Hospitality Business Management: - College of Business ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

in her community are able to provide for their families.” Typically, the business started by one borrower can provide for her entire family, Randall said. At present, Unitus has helped 679,000 borrowers through its nine microfinance partners, so “we’re really helping three million people get out of poverty.” There are some facts that have been discovered about the microfinance industry, which is about 30 years old, he said. When they provide loans for poor women to start their own businesses, those women typically will choose to spend proceeds on their children, including health care and education. In many cases, those children will be the first in their family to go to school. They also know that nutrition of the borrower’s family will be greatly improved. “We’re really providing a means, if you’re living on less than $2 a day, eating twice a day, to go from two meals a day to three,” Randall said. They also know that the borrowers often have very sharp business instincts, despite a lack of education. “Don’t underestimate the intellectual ability of the poor,” he said. “Whether it’s figuring out I can sell more tortillas if I move my stand here or save by buying in bulk, you don’t need a degree to know that.” Last April, Randall’s job became a lot less theoretical when he went to Africa. “I (was) in Kenya, visiting our partner, Jamii Bora Trust, one of the largest microfinance institutions in Kenya. It has 120,000 borrowers currently, and is a phenomenal success story. They operate across Kenya. Fifty percent are in the slums in and around Nairobi. It’s a city of four million, two million in the slums around the city. They do a lot of work with people living in that kind of setting. Along with providing loan products…they also provide health care insurance for $12 a year in conjunction with a Catholic hospital. It’s quite amazing they can provide it. That actually includes HIV medications.” And that is a vital consideration; according to a recent story in the Washington Post, people living in towns in Kenya have an HIV rate of about 30 percent. Randall spent time in the second largest slum in Nairobi, which he said made him feel as if he had stepped directly into a picture of a different world. “It was motivating. It was encouraging to see that microfinance is really having an impact on individuals. I sat down and we talked about their lives before and after receiving loans. We learned people really are able to increase their incomes by starting up businesses, and that they are using their additional incomes to do things like sending their kids to school, purchasing health care insurance, having a better nutritional intake. That was really encouraging.” Nonetheless, there’s hardly time to be complacent, he said. “You come to understand microfinance is not the end-all solution, but that there’s a lot of work to do. It’s 12 WSU College of Business
encouraging to see how much you can do with so little capital. Some start with loans for as little as $20. Some of these folks, our partners in Kenya, are working with the very poor, living on less than $1 a day. Lots of them are (now) running small shops…selling candies, food, soap, detergent. And I met with a gentleman who made jewelry, and beading on clothing.” He urges undergraduates examining potential career paths to consider jobs based in social entrepreneurship. On a personal level, he’s been heartened by the interest in the field when he’s met with WSU business students. “The whole idea of social entrepreneurship is really booming. Microfinance is receiving a lot of interest right now. Folks are seeing you can work within the business world and hopefully provide some social good at the same time, rather than going on Wall Street and doing the typical thing. It’s much more intellectually challenging and stimulating than the traditional business world.” —ELAINE PORTERFIELD Brooke Randall (right) and Unitus colleague Howard Brady (left) with a group of staff and borrowers from Unitus partner Jamii Bora Trust, a microfinance institution based in Nairobi, Kenya. Marketing Club Students Develop Passion for Social Entrepreneurship Athena Partners founder Trish May with WSU marketing club students in Seattle. Take Washington State University business students, combine with marketing know-how, enthusiasm, and a strong work ethic, and add water. Is this a recipe for a cure? According to Trish May, Athena Partners founder, this winning mixture is helping to fuel the fight against cancer. WSU Marketing Club students are spreading the word about Athena bottled water, and, in the process, gaining valuable experience in strategic marketing and developing a passion for social entrepreneurship. A former Microsoft executive, May founded Athena Partners to raise money and awareness for women’s cancers after surviving her own battle with breast cancer and losing her mother to ovarian cancer. Named for the Greek goddess of strength and wisdom, Athena donates 100% of net profits from the sales of its bottled water to fund women’s cancer research, and has donated more than $100,000 to cancer research and education since the introduction of Athena water in July 2004. The partnership between the WSU Marketing Club and Athena began when May spoke in a WSU marketing class in 2005. Inspired by the product and the cause, Marketing Club students applied for and won a competitive American Marketing Association grant to help fund their involvement. With grant in hand, the students dove into the project: helping Athena Partners prepare for a national rollout. The club traveled between Pullman, Seattle, and Spokane, meeting with distributor Sysco, making sales calls to pitch the water and its benefits, and building awareness for the brand. By spring 2006, the group began to see the results of their hard work: Athena’s sales in eastern Washington had doubled, and a number of new sales prospects had been identified. Katie Blanton (’06 Business Administration/Marketing), Marketing Club 2005–2006 president and coauthor of the grant, says the cause is one that most people can identify with. “Almost everyone has been touched by cancer at some point,” she says. “Everyone involved in the project is really developing a passion for cause marketing.” “To be so committed to socially responsible businesses at this point in their careers—it’s outstanding,” says May. “I have been very impressed by the caliber of these students, and their dedication and drive. We have talked to organizations at other schools, but no group has embraced this project like the WSU students.” Continuing the partnership with marketing research and test marketing projects may be in the future for the club. “I would love to have the students help us figure out what’s next for Athena,” says May. “Our goal is to engage the community and ultimately raise one million dollars a year for cancer research.” With the involvement of groups like the WSU Marketing Club, this goal is in sight. To learn more about this project and how you can become involved, please visit athenapartners.org or contact Yany Gregoire, Marketing Club faculty advisor, at ygregoire@wsu.edu. Dividend 13
Page 1 and 2: Washington State University College
Page 3 and 4: Dividend College of Business Dean:
Page 5 and 6: Dividend
Page 7 and 8: 1932-2007 a Milestone sors, Greenwa
Page 9 and 10: colleagues are trying to find a way
Page 11 and 12: B O Y D C O F F E E C O M P A N Y S
Page 13: Brooke Randall at work in Nairobi,
Page 17 and 18: ig-name, national companies that on
Page 19 and 20: 1990s found that Russians, as they
Page 21 and 22: C o m p e t i t i o n Final round c
Page 23 and 24: Winnings for WSU Tri-Cities Busines
Page 25 and 26: Invest in the Gold Standard... Coug
Page 27 and 28: Kathryn and her husband J.D. after
Page 29 and 30: World Thailand Last May, hospitalit
Page 31 and 32: and Toyota, and sessions filled up
Page 33 and 34: Ph.D. Placements Wei Li, Accounting
Page 35 and 36: compete again this year, and bring
Page 37 and 38: have a lot of potential. I’ve bee
Page 39 and 40: MBA Internship Placement Shariar Ba
Page 41 and 42: Outstanding Award Winners Outstandi
Page 43 and 44: New Leadership for Undergraduate an
Page 45 and 46: Ahn New Management and Operations C
Page 47 and 48: CB Faculty advise readers on real e
Page 49 and 50: Celebration of Student Excellence O
Page 51 and 52: An Expression of Thanks Dear Starwo
Page 53 and 54: Member Profile Ryan Lockwood ’92
Page 55 and 56: Connect electronically Subscribe to
Page 57 and 58: College of Business Calendar of Eve

Hospitality Business Management: - College of Business ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?