricultural research division, which also helps develop best practices, hopes to develop their own seed distribution shop (again, most seeds are currently imported).  He also outlined plans to start an agroforestry division and a plan to aid displaced Pygmies from the DRC.

However, the agricultural tariffs enthusiast in me was especially excited to talk shop with author Ian Smillie.  He was visiting BRAC Uganda for just one day and he was able to make time to meet with us.  Mr. Smillie has just written a book called Freedom from Want, which outlines the history of BRAC and microfinance.  We ended up talking about how the reduction in milk subsidies in the UK allowed a dairy industry to develop in Bangladesh.  With the subsidies farmers in Bangladesh could not produce milk at a competitive price to that of dumped English powdered milk; yet after the subsidies were removed, farmers could suddenly produce dairy products at competitive prices.  BRAC capitalized on this by offering loans to farmers and providing chilling stations at their branches for farmers to bring their milk.  Again, I really hope I’m not the only person who finds this stuff fascinating!

Our visit to the branch office was truly inspiring!  We got up bright and early to attend a repayment meeting at 7:30.  At this meeting a group of about 25 women were making their weekly payment on each of their loans.  BRAC only lends to groups of at least 20 women with a repayment period of 1 year.  This particular group of women was on about their third loan, having received progressively larger loans each year.  The women were kind enough to introduce themselves, tell us the amount of their loan ($100-$500) and what they are using it for.  All of them were incredibly positive, happy they chose BRAC over other institutions, and everyone was able to pay back their installment and interest that week.  Perhaps the most moving introduction came from a woman who got a loan to buy a sewing machine.  She told us that she had previously worked for someone else, but could not earn enough to send her children to school.  With her loan, she now owns her own growing business, all of her children are in school, and she is a much happier person.  That story alone made me feel like the work we were doing was truly making a difference.

After these meetings with our bank it was time to relax – it was Spring Break after all!  So our group flew to Nairobi and spent 2 days on Safari in Lake Nakuru National Park.  We got to go on a lake in canoes to see hippos; walk around in a field filled with wildebeest, zebra and impala; and take open-roof trucks around the lake to see rhino, leopard, baboon and so much more!  It was such a beautiful place!  We even had some extra time to head out to the beaches in Mombasa.  There were very few tourists there at this time of year, so we practically had the white sand beaches and turquoise water to ourselves!  It was so relaxing after such a stressful quarter!

It’s been a long and tough quarter, and I’ve got just two finals to finish before I leave for Uganda!  I’ve saved my most difficult papers for last, as I want to devote the most attention to them.  My focus at Korbel has been on trade as a development mechanism, particularly in the area of agriculture.  Happily, both of these papers are able to strongly incorporate my interest and enhance my understanding of the issues facing liberalization of agriculture.  One is devoted to liberalization of agricultural subsidies –such as those contained in the U.S. Farm Bill – as a linchpin for reopening the Doha Round of the WTO, and ensuring the organization’s legitimacy in the future.  The other evaluates the effects of those same subsidies through the lens of feminist economics.  This economic perspective looks at trade barriers’ effects on comparative advantage, world food prices, and women’s position in the work place in developing countries.

I’ve been doing a significant amount of research on the iterations of the U.S. Farm Bill, and to a lesser extent the EU’s CAP system.  Coming from a family that includes many small scale farmers and fishermen, portions of this Bill have truly surprised me.  Despite claims to the WTO of retaining American tariffs and subsidies to preserve a rural farm culture, the Farm Bill only benefits a few corporate farmers of select commodities – completely excluding fruits and vegetables – and is more successful at putting those farming “cultural icons” out of business.   I was also intrigued by the fact that the value of the 2007 Bill was reduced due to projections of higher crop prices from increased demand for ethanol.  If those prices rise and domestic consumption increases, American dumping of subsidized crops on world markets would decrease and world commodity prices could rise to the benefit of developing country exporters.  Hopefully I’m not the only person out there who finds this stuff fascinating.

I’m also very exciting to be leaving for Uganda tomorrow!  After wading through financial statements from BRAC for weeks, we’ve created an initial report for Deutsche Bank and formulated several questions to ask at headquarters and a branch.  BRAC is a non-profit microfinance organization that also offers primary education and family healthcare, so I’m very curious to learn how they function in comparison to some of the more traditional banks other groups will be visiting.  Of course I’m also just excited to visit Africa for the first time!  Hopefully we see some interesting animals on our Safari!

Although I greatly enjoy GFTEI courses at Korbel, I often find myself taking elective courses where I am the only GFTEI student.  The course that fits that description this quarter is Financial Management and Fundraising for Non-Profits (FMFNP).  While the course has the word ‘finance’ in the title, it mostly consists of students in the International Administration and International Studies degrees.   Hearing their perspectives on working in non-profit organizations is certainly interesting.  I’ve previously worked in a very efficiently run environmental organization, but many of my fellow students are currently working in organizations that are just getting off the ground or have even failed.  Thus, in examining budgets, statements of financial position, and program proposals we all have different, real-life experiences to share.  We are also tasked with bringing in a panel of industry professionals including Executive Directors, Board Members, Foundation Leaders and Fundraisers whose anecdotes bring life to the readings we have done.  My group is bringing in the Fundraisers panel in two weeks and we’re very excited to hear their insights on the best ways to make non-profit organizations sustainable.

I’ve also been able to integrate portions of this class with my Microfinance course.  Learning how to critique IRS 990 forms and balance sheets in FMFNP has helped me assess how well BRAC Uganda is doing, and how that will affect their future potential for securing international loans.  I’m also able to write my FMFNP final on the similarities and differences in financing, governance, and the spirit of giving between American and Ugandan non-profit organizations.  The research I’ll be doing for this paper will help illuminate topics for me to bring up with the directors of BRAC Uganda when I go for my site visit in three weeks.  It’s certainly helpful to have this cross-over in course skills and topics!

After a few introductory weeks of theory my International Trade and Legal & Political Analysis of the Global Trade Regime classes are starting to converge on some very interesting topics.   In the Legal and Political Analysis class, we have been reviewing the history and make-up of the GATT/WTO.  Some of our topics of concentration include how tariffs are actually reduced in negotiation rounds, how disputes are resolved, and what it means for an organization to operate on a ‘consensus’ decision-making basis.

On the other hand, in Trade class we’ve been discussing in great depth the classical theories of Ricardian Comparative Advantage and Heckscher-Ohlin two-factor production.  Our topic for this week is more or less to question the future of free trade.  Our authors have suggested that infant-industry protection should not be frowned upon as it is how countries like the US and UK developed; and that in today’s world the concept of ‘free trade’ is often unfairly influenced by small interest groups like the American sugar industry, or transnational corporations seeking to lower duties on their products manufactured abroad.  One of these authors suggested that a global system of cooperation in the realm of trade needs to exist in order to reduce these inequalities.

It was then interesting to note that the author wrote his piece a few years before the Uruguay Round and the creation of the formal WTO.  I couldn’t help but wonder how his ideas would change today given the WTO’s status as an international body formed to promote freer trade amongst all nations.  Further, the WTO’s allowance for ‘special and differential’ trading status for developing countries may also tacitly allow certain aspects of infant industry protection.  However, the collapse of the Doha Development Round also suggests that the move toward competitive equality amongst all trading nations is far from being realized.

Perhaps the most interesting issue these classes are touching on is trade’s affects on labor standards and the environment.  Theory suggests that wages will remain low in a country until its entire workforce (not just the export sector) raises its productivity, yet from the perspective of a developed country low wages tend to be seen as an atrocity.  In addition to lower wages, developing countries tend to have lower standards for environmental protection both in the export sector (Southeast Asian lumber) and for domestic reasons (loss of Brazilian rainforest).   Some academics and non-profit organizations have suggested the WTO create binding regulations for these issues, much like they’ve done for intellectual property rights protection.  Others feel such regulation belongs to the International Labor Organization, treaties like Kyoto, and domestic regulation.  It is certainly not my place to use this as a forum for my personal opinions, but needless to say I feel a very interesting discussion coming on in class tomorrow!

