Giving Capitalism a Social Conscience

Microcredit can get people into debt when used poorly. A company in Guatemala is giving products to poor entrepreneurs on consignment and then charging a commission upon sale and in this way removing the entrepreneurs' risk.

Four local organizations have teamed up to provide $15 million in loans for the Latinx community in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The affordable loans have gone to affordable housing, small businesses, residential mortgages, and development projects.

The Sewing Machine Project has helped thousands of people who rely on sewing as a livelihood. The organization refurbishes used sewing machines and sends them across the world. For some recipients, access to their own sewing machine can result in economic mobility and an improved quality of life.

Families experiencing poverty have been given $1,000 each month in an effort to address the racial wealth gap through the Magnolia Mother's Trust program. The cash payments yield an increase of recipients who were able to earn their GEDs, cook fresh meals for their families, and meet all their basic needs. The payments began prior to the onset of the pandemic but have proven to be a crucial safety net.

Black businesses in Mississippi are receiving a financial boost from a nonprofit that seeks to level the playing field for rural African-Americans in the state who have historically been overlooked when it comes to federal aid. Higher Purpose Co is a black-led economic justice nonprofit that has raised $400,000 for entrepreneurs and has received over 2,500 applicants. The nonprofit has given up to $5,000 to small businesses with 20 or fewer employees.

Refugee women arriving in Brazil have been able to achieve financial independence through the work of an organization called Women of the Global South, an organization that provides women with the tools and skills to sell textiles. In addition to providing entrepreneurial skills, it also helps refugee women with transportation, classes, sewing machines and even provides cash for emergencies and help getting in touch with family members they have been separated from.

In 2016, the city of Rochester, NY partnered with Kiva—a crowd-funded microlender—to serve aspiring or established small-business owners. Their partnership offers interest-free loans, and already 20 of the loans have been fully repaid. This article looks at six different case studies of residents who have benefitted from the program.

Stanford University graduate Gayatri Datar founded a nonprofit called EarthEnable that aims to rid the world of dirt floors. EarthEnable sells an earthen floor covered with an environmentally friendly varnish at a cost less than a concrete floor. To date the organization has installed more than 4,400 floors, and customers and the Rwandan government love them.

In the nation's poorest big city, Sister Pie bakery is trying to do its part as a small business to adopt business concepts that aren't conducive to creating the highest profit margins but are, instead, centered around bringing equity to the Detroit neighborhood of West Village. Owner, Lisa Ludwinski, aims to "challenge traditional capitalism and the patriarchy" by hiring mostly local women, providing fair wages and health benefits, sourcing ingredients from local vendors, and providing discounts to neighborhood residents.

Fundación Paraguaya is helping drastically redefine the way that poverty is identified, defined, and addressed. Through a simple, interactive, mobile-based survey called "Poverty Spotlight", workers can self-assess their level of poverty. They are then paired with microfinance agents to develop a plan to tackle their own unique challenges, with assistance in the form of training, technology, or small loans.