Archive for Company Organization

September 14, 2016 by SKIC | No Comments

How We Narrow Our Approach to Maximize Our Impact

Beneficiaries in Mutare, Zimbabwe

“Less is more” is one of those oft-repeated sayings that, well, can get old. It’s trite, simple, and something we’ve all heard on countless occasions. It feels silly sometimes to bring up in conversation – but it’s often wildly true and important to keep in mind in both our personal and professional lives.

When SKI Charities was in its nascent stages, it was critical that founder Shyam K. Iyer remind himself of the “less is more” adage. When the organization began, Shyam had to ask himself certain questions in order to narrow the scope of his project and remain focused. There are people everywhere, in every city and town across the globe, who could benefit from the types of programming that SKIC provides. As much as a business or organization may want to “do it all,” specialization and focus is essential to maximizing one’s impact. Trying to do more often winds up with watered down results or growing too fast for one’s resources.

Shyam knew that he had to target one or just a few specific locations, and specific demographics of people within those locales. What began as a desire to help the world ended up turning into focused attention on women and young girls in Lebu, Chile and Mutare, Zimbabwe. “We want to, through the fewest touch points, reach as many socially constructive areas as possible,” Shyam says. Here’s how SKIC does it:

How SKIC Maximizes Its Impact:

SKIC was brought to very deliberately chosen locations, where supply does not meet the demand. Shyam reasoned that, in a place like India for example, there are far more micro-finance organizations and charities available to the disenfranchised. When Shyam first began SKIC in Zimbabwe in 2010, nobody else was doing what SKIC was doing. The organization remains one of the few if only organizations that caters to Zimbabwean entrepreneurial spirit and pride by utilizing micro-finance loans.

SKIC focuses on women. Shyam has been asked many times, “why not men too?” He reasons that in general, and in the countries that SKIC is present, women are more disenfranchised and marginalized than men. Women have always been lower on the totem pole – “it’s time to level the playing field,” Shyam affirms. Despite their lower status, women have proven to invest more in their community with the money that they do make. “A woman will first grow her business, which will then hire more people, which will support more suppliers and provide more jobs in the community. When she makes money, she will put her kids back in school, which of course increases the education of a community, a crucial component to the wellbeing of a society. She will herself become more respected and become a leader in her community. She will become a role model for younger women, which will result in a ripple effect with even more people,” Shyam contends. “The spillover effect is strong with women, the money goes further.”

In the charity’s SKIpgo program, Shyam chooses to focus on girls ages 3 to 5. He notes, “Early stage learning is the most important because it’s where you can make the greatest impact on a girls’ life, for the rest of her career. With girls this age we can teach them even the simplest things like hygiene, respect for themselves, respect for each other. The schools we place them in are not just about teaching them English or history or math. It’s about teaching them how to be strong, independent women. And if they grow up with that idea, if we engrain it in them from the very beginning, they’ll absorb it and live it and be able to reverse some of the gender dynamics that are so rampant in our world.” Though the charity hates to have to say no to teenagers, Shyam reasons that “we want to start at the very beginning. It’s important to start the education process in the most impressionable stages of growth and learning.”

SKIpgo selects girls who have positive familial environments within which they have a greater chance of being supported in their education and actually excelling in the program. Shyam and his on-the-ground team work to find the best possible candidates for the SKIpgo program. These are girls who come from financially needy families, but also families that value education and will encourage their girls’ studies. These are the children who are most likely to excel in the program, and as they age, share their knowledge with peers and their own families.

The desire to “help the world” and to make it a better place is one that many people feel deep within their core. What’s most intimidating about confronting this desire is where to begin. Non-profit and micro-finance work inhabit a large landscape with many avenues to pursue. It may feel counterintuitive to narrow the scope of one’s focus, but really, it is the path toward positively and maximally affecting a group of people, no matter how small the group is. We’ll leave you with another trite adage worth thinking about, and one that SKIC stands by: “Quality over quantity.”

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities, SKImfi, SKIpgo

November 7, 2015 by SKIC | No Comments

At SKIC, Community is Everything

SKIC has been a community-minded organization since day one. But now, more than ever, the organization is seeing the importance of maintaining and stimulating communities in both of its operating sites – Lebu, Chile and Mutare, Zimbabwe.

LEBU, CHILE | Lebu is a rather isolated city, with a static population. It relies heavily upon people-to-people connections – for it’s economy, and for morale.

Several years ago, Lebu was very much impacted by a huge earthquake. Many local institutions collapsed and the town became much more physically isolated. Lebuanos were forced to look inward and found that they could only count on their neighbors, not Santiago, Chile’s capital.

MUTARE, ZIMBABWE | Zimbabwe has been experiencing increasing economic hardship over the past 2 years, with no financial liquidity. In this economic landscape, there is a lot of room for depressed morale. SKIC’s response to this has been to downsize their SKIMFI participation, scaling from 200 beneficiaries, to 20. This scale shift has enabled SKIMFI project managers to focus their energies more specifically, and for the 20 women who are a part of the program to really band together.

SKI Charities Founder, Shyam comments on SKIMFI’s downsize, “We get obsessed in life with numbers. But it dilutes the focus and the impact. Eventually we want to reach 200 participants again, but we are really impacting people at a crucial time right now by scaling back. We are actually impacting far more people than we were before, despite numbers being lower. ”

TIRUA, CHILE: SKIC’s Latest Location | Recently, the organization extended its reach to Tirua, Chile – another relationship-oriented location.

Beneficiaries in Tirua regularly participate in group meetings to compare notes and support each other’s endeavors. Different community and government leaders conduct lectures regarding accounting, and how to set up a more formal business. These meetings give women a sense of camaraderie and the sense that there is the ability to continue their entrepreneurial pursuits outside of SKIC based on the networks they’ve created for themselves. It’s comforting for them to know that once they have completed the SKIC program, their lives can continue comfortably and that they have a set of skills and resources to keep a certain momentum behind their businesses.

Across all SKIC programs, there is little room for competition – the beneficiary experience is largely collaborative.

Community is a fundamental part of how SKIMFI participants vend their products. With a moderately stagnant economy, community becomes essential to liquidation. One of the main goals of SKIC is to foster community and collaboration between beneficiaries. Income is a short-term reward for beneficiaries, but it doesn’t match the long-term impact of building trusted networks that extend into other parts of life. “SKIC beneficiaries know they have sisters to count on when time gets tough, or even when things are going well and they have to contemplate the next step for growth,” Shyam says. “Community is everything to our organization.”

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities Tags : Chile, community, Zimbabwe

August 18, 2015 by SKIC | No Comments

Portrait: Meet Melanie, SKImfi Chile Project Manager

SKIC’s project manager for SKImfi-Chile, Melanie O., discusses her work with SKI Charities and the path that led her to a passion for woman and child development.

SKImfi Chile project manager, Melanie O.

In your own words, what is your role in SKI charities?

My first encounter with SKI Charities was a trip to Lebu I did to get to know the project. The inspiring stories of the women I met there and the commitment of the local staff strenghtened my desire to be part of the project. I did an evaluation of the current situation, proposed measures for improvement and was happy to have the opportunity to set them in place. I would call myself a counselor on project management and strategy.

How have you seen microfinance improve women’s lives?

Some of the women shared incredible stories with me on how the project has changed their life. The one I liked most was one women’s story about freeing herself from fear and shyness by joining the project. Unfortunately she had faced violence by men in her past and was afraid of opening up and seeking opportunities in a male-dominated economic landscape. The ladies-only space of the project gave her the confidence to try it out. Now she is a successful business woman, freeing herself more and more from the restraints of her past.

What path brought you to this work?

I was always interested in politics and social issues. I worked for an NGO in Austria, advocating for policy change in development cooperation and international politics. Our work aimed for more social justice. I came across a lot of issues that hindered sustainable development and the realization of a better, more just world. The two biggest issues in my opininon are the inequality of women and men, and women’s lack of education. SKImfi’s concept to strenghten women by making them economically indepent and support their personal development and business knowledge fits perfectly with my vision of best practice.

Where do you find common ground with the women with whom your work?

