Women's World Banking was first conceived during the 1975 UN Conference on Women. The idea of providing financial services to poor women around the world was the brainchild of ten women from five continents that were seeking ways to defeat poverty. Not only did they create Women's World Banking and help women work their way out of poverty, they gave the entrepreneurs independence and power over their own lives.



Women's World Banking, officially launched in 1976, is a nonprofit organization that provides microloans to women who have nothing but their talent and determination to offer. These small loans provide the tools to launch businesses, such as a sewing machine for a seamstress. That sewing machine may not cost much, but it would never be affordable without the microloan by WWB. Without the machine, the woman is limited in the number of items she can produce and merely maintains her poverty without rising above it. The sewing machine provides her the goods not only to repay the microloan but also to pull herself and her children out of a vicious cycle of poverty.

One example is Joyce, whose Kenyan village had no hardware store but a great need for the goods that one would provide. With money borrowed from her family, Joyce began selling small items such as nails and bolts from a small booth, along with some produce. Her business was steady but without the capital to buy inventory, the villagers continued to travel several miles to the nearest hardware store. Joyce couldn't get a loan from any financial institution until she heard about Kenyan Women's Financial Trust, a member of the WWB global network, and borrowed seventy dollars. From that small loan-an afternoon's shopping for many in the Western world-Joyce built her business successfully, repaid her microloan, helped her sister to study for her doctorate degree and employs twenty people in her village! Less than a hundred dollars improved the lives of an entire community.

Banks in the WWB network are different from traditional banks that don't normally cater to women. Most big banks can't be bothered with small "seed money" loans or will charge so much interest that the financing is unaffordable. Until the Women's World Banking was founded, nobody who needed a very small loan had a choice-they were forced to borrow from family and friends or, more often, their ambitions remained a dream that was out of reach. Not only do women now use these very small loans to start stores, buy livestock or equipment to profit from their talents, they begin to save money for the future and also invest it in their own and in others' small businesses. By helping the individual, the network of banks in the Women's World Bank helps entire communities better their standard of living and prepare their children for a bright future. Instead of a life of struggling to exist, the microloan concept empowers women to start their own businesses, employ others and invest in the growth of their communities. With growth, of course, comes education and eventually prosperity for everyone who wants to take part. One microloan can obliterate involuntary poverty from an entire village; bringing dignity and honor back to its people more effectively than any government grant or charity program.

WWB is partially funded by several humanitarian and financial organizations but demand for its services is so great that all donations are greatly appreciated. Many people in America and other developed countries, particularly women, donate to WWB through both personally and through corporate grants and donations. Women in the Northern Hemisphere and America in particular have so many financial options that the Women's World Banking story may astonish them if they haven't heard of it before. They have so many financial options, even down to promoting their hobbies or causes they endorse through their personal checks.

With the help of the Women's World Banking organization, someday all women and their families will be able to enjoy a decent standard of living and education wherever they happen to live.