Grameen America Surpasses $1 Billion Loans Disbursed to Minority Women in New York City
Grameen America has reached a historic milestone by distributing $1 billion in microloans to financially underserved women in New York City. The significant accomplishment bookends a challenging year for minority business women across the five boroughs, which was previously the global epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis.
In 2008, Grameen America launched the revolutionary model pioneered by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in the United States in Jackson Heights, New York City. Today, the organization has seven branches in New York City and since its inception has served over 65,000 women in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island.
“New York City runs on the strength of its diverse small business owners and our significant impact here highlights the power of Grameen America’s peer-support model to leverage growth for underserved businesswomen at scale.”
Pictured: Professor Muhammad Yunus and Alethia Mendez at the opening of the Jackson Heights branch in 2008
Mendez joined the organization as one of its first employees, serving as the inaugural Center Manager for the Jackson Heights branch.
“Reaching this milestone amid the rebuild of New York City reaffirms our critical mission and highlights the opportunity to support more underserved minority businesswomen to revitalize their communities and grow their financial identities,” Mendez continued.
Grameen America has seen firsthand the power of financial independence and asset-building for the diverse underserved communities it serves.
For New Yorkers like Monae, who owns a hair salon in the cultural center of Harlem, a recent loan from Grameen America meant she was able to invest in COVID-related expenses like masks, hand sanitizer and digital thermometers for her clients and employees.
“During the lockdown, we were completely unable to operate but because of the support that Grameen America gave us, I had a lot of resources to reopen,“ said Monae.
In September 2018, Grameen America disbursed $1 billion of microloans across all of its branches, yet this marks the first time the program has reached this milestone in one city on its own. The organization’s success in New York City established the framework for the network to scale. For Grameen America, the significance of reaching this impressive milestone in its first city underscores the potential of the program and its members across the United States.
Pictured: Monae (right) and Rhonda (left) at Moe’s Unisex Hair Hut in 2017
“It’s actually a blessing to have a business as a minority woman in Harlem. When I first started, I only had three people that worked here and now we have six employees and an assistant.”