All of them are women who somehow felt – despite difficult personal stories full of failure and difficult experiences – the need to change their life for the better. Not only did they feel the need, but they also trusted their own power to be able to do so. Because what SKI Charities does is help them to help themselves. It empowers. It doesnt give away money; it is not a charity project. It is a help for those who believe that they can realize dreams by wanting it and working hard for it. Those women are strong women. Even though their and my story differ in significant ways (I hold many privileges as a European woman), I am tempted to consider myself a strong woman too. And I am proud of sharing this common ground with the extraordinary women I work with.

Why are empowerment efforts like SKImfi essential?

Microfinance projects have brought a lot of advantages to vulnerable groups globally. The empowerment effort and focus of SKIMFI not only empowers in an economic way but it also fosters and supports personal growth. A lot of dimensions of their lives are influenced by the decision to become independent business women. And they are role models for their children, friends and communities. SKImfi does not only change the womens lives, it changes society for the better. There is nothing more important.

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities, SKImfi Tags : empower women, Lebu, microfinance

November 19, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

“It’s About Trade, Not Aid”

How Micro-Finance Help to Stimulate Communities at Large

Mrs. Annia of Mutare used her SKImfi microloan to begin, and expand, a vegetable business.

Mrs. Annia of Mutare, Zimbabwe used her SKImfi microloan to begin, and expand, a vegetable business.

“Any time I’ve been given something – just given something – I’ve never treated it very dearly or very importantly,” SKIC founder, Shyam, says. “But when I have worked for something and reaped the reward, I feel satisfied, accomplished, and inspired.”

A similar pattern follows with SKIC micro-finance beneficiaries. Rather than being the recipients of monetary donations, SKIC participants work to pay back what they are loaned. “This brings them a sense of personal satisfaction, and they treat the whole process with more responsibility,” Shyam contends.

Further, micro-finance is sensitive to the pride of the beneficiaries – Zimbabweans especially are known to honor entrepreneurialism and self-initiative. Micro-finance is a system that values these qualities, favoring those who are responsible, have a strong work ethic, and a desire to effect their communities at large.

“When you’re doing micro-finance at such a local level, it’s not just about these women creating their own wealth and creating their own businesses. What about the spillover effects? They start paying off their kids school fees with some of the money they make. These women may hire some of their friends or sisters to work for their business. They are also buying from suppliers, who then in a sense become part of our program,” Shyam notes. “The spillover effect is huge. The confidence, entrepreneurial spirit, and self-responsibility that our beneficiaries exhibit – not to mention the personal & familial wealth they are generating – ends up affecting their children, their children’s schools, their friends…it stimulates the whole community. As SKIC continues to grow, we can stimulate more and more communities.”

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities Tags : microfinance, SKIC, SKImfi

November 2, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

A Conversation with Shyam: How SKIC Got Its Name

Since it’s beginnings in October of 2010, SKI Charities has developed an impressive array of programs in two operating sites, Lebu, Chile and Mutare, Zimbabwe.

Despite facing a lot of uncertainties and criticism – both internal and external – the organization’s founder, Shyam K. Iyer, felt inspired to see his project to fruition.

After reflecting back on the past four years, Shyam sits down to talk with us about how the organization got its name, and how he defied many doubts to make his idea into the inspiring, successful, and empowering institution that it is today.

Categories : Company Organization, Podcast

October 7, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

Finance, the Link to Employment & Empowerment

WHEN Shyam decided to create SKI Charities, “finance was going through a really tough reputational period – it’s still going through a tough time.” And yet he stood by the belief that finance can also be really empowering to people. Shyam reasoned that, because people gain confident through employment, finance could be used as a way to provide stability, income, and entrepreneurial skills to the disenfranchised. “People see that finance can be a good thing, an empowering thing, when channeled in the right direction towards the people who have the hunger and talent to add value and jobs.”

Shyam expects that this tough reputational stretch will not end for a while. “After the roaring 2000s on the back of financial engineering, the contraction in 2008 left much of the public with a bad taste for anything to do with finance,” he says. While it may not have the best reputation, it is what enables SKIC to function. Shyam argues: “Finance is still the bedrock of the global economic system, and until there is an unimaginable change to the way people interact, the best we can do is find a way for finance to be inclusive rather than exclusive…it’s about finance seeking out growth opportunity wherever it can be found. The progress of SKIC will be part of the progress of finance to regain it’s reputation as the path to opportunity for many who are otherwise forgotten.”

