Watch the TEDX talk from our founder, Tom Eggert.
Our Story
About WorldWise Microfinance
WorldWise Microfinance, formerly WorldWise Microfinance, is a grassroots organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Driven by passionate local business leaders and volunteers from the Madison community, WorldWise Microfinance has grown from a startup capital of $3,000 in 2010 to provide almost $500,000 in circulated loans. In 2014 the organization attained its 501(c)3 status, and continues to expand and provide more loans to the people in the world who need it most.
Primary objective
Our mission is to provide access to capital (at a reasonable rate) to individuals (primarily women) who aspire to lift their families out of poverty by starting and running a small business. We envision a world where the rural poor hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others.
History
The organization was founded in 2010 by Tom Eggert, a now-retired professor at the University of Wisconsin. A major earthquake hit Haiti in January, 2010, and the students in Tom’s class wanted to directly help families impacted by the earthquake. Tom had been teaching about the power of microfinance for many years, and here was an opportunity to put those lessons to practice. Working with an economic development group in Haiti, a microfinance program was born with startup capital of $3,000. The program has grown and expanded ever since, becoming a 501 (c)(3) organization in 2014.
TEDX talk by Tom Eggert
Tom Eggert’s TEDX talk [16:12]