ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The Indian School of Microfinance for Women is a new initiative in the discipline of Microfinance. The School has been set up with the purpose of addressing the huge capacity
building gap that exists in the sector.

The School shall cater to the capacity building needs of the various stakeholders of the School, like CBFI (Community Based Financial Institution) members and leaders, NGO/MFI staff and trainers, bankers and policy-makers. One of the focus areas of the School shall be to build the managerial capabilities of the women leadership in microfinance sector. It will also act as a bridge between the mainstream financial institutions and the CBFIs, helping them work together. It will create a cadre of trained managers and leaders who will further the microfinance movement.

The research unit of the School will be a mixture of actionresearch based on local ractice and more rigorous academic studies that will continually challenge the assumptions in the sector, both which are important for moving the sector forward.

The School will significantly enhance the capacity of the microfinance sector and also push the microfinance to a different level through its various academic endeavours. It aims at building a conducive environment for the sector through policy advocacy and also to be an educational innovator in this field.

The School will not only have significant potential to move the Indian microfinance sector to the next level; but also has potential to be an important model in development and education.

PROMOTERS

The School is being promoted by

• SEWA Bank (Shri Mahila SEWA Sahkari Bank Ltd., in full),
• Friends of Women’s World Banking, India (FWWB (I)), and
• Coady International Institute, Canada.

The promoters of the School are well known organisations in the field of Microfinance. SEWA Bank is one of the eminent Microfinance Institutions in India. It has over 30 years of experience in direct delivery of microfinance services, like savings, credit, insurance, pension, financial planning and counselling. It has also worked in the area of capacity building of its staff, leaders and members. Whereas FWWB (I), is an apex level organisation providing loan as well as capacity building support to all types of microfinance service providers. Coady International Institute, Canada has a rich history in training as well as in distance education of community leaders’ from around the world.

Vision

The School envisions “to emerge as a unique school to strengthen and spread microfinance as a strategy for poverty alleviation through development of appropriate knowledge and skilled human resource”

Guiding Principles

• Practitioner driven
• Locally grounded
• Focus on the poor women and their lives as the starting point
• Emphasis on both practical training and formenting critical thinking
• Anchored in coalition of key Indian microfinance organizations and international expertise
• Genuine North South collaboration

Objectives

• To significantly enhance the capacity of the microfinance sector in India
• To provide a thrust to microfinance practice and thinking through applied action research, publications and visitor programs
• To build a conducive environment for strengthening and spreading microfinance through policy advocacy
• To be known as an educational innovator through quality education, research and creative use of information and communication technologies such as distance and satellite
  learning

SCOPE

The School intends to fulfil the capacity building needs of the sector not only in India but also in Afro-Asia region.

OFFERINGS

The School’s offerings aim at drawing upon the best of the indigenous knowledge and expertise from around the world as well, to a common platform from where it could be
disseminated and made utilitarian for the MF sector.

• Educational Offerings: is the core activity of the School where it will try to bridge the gap between the participants’ real and perceived needs. Helping them to choose from a range of a week long course to a six month diploma, from a general to a specialised course among other choices.
• Action learning partnerships: will include organising workshops, seminars, conferences and summits which will offer a platform for the practitioners and academics to support exchange of experiences and development of technical knowledge.
• Action based research: is being done to study and do innovations in the field, which will also feed into the training modules offered by the School.
• Publishing and Consultancy: the School will publish working papers, training materials in major languages among others. Consultancy shall be provided in the form of technical support to organisations in the sector.
• Networking: The School plans to develop “development knowledge networks” in the strategic areas to generate and disseminate knowledge among a network of practitioners and researchers in whole of Afro-asia region. The networks will be a forum for sharing case studies, tools and methodologies, innovations, on-going research and publications.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mrs. Ela R Bhatt (Chair)
(Founder SEWA and FWWB)

Ms. Jayshree Vyas
(Managing Director, SEWA Bank)

Ms. Vijayalakshmi Das
(Chief Executive Officer, FWWB (I))

Ms. Ranjana Kumar
(Chair & Managing Director, Indian Bank)

Ms. Mary Coyle
(Director, Coady International institute, Canada)

Ms. Nancy Barry
(President, Women’s World Banking)

INDIAN SCHOOL OF MICROFINANCE FOR WOMEN
G-07, Sakar 1 Building
Opp. Gandhigram Railway Station
Ashram Road
Ahmedabad-380009, India
Ph: 91-79-8012304, 6584082
E- mail – post@schoolofmicrofinance.com,
admin@schoolofmicrofinance.com