It can be argued that finance broadens the gap between the haves and have-nots, or is at least responsible for it. However, the work that SKI Charities does is evidence of the fact that finance can indeed help to shrink the divide – even if it may be slight. Shyam’s background in corporate work (“the more traditional work I used to do, before starting SKIC”) was in a lot of emerging and developing markets where he directly witnessed how great the rift was between the haves and have-nots. His work here triggered some self-reflection: “How can I leverage my skill set to bridge that gap or attempt to help these people who are otherwise being forgotten?”

SKI Charities was the answer to the questions Shyam continued to ask himself. While the gap still exists, Shyam is proud of the progress SKIC has made as an organization, and thrilled with how its beneficiaries have excelled within the program – and beyond.

“The inequality divide is still existing,” Shyam says, “and is much worse in places that are systematically distant from global markets. In places like Mutare and Lebu, the people are quite a ways away from the financial hubs and metropolises of their countries, so the divide is even harder to jump.” For SKIC beneficiaries in Chile and Zimbabwe, the gap is just a little bit smaller, and over the time it will shrink even more. Shyam believes the divide can be overcome within a generation: “that’s why it’s so important we keep working and growing so that we can include more beneficiaries on this path.”

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities Tags : employment, empowement, finance, SKIC

June 8, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

Faces of SKImfi: Prudence K.

When Prudence and her SKImfi group members gather for business meetings, they begin each session with a chant: “High high, it lifts you high. SKImfi lifts you UP!” Prudence K., a 30-year-old mother of three, launched an electrical supplies business after attending a Selection, Planning and Management workshop with SKImfi Zimbabwe.

She accessed a $100 microloan through SKImfi to open the doors. She sells radios, television sets, cell phones, and has recently begun importing solar panels and batteries from South Africa. Through profits from the business, Prudence buys better food, clothing, toys, and medication for her family.

Prudence K., in her electronic supplies store.

“I am now proud to associate with other people in the community, as I look very presentable and I am confident in whatever I do,” she says.

Now, Prudence decides how to spend money without her husband’s permission, and she feels that he respects her more because of her independence. Not only does she provide for her family, but she also supports philanthropy in her community. In April, she donated five 12-foot asbestos roofing sheets to her church. Her charity also extends to a widow living at the church, whose welfare Prudence contributes to.

“I hope to do more as my business grows,” she says.

Prudence struggled to provide stable resources for her family before this business venture. Married at 18 years old and unable to pay college tuition fees, a job was impossible to find. Her husband left for South Africa to look for employment while Prudence was seven months pregnant with her third child, but he was unsuccessful. She says her own mother was her inspiration for starting her business.

“I thought how mother had succeeded in sending us to school through buying and selling anything that had demand,” she says. “She is my inspiration, a strong woman who always hopes for better things. She is still doing business, and now my younger sister and brother are at university. If it had been my father’s choice, we would have not gone to school, especially us girls.”

Prudence attributes her business’ success to the SKImfi team’s training sessions and to the program’s low interest rates. Before she learned of SKImfi, she was faced with exorbitant interest rates from private money lenders, and, with no collateral to guarantee repayment, she couldn’t secure a loan from local banks. Now that her business is steadily building capital, she will not need another loan until she is ready to further expand her business.

“My vision is to become a major supplier of hi-tech goods,” Prudence says. “I will work to buy a house for my family and a pick up truck for my business. I will work to thank my mother for sending me to school.”

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities, SKImfi Tags : community, community-minded, empower women, Harare, microfinance, philanthropy, SKI Charities, SKIC, SKImfi, small-scale, solidarity lending, women, Zimbabwe

April 8, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

Why Early-Stage Scholarships? (Part 2)

Early-stage scholarships offer tremendous benefits, not only for recipients, but also for their communities. In Part One of this series, we explored the direct benefits for early education scholarship recipients, including reduced criminal activity, fewer teenage pregnancies, and better employment rates. These outcomes create a more sustainable and healthy community environment. By investing in youth, SKIpgo is investing in everyone.

