-
A Conversation with Shyam: Putting Voices to the Foundation
SKI Charities empowers not only women in Lebu, but also members of Lebu’s indigenous Mapuche culture. Listen in on our first audio discussion with SKI Charities founder, Shyam, as he talks about his most recent trip to Lebu, Chile where he had the opportunity to connect with local Mapuches artists. Be sure to check out…
-
Our Mothers, Our Inspiration
While the Grameen Bank gave SKI Charities its infrastructural model, the main impetus behind creating the organization was very personal. SKI Charities founder, Shyam K. Iyer, credits his mother for inspiring him to make the charity a reality: “In her family, my mother is 8 of 9 kids and the older girls were just sort…
-
Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank, an Inspiration for SKI Charities
SKI Charities founder, Shyam K. Iyer, is the first to admit that he did not invent the concept of microfinance. Nor did he pioneer the idea of extending microfinance opportunities specifically to women. Iyer comments, “What we’re doing, we think it’s unique in the places we’ve gone, but I didn’t invent the concept of micro-finance.…
-
Microfinance 101: What is it?
Encyclopedia Britannica will tell you that microfinance is “a means of extending credit, usually in the form of small loans with no collateral, to nontraditional borrowers such as the poor in rural or undeveloped areas.” It was a concept institutionalized in 1976 by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and adopted by SKI Charities founder, Shyam K. Iyer. Shyam…