Jacob Allen
Enterprise Mentors International
“Microenterprise 101”

Biography:

BA: Brigham Young University. Major: International Law and Diplomacy. Minor: Latin American Studies. Graduated: August 2000.

MA: Stanford University. Major: International Comparative Education. Graduated: August 2001.

After spending 2 years serving the people in and around Santiago, Chile, I began to realize the great humanitarian needs that existed in Latin America. A subsequent internship at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland served to emphasize the global scale of the economic, educational, medical and social difficulties that billions face every day. Through these experiences I decided to dedicate my efforts to giving some of what I had received. Since graduating, I have had the opportunity to work with several humanitarian organizations, including the LDS Church's Perpetual Education Fund and Chasqui Humanitarian.

Enterprise Mentors International provides innovative and integrated support to micro-entrepreneurs in the Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru. Like other microfinance organizations, EMI provides opportunities for credit to poor business owners who have traditionally been excluded from the formal financial markets. Depending on the needs of the area, EMI facilitates both individualized and group lending programs. Coupled with these traditional microfinance initiatives, EMI also provides specialized training and consulting to micro-entrepreneurs. These services complement our microfinance efforts by enable entrepreneurs themselves to apply proven, locally-relevant business principles and practices to their productive talents.

As Program Associate with EMI, I help coordinate the administrative and programmatic supervision of our 7 partner foundations. In addition, I am currently working to improve EMI's model for consulting and training, with a particular focus on creating organizational processes and materials that are client-driven and results-based.