It’s been a very relaxing break filled with visiting friends and family, horseback riding, skiing and going to the movie theatre – first time in 6 months!  However, I have been somewhat productive.  Earlier this fall I applied to become a Destiny Capital Corporation Mentee, a program that offers two second-year GFTEI students each year the opportunity to have a personal mentor that aids them through the job application process.  Fortunately, I am one of those two students who Mr. Musick has chosen to mentor.   What this means is that over the course of the year Mr. Musick will help me narrow down my preferred work locations, review my finances to determine a salary for which I should aim, critique my resume, put me through mock interviews, etc.  Due to my abundant free time over break, Mr. Musick and I accomplished many of these goals, allowing me to feel far more confident in my job search.

But now that it’s January I’m back to school.  Classes started up yesterday, but my first class isn’t until tomorrow.  I’m finally taking International Trade – a core class that most GFTEI students take their first or second quarter.   I’ve been looking forward to Dr. DeMartino’s return from sabbatical in order to take the course from a professor that I’ve heard such great things about.  As mentioned in my last post I’m also taking a class in the practical application of microfinance as well as others on the Legal/Political Analysis of the Global Trade Regime and Financial Management and Fundraising for Non-Profits.  It seems that I’ve saved my most tortuous class load for my final full quarter – eek!

The stress of finals is finally over!  Now it’s time to relax, watch way too much tv, read books that don’t challenge my brain, and maybe start that job search.  However, being a student at this school means I can’t completely give up on my routine, so a few other students and I are starting a mini-book club over break.  We’ve all read parts or heard tales from Confessions of an Economic Hitman, so we’re keeping up our reading and discussion habits with something non-academic for a change. 

Beyond reading and tv, I’m getting very excited for a class that I’m starting next quarter.  FIN 4700 Social Entrepreneurship and Microfinance is a small class taught through the Daniel’s College of Business.  Professor Mac Clouse offers the chance to “make a difference in development” by working in partnership with Deutsche Bank in a two-course sequence focused on the effects of microfinance.  The impetus for this course is the growing interest in microfinance as a part of the solution to “the bottom of the pyramid” challenges associated with finance. This exploding fascination has resulted in new and different types of funds appearing almost daily.  The course offers an exclusive educational partner with Deutsche Bank in its $80 million microfinance fund as part of its Global Commercial Microfinance Consortium.  It is highly selective and more complicated than other courses to join, due to the fact that you must submit a cover letter and a resume to be considered for a seat.

I was fortunate enough to be chosen as one of this year’s students.  This class will provide me with the opportunity to interact personally with DB managers as they perform due diligence and complete annual loan reviews of microfinance institutions in Kenya and Uganda.  The best part?  As a part of this due diligence I will be visiting microfinance institutions in the aforementioned nations over spring break!

The reception for Steve Musick went very well!  It was an interesting opportunity to listen to what some of my fellow GFTEI students did for their internships this summer.  A few people had worked for microfinance institutions as far away as Kenya and Guatemala, and another is going to present a paper at a conference in New Delhi!  It was also a great opportunity to announce our new CIFTE board.  The second years, myself included, are graduating soon, so we’ve selected our new members and will help them learn how to run a student organization over the next few months.  They’ve already suggested some interesting topics for speakers and our Brown Bag Lunch Series so I’m very intrigued by what they’ll contribute to student life at Korbel.

Steve and Elaine Musick, Dr. Ilene Grabel and several GFTEI students

It’s also week 10 of the quarter and finals start this Friday.  Unfortunately, three out of four of my professors have decided to have my final due on Friday.  So this week I’ll have my nose buried in an impact assessment of the Nam Theun Dam, articles on winners and losers in global trade, and a marketing analysis of Singapore Airlines.  This is all while still attending the final week of classes!

The light at the end of this tunnel is that our DU Pioneers will be playing the UND Fighting Sioux this weekend!  I spent four years of undergrad booing the Sioux so I’m very excited to keep it up here in Denver.  Even better is that my alma mater, the SCSU Huskies, will be coming to town next weekend!