Enterprise Development, Program Impact Audits and Budgeting Team: Log #1 by Mina Salib

When I first joined GLOBE I was unsure about what was required of me, but I was sure that it was something that I wanted to be a part of. What I did know is that GLOBE is a microfinance lending organization that works to help people actively get out of poverty and I knew I had to get involved. In the summer of 2010 I served in Upper Egypt, which is home to some of the poorest people in the world. This experience allowed me to see first-hand how devastating poverty can be. After this trip I made myself a promise -- that I would do everything in my power to help those who are less fortunate than me. Then I heard about GLOBE and realized that is exactly what this organization has done and continues to do. It has only been a few weeks into the semester and I can already tell how impactful and life-changing this course will be. The amount I have learned about microfinance and the impact it has had in peoples’ lives is priceless, and the very fact that I have a direct hand in helping someone possibly raise themselves out of poverty is so rewarding. This semester I have the honor of being the liaison for the Enterprise Development Team, which means I am in constant contact with my team and other teams to make sure everything is running smoothly. I also have the responsibility of making sure my team stays on task and meets all its deadlines, which I have found is not a problem because in GLOBE you work with such talented and responsible people. As the Enterprise Development and Budgeting Team it is our responsibility to keep track of our budgets and revenue while also developing new ways to expand GLOBE’s reach across the world. With this in mind, the semester started and we began to compile a list of the goals we wanted to reach by the end of the semester. One of our major goals was figuring out how we should measure success as an organization. When we give out loans to entrepreneurs we want to evaluate if they were successful in the way they used the money we loaned them. Another major goal was to make business plans for potential entrepreneurs in some of the countries that we will be expanding into in the next year. We would like to give these entrepreneurs guidelines to make sure they are successful in their business ventures. These objectives are in addition to properly budgeting for GLOBE as a whole and translating our loan applications into Spanish, French, and Arabic. As you can see even though the semester just began we are very busy at GLOBE and all this work is done because we love it. We love the impact and effect that this program has on people that are so worthy of it. Most people are not in poverty because they want to be, but it is because nobody has given them a chance to get out; GLOBE is that organization that gives them that chance and I am honored to be a part of it.