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Organization: Pro Mujer

Based in: United States,   US EIN #: 98-0115409 add to cart Request Info

Quick Facts

Pro Mujer is an international microfinance and women's development network whose mission is to provide Latin America's poorest women with the means to build livelihoods for themselves and futures for their families through microfinance, business training, and healthcare support. Pro Mujer fights poverty by establishing sustainable microfinance organizations that provide an integrated package of financial and human development services that women require to build and improve their businesses.

Focus Areas: Economic Development, Health, Human Rights, Poverty, Gender & Equality, Microfinance
Countries Served: Argentina
Bolivia
Mexico
Nicaragua
Peru

Background

Date Founded: 1990
Number of Staff: 1000

Description of Services:
Pro Mujer's communal association methodology is designed specifically to empower poor women to be more effective in all areas of their lives' at home, at work and in their communities. Reinforced by their successful use of credit and the solidarity with peers in their communal association, the women become aware of the vast possibilities for improvement in their lives. All Pro Mujer country programs provide training in health and empowerment, and link women and their families with health services. Pro Mujer's focal centers, where clients meet on a regular basis to repay their loan installments, offer an ideal base for education programs covering family planning, domestic violence, nutrition, hygiene and good health practices, among others.
History:
Pro Mujer establishes and develops microfinance institutions in Latin America that provide an integrated credit and training program for poor women microentrepreneurs. Pro Mujer developed its communal association methodology in Bolivia in 1990 and has successfully replicated the model in Nicaragua (1996), Peru (1997), Mexico (2001) and Argentina (2005). Over the last seventeen years Pro Mujer's microfinance institutions have disbursed $488 million in small loans -ranging from $50 to $1,000? with an average loan of $236. Pro Mujer clients are encouraged to save; currently, these women have saved $16.5 million in individual accounts providing a financial buffer for their families in times of crises.
Accomplishments & Progress:
Fall 2007 - Pro Mujer in Peru was awarded the 2007 Excellence in Microfinance Award from the Inter-American Development Bank. This award recognizes non-regulated financial institutions exhibiting growth of sustainable financial services and innovation in new products.

March 2007 - Pro Mujer in Nicaragua was awarded the 2006 Financial Transparency Award from the World Bank-based Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

June 2007 ? MicroRate, a microfinance external rating agency, gave Pro Mujer in Peru an ?A? rating for its high yield, large net operating margin, the excellence of its methodology, portfolio, efficiency and productivity and for serving the poorest niche in Peru?s microcredit industry.

Quality Check

2 Foundation Affiliations
Foundation Name Year Funded Verification Status
Gates Foundation 2006 Verified
W. K. Kellogg Foundation 2005 Waiting Verification
Financial Information   Verified
Year 2004
Total Revenue: $7,237,983
Expenses:  
        Program Services Expenses: $3,277,968
(59% of total)
        Management & General Expenses: $2,144,988
(39% of total)
        Fundraising Expenses: $138,297
(2% of total)
        Total Expenses: $5,561,253

Additional Information

Additional Background Information:
According to the World Bank?s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), empirical evidence shows that network microfinance institutions like Pro Mujer are both directly and indirectly responsible for increased incomes, an increased and sustainable food supply, higher educational levels for children, improved gender equity and women?s empowerment, reduced disease and illness, reduced child mortality and improved maternal health and helps ensure environmental sustainability. Women?s access to microfinance not only benefits women, but also their families and communities, by generating:
Increased income, awareness and bargaining power for women;
Increased resources available to the family for investment in nutrition and education;
? Growth in local economies through local increases in women?s spending; and
? An expanded view in the larger society of social and economic norms that relate to women.
Additional Affiliations:
SEEP, CGAP

Officers & Board

President:
Lynne Patterson
Director Phone: 212.952.0181 ext. 11
Development Director:
Leila Freedman
Development Associate
Phone: 212.952.0181 ext. 15
Volunteer Coordinator:
Norma Zannikos
Office Manager
Phone: 212.952.0181 ext. 10
Board of Directors and Board of Advisors:
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lynne Randolph Patterson
Carmen Velasco
Ruth B. Cowan
Rita Foley
Helen E. Clement
Joel Epstein
Eileen Fusco
Peter W. Greenough
Peter H. Johnson
William K. Kirst
Gail S. Landis
Ben Moyer
Helena Ribe
Maria C. Richter
Monique Skruzny
Cynthia Stone
Maryann B. Sudo
Ambassador Linda Watt
Luis A. Viada
Rosemary Werrett
Mayu Hume
Maria O'keefe
Carlos Alfaro
Elaine Edgecomb
Jonathan J. Morduch
Thomas W. Studwell

Contact Information

Address:
Pro Mujer
240 West 35th Street, Suite 404
New York,NY10001
United States
Phone: 212.952.0181 x14
Fax: 212.952.0183
Web: http://www.promujer.org

Photos

Client in Mexico
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Client in Nicaragua
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Client's children in Peru
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Clients in Bolivia
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Client in Argentina
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International Philanthropy, Donating, Volunteering, Fundraising, Tax-deductible Donations
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