Women's World Banking

Mary Ellen Iskenderian. Mary Ellen Iskenderian is President and CEO of Women’s World Banking (WWB), the world’s largest network of microfinance institutions and banks. Ms. Iskenderian leads the WWB global team, based in New York, in providing hands-on technical services and strategic support to 40 top-performing microfinance institutions and banks in 28 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle… See full bio.

Read Annual Report	Overhead Ratio: 9.72%
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Stephanie Waxman As microfinance institutions transforms into banks, are women being left behind? Oct 25, 2010

Citi Foundation and Women's World Banking invite you to join them on Friday, November 12th for breakfast and a lively panel discussion. A discussion with 3 CEOs whose institutions have undergone this transition and what they are doing to stay… Read More.

Website:	http://www.swwb.org/	Address:	8 W 40th Street
E-Mail:	jkoenig AT swwb.oprg		New York, NY 10018, USA
Phone:	212-768-8513
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Story: Read about Sumitra who is a bottle-capping entrepreneur in Gujarat, India: Sumitra, a mother of two children, lives with her husband in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, and the seventh largest in India. Nearly half of the city population lives in low-income settlements or “chawls”—one-room row houses—in unhygienic and dilapidated conditions. Sumitra runs a bottle cap recycling business. In India, the majority of soft drinks are packaged in glass bottles with metal caps. Several years ago, Sumitra began roaming the streets collecting discarded caps which could be sold to middlemen who, using a specialized machine, straighten the caps and sell them back to soda manufacturers, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and some popular local brands. In the course of her collecting business, Sumitra learned about Vikas Center for Microfinance Development, which in addition to offering a variety of financial services, encourages women’s empowerment through economic activity by sponsoring self-help groups for poor entrepreneurs in urban and rural areas of Gujurat and neighboring states. Vikas, which has been in operation for 30 years, is one of the oldest clients of WWB Network member Friends of Women’s World Banking, India (FWWB). FWWB provides financial and capacity-building support to organizations such as Vikas which promote the economic self-reliance of poor women. Four years ago, Sumitra joined one of Vikas’ self-help groups in her modest housing settlement, and was encouraged to expand her business. Through her collecting business, she had learned that a bottle cap straightening machine, which cost 2000 rupees (about USD50), would enable her to straighten the caps herself and sell the straightened caps directly to the manufacturer. In order to make the business as profitable as possible, Sumitra formed a group with five other women bottle cap collectors, and with the self-help group as guarantor, applied for one of Vikas’ “Karma” economic activity loans. These loans are provided for the purchase of equipment and for working capital at interest far below the exorbitant rates charged by moneylenders. Sumitra received a loan of 50,000 (USD1,240) rupees to cover the cost of six bottle cap straightening machines (one for her and each of her five employees) plus working capital for the business. Since then, Sumitra has taken out three more loans to further develop the business, which she has paid back out of the business profits. Sumitra and her employees straighten 50 kilos of caps per day; Sumitra makes approximately 500 rupees profit (USD12.42) per month after paying the salaries of her employees, who are paid two rupees per kilo of caps straightened. This may not seem like a lot, but to Sumitra, her employees, and their families, it represents security and hope. Sumitra’s profitable business has enabled her to greatly improve the living conditions of her family and those of her employees. The business has also literally been a life-saver for Sumitra’s family. Sumitra’s husband became ill during the flu epidemic that accompanied a 2006 monsoon, and was in desperate need of medication. Without her income, Sumitra would not have been able to afford the medicines that saved her husband’s life. The business has also enabled Sumitra to help her son get started in his own business, and to finance her daughter’s education. Sumitra’s daughter is now in her first year in college, studying finance. (Read more stories about Women's World Banking's clients at: http://www.swwb.org/node/250)

Evidence of Impact Summary:

WWB has served 20 million clients and 74% of their clients are women. They have $4.3 billion in their loan portfolio, have a 30% annual growth rate for WWB network members’ financial resources, and 70% of WWB network members rank among the top three MFIs in their countries.

Organization Strengths Summary:

Microfinance experts believe that Women’s World Banking’s main strength is that they focus on women. They are also innovative, have good marketing, and provide excellent technical assistance.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

At the same time, experts believe that WWB should expand geographically, should focus on developing products that can reach the poorest women, and improve their measurement of impact.
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Mary Ellen Iskenderian is President and CEO of Women’s World Banking (WWB), the world’s largest network of microfinance institutions and banks. Ms. Iskenderian leads the WWB global team, based in New York, in providing hands-on technical services and strategic support to 40 top-performing microfinance institutions and banks in 28 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. WWB’s network members consistently rate among the top three microfinance institutions in their countries and 74 percent of their clients are poor women entrepreneurs. Ms. Iskenderian, who joined WWB in 2006, has more than 20 years of experience in building global financial systems throughout the developing world. Ms. Iskenderian is a leading voice for women’s leadership and participation in microfinance, and a strong advocate for the role of capital markets in the sector. She has spoken widely on microfinance at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Wharton and at numerous industry and banking forums including the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, the Council on Foreign Relations and European Microfinance Week 2009. She has been profiled in Forbes magazine and the Wall Street Journal and is frequently quoted in the media, including Reuters, Newsweek, Time, BBC News and Voice of America. Her recent awards include the 2009-2010 NYU Stern’s Distinguished Citi Fellowship in Leadership and Ethics, the 2009 Isabel Benham Award from the Women’s Bond Club, and the companion 2009 Women’s Finance Award given by the Institute of Financial Services at Lucerne University, Switzerland. Prior to WWB, Ms. Iskenderian worked for 17 years in senior management at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, where her numerous leadership positions included Director of Partnership Development, Director of the Global Financial Markets Portfolio and Director of the South Asia Regional Department. Previously, she worked for the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Ms. Iskenderian is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Board of Kashf Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. She holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Stephanie Waxman As microfinance institutions transforms into banks, are women being left behind? Oct 25, 2010

Citi Foundation and Women's World Banking invite you to join them on Friday, November 12th for breakfast and a lively panel discussion. A discussion with 3 CEOs whose institutions have undergone this transition and what they are doing to stay focused on their mission to serve low-income women. Introduction by: Mary Ellen Iskenderian President and CEO, Women's World Banking Featuring a conversation with: Graham Macmillan Program Officer, Citi Foundation Lic, Mercedes Canalda de Beras-Goico Executive Vice-President, Banco ADOPEM, Dominican Republic Dr.Jennifer Riria Group Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Women Holding Roshaneh Zafar Founder and President, Kashf Foundation, Pakistan 8:00am Registration and breakfast 8:30am-10:00am Discussion and Q and A Citi Executive Conference Center 601 Lexington Avenue 14th Floor, New York, NY 10022 RSVP required by Friday, November 5 to Stephanie Waxman: swaxman@swwb.org