2013 SKIpgo scholars

“The young ladies of SKIpgo will grow to become the leaders of their communities, to be civic-minded women, to prioritize education,” Shyam says. “Our investment in them is also an investment in the long-term future of their community.”

Aside from social improvements, investments in early-stage education produce immense fiscal returns for the community. In James J. Heckman’s seminal paper on human capital and early childhood education, he found that the cost-benefit ratio for the Perry Pre-school program was significant: through age 27 for each participant, the program returned approximately $6 for every dollar spent. When the returns are projected for the remainder of the participants’ lives, the return on each dollar increases to almost $9. Some scholars argue that this is actually a low estimate, as it only incorporates the costs saved by the government, including welfare and incarceration costs. It does not incorporate the costs saved by society or by individual families.

At SKI Charities, we believe that everyone should have a fair chance at a successful future, regardless of the a family’s economic background or status. In a recent prominent study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, researchers determined that high-quality childcare diminishes the effect of income on a child’s success. High quality early childhood education, like what our SKIpgo scholars receive, can also help people overcome the immense poverty that, often, their families have endured for generations.

By investing in youth from these communities, SKIpgo is shaping tomorrow’s leaders. With a quality education, these girls will grow to promote community-mindedness and civic engagement. They will be devoted to building safe, healthy families, and to building a future for the next generation. In so doing, their personal investment in community will far exceed SKI Charities’ initial investment.

Read Part 1 and Part 3.

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities, SKIpgo

February 2, 2014 by SKIC | No Comments

A Conversation with Shyam: State of the Foundation

Where is SKIC? (Spot the Sticker!)
Listen in to hear where SKIC is at: what we did in 2013, and where we’re headed for 2014

2014 marks the beginning of SKI Charities’ fourth year of activity. In this podcast, the charity’s founder, Shyam K. Iyer, reflects upon the past year and articulates his goals for the coming year.

Listen in to hear our Re-Cap of 2013 and Preview of 2014!

Categories : Company Organization, Podcast, SKICharities, SKImfi, SKIpgo Tags : 2013 Re-Cap, 2014 Preview, Podcast

November 21, 2013 by SKIC | No Comments

Less is More: The Benefits of Microfinance

SKImfi recipient, Precious Saunyama

For SKI Charities, keeping things at a micro level is essential to the organization’s success. Charity founder, Shyam K. Iyer asserts, “When you’re doing microfinance at such a local level, it’s not just about these women creating their own wealth and creating their own businesses. What about the spillover effects?”

Shyam notes that SKImfi beneficiaries often use their profits to pay their children’s school fees. This helps to invigorate the social and educational system, and provides encouragement for schools to run better. Beneficiaries may also employ some of their friends or sisters, which further stimulates community growth and provides jobs for people beyond those who participate in SKIC. Further, beneficiaries buy from other suppliers, who, in a sense, are part of the SKIC program by association. By giving a handful of women the tools that they need to create their own businesses and succeed financially, they subsequently stimulate the whole community. The spillover effect starts out micro, but eventually has a much broader reach.

Keeping the organization specific and directed brings more attention and support to our participants.

“Our women are micro-entrepreneurs. They run small businesses, usually informal ones, so it makes much more sense for us to be consistent with their micro-activities. And broadly speaking, the idea of micro does connote community-mindedness,” Shyam says. “Nothing too unwieldy or dispersed. ‘Micro’ is focused on a particular community and economy. We are a community-minded organization, and that means focusing on these specific areas in a micro sense to build up their own ideas of community and responsibility.”

When asked if he would like for SKI Charities to be more large scale in the future, Shyam adds that he would love to grow as long as the focus on community remains. He hopes that every SKIC participant feels included and supported, and is working on maintaining their sense of responsibility and self-respect. “I want to make sure that we never dilute our support of them. I would rather see one woman really excel than five women not reach the same level of success and self-sufficiency,” he says.

Ultimately, for SKIC it’s quality first and quantity second. For both programs, SKImfi (SKI Microfinance Institute) and SKIpgo (SKI Program for Girls’ Opportunity), Shyam emphasizes getting to know the beneficiaries and helping them reach – and exceed – their potential and goals.

Categories : Company Organization, SKICharities, SKImfi, SKIpgo Tags : community-minded, microfinance, SKI Charities, small-scale