Grameen Foundation

Reed Jules Oppenheimer Foundation

Grameen Foundation

In 1997 Reed founded and served as the first Chairman of the Grameen Foundation USA in support of Muhamad Yunus, (Noble Prize - 2006) and his work with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to help the world’s poor address their own unique needs. “We believe that all of us desire to improve our lives, and that all of us – even the poorest among us – can reach our full potential if we are given access to the right tools and information.” The Grameen Foundation USA was created to spread the use and effectiveness of Micro-Finance as an empowerment and poverty alleviation device to a global forum. Micro-Finance is the distribution of very small loans that provide impoverished people, primarily women, without access to credit, the capital to start small businesses and lift themselves out of abject poverty. The organization has been credited with providing the means by which 300 million poor women have lifted themselves out of poverty. Luke spent a year in Medellin, Columbia working with Grameen to facilitate poor farmers’ access to Fair Trade markets. Click here to visit their website.