Grameen America

Background

Grameen America was founded in 2008 and inspired by Grameen Bank, a Bangladeshi project that was started by economics Professor Muhammad Yunus to provide micro-loans to poor women in Bangladesh in 1974. He began his microlending in 1976 by helping a group of 42 basket weavers. He found success with these microloans and kept lending until he formed the Grameen Bank in 1983. ²

Yunus’s bank grew in popularity in Bangladesh and by the time the Bangladeshi organization was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006, it had financed over seven million loans averaging just $100 with 95% going to women or groups of women. The success of the original organization has led to over one hundred unaffiliated Grameen organizations across the world, including Grameen America. ³

Activities

As of 2024, Grameen America has reported deploying over $4 billions in microloans to nearly 190,000 borrowers across the US since opening in 2008. ⁴

Loans are typically given to groups of five women who are set up with free bank accounts and have their loan payments reported to credit bureaus to build credit. Loans range from $2,000 to $15,000, and the organization reports that it has given over 500,000 loans totaling over $1.5 billion since 2008.  ¹

Grameen America also supports Grameen PrimaCare, an affiliated nonprofit also based in New York that provides healthcare services to poor women with a goal of decreasing out of pocket payments for health services. ⁵

Grameen America is headed by president and CEO Andrea Jung, a former CEO of Avon products. ⁶

Independent Evaluation

The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation led a 36-month study on the effectiveness of Grameen America’s program. It found a “positive but modest” increase in net income, acknowledging “the evidence is not definitive.” ⁷

The study found that 36% of Grameen borrowers were involved in multi-level marketing businesses three years after receiving loans. ⁸ A 2022 Vox article reported on the finding and raised questions as to the effectiveness of these programs in their design. ⁹ A commentor at a public Federal Trade Commission meeting raised the issue, arguing  “Some of these women take those loans and go around the corner to one of the Herbalife sale locations clustered around the Grameen offices.” ¹⁰

Funding and Partnerships

Grameen America is funded by several corporate financial institutions that provide cash funds as well as pro bono banking and technology services. These lending partners include the California Community Foundation, Robinhood Foundation, CapitalOne, Synchrony Bank, First National Bank, PNC, Mizuho Bank, and Wells Fargo. ^{11 4}

Grameen America partnered in January 2022 with Goldman Sachs’ “One Million Black Women” initiative, which committed $20 million in loan capital to Grameen America’s new Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs program. ¹²

The organization has received funding from several including, the Annenberg Foundation, Dalio Philanthropies, Hearst Foundations, the Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation, and the Sara Blakely Foundation. ¹³ Other major sources of grants include Blue Meridian Partners and Seedlings Foundation. ¹⁴

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has provided $100 million to Grameen America. She first contributed $25 million in 2020, when she featured the organization in her “116 Organizations Driving Change,” consisting largely of left-of-center race and gender advocacy groups. In 2024, Scott made an additional $75 million gift, bringing her total support for Grameen America to $100 million. ^{15 16}