The World of Microfinance and How You Can Get Involved

On Wednesday, Girls in Tech hosted a panel discussion on “How Microfinance is Changing the Way We Live” featuring an all-star group of women who are leading the charge in the world of microfinance today.  Emily Gasner, executive director of TMC Development Working Solutions, Ashwini Narayanan, general manager at MicroPlace, Casey Wilson co-founder of Wokai, Michelle Kreger, microfinance partnerships manager at Kiva, and Shubha Shankaran, co-founder of United Prosperity shared their personal stories about how they came to be involved with microfinance, and how their organizations are using microfinance loans to help the working poor build self-sustaining businesses to pull themselves out of poverty.

While some organizations mainly provide only microfinance loan support to the poor, TMC Working Solutions and Wokai also provide training and support to help borrowers be better entrepreneurs with technical and business plan development assistance.  This increases the likelihood that the business will be successful and the loan repaid.

Throughout the evening it was clear that the panelists all shared two traits: a deep passion for their work and a deep love of their jobs!  What lucky women!  To be sure, there were many of us in the audience who wanted to know how we could get involved in microfinance.  Michelle from Kiva suggested that people start by going to Kiva.org to view the stories of borrowers, and start lending to get a sense for what it feels like.  For those with language skills, she suggested volunteering translation services to Kiva by translating borrowers’ stories and profiles in their native language to English.  Finally, she stressed getting on-the-ground field experience as the best way to get your foot in the door.

Emily from TMC Working Solutions pointed the audience to MicroMentor.org and suggested people who are interested in microfinance join the group Women Advancing Microfinance, where members meet once a month to provide professional development and support to each other and discuss  opportunities and innovation in the industry.

A big thanks to all of wonderful panelists for sharing their personal stories with us and giving us a glimpse into the power of microfinance to greatly impact the lives of the working poor.  Also, special thanks to Sundeep Ahuja, co-founder and president of The Extraordinaries, for moderating the evening’s panel.

Journalism 2.0 Brings Out the Best in Tech Reporting

Girl in Tech hosted our first Journalism 2.0 event last week and we had an amazing group of women tech journalists represented on a panel moderated by Kara Swisher from The Wall Street Journal.  The panelists included VentureBeat’s Camille Ricketts, TechieDiva’s Gina Hughes, former San Francisco Chronicle tech editor Deborah Gage, ZDNet’s Jennifer Leggio, and Ubergizmo editor Eliane Fiolet.   Before the panel started, Kara sat down with with Brian Solis to chat with him about his book “Putting the Public back in Public Relations”.

Photo Credit: Kenneth Yeung

The roundtable opened up with a discussion about how blogs have affected traditional media.  Everyone agreed that the blogosphere is often a big echo chamber where people retell the same story.  And while that can be the case, well written professional blogs are replacing what newspapers do, and citizen journalism is pushing traditional journalism towards new technology like twitter and video.

On the topic of women in journalism, our panelists shared their personal stories of being stared at, instead of listened to and taken seriously.  They believed that the best way to combat sexism in the workplace is to prove your knowledge and earn credibility through the quality of your work.  Everyone cautioned against the temptation of using sex appeal to get ahead — warning that employing it diminishes credibility over time.

Finally our panelists gave the audience a number of career tips from their own personal experience.  I’ve listed the ones that resonated the most with me below.

1. Learn the job and don’t worry about being female.
2. If you want to start in a new area – jump right in, don’t be afraid to take unpaid internships, and don’t think you’re “too good” for a job.  (ZDNet’s Jennifer Leggio started her journalism career as na obituary writer)
3. Follow your instincts and don’t be afraid to fail.
4. Don’t take “no” for an answer.
5. Don’t worry about slights or disappointments.  Learn from them.

Photo Credit: Kenneth Yeung

A huge thank you to Kara Swisher and our amazing panelists for sharing their stories and experiences with us.  And big thanks to Allison Bethurem for pulling the event together on behalf of Girls in Tech, and FutureWorks PR for sponsoring the event.

GIT Member Spotlight: Helen Zhu, CEO of Chictopia

What happens when fashion and personal style meets social media?  You get Chictopia, a fashion destination website and social network for fashionistas.  I recently met Helen Zhu, co-founder and CEO of Chictopia, while on the Geeks on a Plane tour in Asia, and her combination of style and substance struck me straight away.  While on a late-night, post-club stroll home in Shanghai, we bonded over our shared passion for the start-up life.

Although Helen had always wanted to combine her talents and personal interests to launch a company, it was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2006 cover article that struck a nerve.  Time Magazine’s 2006 person was You.  Time applauded people’s creative contribution to changing the landscape of global media and social interaction through blogging, social networks and sites like YouTube and Wikipedia.  2006 was about the power of individual contribution in the new digital democracy.

Helen and her two co-founders launched Chictopia in April 2008 as a place for trendsetters and fashion devotees to connect and share their personal style with others.  The site allows people to rate styles and encourages users to upload photos of themselves in their favorite outfits so that others with similar shapes and taste can learn from and be inspired by real people like themselves, rather than get ideas for fashion from what supermodels are wearing in magazines.  Ranked as a top 4 style site by Nylon magazine, Chictopia is already profitable, thanks mostly to their focus on revenue and growth.  Rather than start from scratch, Chictopia looked to sites like Facebook, Yelp, and Catster for inspiration when they started building the site.

Jump into the world of Chictopia – and while you’re there check out the newly launched fashion contest sponsored by Forever21, including a 10% off Forever21 promotion available exclusively to Chictopia members.  Congratulations to Helen and her founding team for delivering a unique offering and inspiring us to follow our passions!

Join Girls in Tech at Digital Summer

DIGITAL SUMMER combines three passions: Photography, Technology, and Fashion.

On August 19th Girls in Tech and Ubergizmo are teaming up to host DIGITAL SUMMER in San Francisco at Temple, one of the few sustainable nightclubs in the world. San Francisco’s jet-set crowd will be on the scene to network and celebrate the art of fashion, photography and technology.

PROGRAM:
*8-10 PM Test-drive HP’s coolest products & Try out Intel-based latest mobile devices
*8-11 PM Studio Photo-Shoot by Eye-Fi (Feel like a Model!)
*8.30-10 PM Atelier Emmanuel, fine boutique hair salon & day spa will spoil you!
*8.30-10 PM STAR Make-Up Artists Bianca Lucescu and Candy Walker will be hosting Eye-Lash Bar!
*9-9.30 PM Photo-Show by Damien Miller and Eco-Fashion by Edun and Edun Live

RSVP Here!

DRESS CODE—Chic and Elegant
MUSIC: Guest DJ Mrs.Blythe

SPONSORS:
Platinum:HP
Silver: Intel
Bronze: Edun Live