Posts tagged ‘women’
Pro Mujer CEO Rosario Pérez to Present at This Week’s Clinton Global Initiative
On September 20-22, current and former heads of state, Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of leading CEOs, along with heads of foundations, major philanthropists, and directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations and prominent members of the media will come together for the Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Established in 2005 by former United States President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) seeks to inspire, connect, and empower a community of global leaders to forge solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
In 2009, Pro Mujer was invited to join CGI and made a commitment titled, “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty.” This commitment aims to provide 350,000 women with easy and affordable access to financial services, education and health care in order to address the high rates of income and gender inequality in Latin America. It was during this meeting that Pro Mujer was honored as one of 13 programs that “will improve the lives of girls and women around the world.” Pro Mujer was the only Latin American organization selected for this recognition.
This year marks the third year that Pro Mujer, represented by Chief Executive Officer Rosario Pérez, will be participating. On Tuesday, September 20th, Rosario will take to the stage and give a commitment progress testimonial during one of the Initiative’s keynote lunches. On Thursday, September 22nd, Rosario will also moderate a panel titled, “Early Interventions for the 12-Year-Old Girl.” CGI members in this session will come together to discuss and develop evidence-based strategies to ensure that every 12-year-old girl receives the investment and educational opportunities necessary for long-term success.
Voices from the Field: Pablo Salazar, Harvard Business School ’11 and Project Antares Team Member
Pablo Salazar
As a second year MBA student at Harvard Business School (HBS), I was looking for an opportunity to learn about health delivery models that could be applied in Mexico – my home country. I had the fantastic opportunity to get involved with Pro Mujer on a semester-long field study with the objective of helping develop a health service offering for the organization’s Mexico operations.
This opportunity was made possible with the help of an innovative partnership between HBS and Harvard’s School of Public Health (SPH) called Project Antares. Led by Professors Michael Chu of HBS and David Bloom from SPH, Project Antares focuses on sponsoring field studies that look at commercial approaches to delivering high-impact primary health care initiatives (or “interventions” as we call them in the industry) to low-income populations in developing countries. This program provided us with access to the knowledge and advice of two remarkable experts in the field in addition to accessing funding to conduct primary research and visit field operations.
Currently in its fourth year with Pro Mujer and collaborating with Dr. Gabriela Salvador – Pro Mujer’s Director of Health and Human Development and SPH alum – our goal was to create a framework that enabled us to analyze which health offerings are most valued by customers and which ones can have a bigger impact in their lives.
Using this framework as a baseline and a health pilot model already launched in the organization’s Nicaragua operations, Pro Mujer will design a health care pilot within its current organizational structure and business model. This model will include a basket of services that maximize the health impact for Pro Mujer’s clients while balancing it with interventions that have the biggest opportunity to be profitable as well as operationally and financially scalable. If the results of such a pilot are financially and socially positive, we believe there is huge upside potential.
A Pro Mujer client and Doctor at the organization’s health care facilities in Nicaragua.
Project Antares brought together the expertise and brainpower of Callae Snively, Felix Lam and Maaz Shaikh from SPH as well as Margarita de la Piedra, José Hartasanchez and I from HBS. Definitely one of the most enriching experiences was working in such a diverse group, both in terms of different backgrounds as well as professional experience and skills. We really learned to leverage one another’s strengths in research, analytics and health practice knowledge.
Margarita de la Piedra (HBS 2011) and Callae Snively (SPH 2012)
The project got us dreaming about the fact that if we could either deliver health care to someone who is poor in a profitable way, or through the health offering, enhance Pro Mujer’s competitive position as a women’s development and microfinance organization, we could influence other organizations within the microfinance industry. This pilot as well as the one already at work in Nicaragua has the potential to show that it makes economic sense for microfinance institutions to offer health services. Competition and scalability would then follow.
Whether and when the Mexican pilot will happen remains to be answered and depends on the results of the market analysis currently underway by the Antares team, but the project reminded us of the challenges our world faces and the responsibility as leaders that we have in addressing them. For me, it was a fantastic experience to be able to apply the skills that I have acquired over these last two years at HBS and help an organization like Pro Mujer maximize the positive impact they create for women in Mexico. It was really inspiring to work hand in hand with Pro Mujer’s staff and leadership to understand the challenges that they face on a daily basis.
This project is another example of the field studies supported by HBS’s Social Enterprise Initiative which seeks to ensure that HBS becomes the best place at motivating students to become leaders who make a difference in the world.
Prior to entering HBS, Pablo Salazar worked at Pfizer Mexico for four years in Sales & Marketing. In addition to his involvement with the Antares project, Pablo worked on a field study with GlaxoSmithKline (a valued Pro Mujer partner) to define their long-term strategy in emerging markets. During his time at HBS, Pablo served as one of the main organizers of the School’s XIII Latin American Conference, which gathered diverse leaders interested in the future of the region. Upon graduation, Pablo looks forward to moving to New York and joining McKinsey & Company as a full-time Associate.
Expecting microfinance to promote immunizations?
Growing concern of the effectiveness of microfinance seems to be popping up everywhere. A new empirical study by three economics professors claims microcredit alone is not the panacea for poverty that some hoped it would be.
“The fact that some people expected much more from it (and perhaps they are right, may be it will just take longer), is perhaps inevitable given how eager the world is to find that one magic bullet that would finally “solve” poverty. But to actually blame microcredit for not promoting the immunization of children is no different from blaming immunization campaigns for not generating new businesses.”
It is not too shocking that microcredit alone does not end poverty. Maybe we should blame microfinance organizations for not promoting immunizations or pap smears. Other studies have shown that a combination of health services, business training, and a mix of financial services–as Pro Mujer does–is the most effective way to fight poverty.
Poverty shortens life expectancy more than smoking and has lasting effects on children’s health. By providing those microcredit clients who live on $2 a day with affordable access to health care, we can start to address the crippling effects of poverty that are not financial. Pro Mujer offers health serv
A Pro Mujer doctor discusses some of the health challenges poor Nicaraguan women face. Lynne Patterson translates:
“Economica” – The Economics of Being a Woman
How do women interact with the economy? How can we work to alleviate poverty? How does investing in women change a country?
The International Museum of Women’s current exhibit, Economica , tackles these issues and more. Economica explores the role of women in the growing global economy through audio slideshows, podcasts, forum conversations and essays. Curator Masum Momaya introduces the theme of Economica reminding us of the disparities that still exist :
Women constitute an estimated 70% of the world’s absolute poor, those living on less than $1 a day.(1) Women work 2/3 of the world’s working hours, yet earn only 10% of the world’s income.(2) Women are responsible for producing 60-80% of the world’s food(3), yet hold only 10% of the world’s wealth and 1% of the world’s land.(4)
The exhibit also illustrates the potential women have to effect change , as well as the changes contributions so many women are already making.
Women leaders, thinkers and activists from all over the world, including Pro Mujer Co-Founder Lynne Patterson, debate diverse issues such as: New Visions, Basic Rights, Family and Fertility, Business Leadership, Microenterprise, Giving, Marriage and Money, Property and Wealth, and Grassroots Solutions. The essays examine solutions, challenges and advancements.
Watch a slide show about poverty and microfinance that features Pro Mujer client, Flora Callisaya:
