Alex Counts considers Dallas his Promised Land. More individuals here brook his lobby to give unprofound loans to in fact unfortunate women than any other standing on earth. "Here, the story of self-help, entrepreneurship, bodies working their fashion out of poverty and taking charge of their lives as profitable actors is a best-seller," the 41-year-old falter and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Grameen Foundation said during a modern visit.
"It's the past it boys' network brought down to the plane of low-income women. People here get that." His organization mill in 25 countries and has helped an estimated 18 million people. It's modeled after the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, whose founder, Muhammad Yunus, was a Nobel laureate in 2006. Dallas doesn't evoke the most dollars for Grameen initiatives, Mr. Counts explained.
This bishopric almost always ranks third or fourth in gelt totals. Several cities on the West Coast and New York have some unqualifiedly distressing hitters. Seattle, for example, gets funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But we have the most givers.
In a latest year, four out of 10 donors, or 1,600 people, lived here, Mr. Counts says. "In terms of individuals saying, 'I'm growing to back this with $40, $200, $1,000 or $10,000' – 40 percent Dallas, 60 percent the slumber of the world." Two of Grameen's collaborator organizations are headquartered in Dallas: the Plan Fund and the Chiapas Project.
"Dallas is the only burgh where you have three levels of break for involvement: local, regional and global," Mr. Counts said at a new luncheon. The luncheon, underwritten by Capital One Bank Dallas, introduced the three organizations to bankers, philanthropists and businesspeople who weren't perforce ordinary with any of them.
Explaining partners The Plan Fund makes micro-business loans of $500 to $4,000 to servant the tiniest and riskiest entrepreneurs in South and West Dallas. Since its inception in 1999, the nonprofit has made $710,000 in loans to stunner parlors, auto condition shops, catering companies and other businesses that wouldn't have had a banshee of a occur with a ancestral bank. These days, the mean Plan Fund credit is $1,850, said chairman principal Anthony Pace.
The Chiapas Project gives bootstrap loans of $50 to $100 to women in one of Mexico's most drained states. It's about to spread to other regions of Latin America. Mr. Counts' ties to Dallas began at his foundation's kick-off in 1998.
His original peg to anyone anywhere was here. "I've been here basically every other month for the erstwhile 10 years," he said. The vital two shakes was in 2002, when Mr. Counts spoke to a luncheon attended by just two guests.
Everyone else had been afraid off by a ferocious rainstorm. One was a bachelor observer looking for a job. The other was verifiable situation developer Lucy Billingsley. "Lucy came because it worked well before her yoga class," Mr. Counts said.
"I've been at this for years, so whether it's two ancestors or 20 or 200, you delineate your story. I didn't very remember who Lucy was. I didn't have knowledge of enough about Dallas' superstructure, which was quite good." A week later, Mr. Counts received a tab in the send for several thousand dollars from Ms. Billingsley, her from the start installment of many.
"It surprised me because I did not imagine I had made an copy on her," he said. "Clearly, I was wrong." The daughter of genuine assets celebrity Trammell Crow has also put $1 million into a loan-guarantee bring to compensate defaults. But even more important, Ms. Billingsley became the Chiapas Project's high-profile champion.
"Lucy's Thing" is now "Big D's Thing," and some of the city's most honoured residents – for the most part women – have raised $3.8 million to duel insolvency in Mexico and Latin America. Ms. Billingsley says she's not surprised by the mob of common man who have captivated up the cause.
"If any of us have the bet for 50 darn dollars to give someone the stroke of luck of a lifetime, we do it." Can a $50 accommodation uncommonly dart a business?
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