Elon students attend national microfinance summit

Elon students Andrew Gillette, Erika Lamanna and Mike Ulaky outside the Alamo in San Antonio.

Andrew Gillette (economics), Erika Lamanna (economics), andMike Ulaky (business administration), attended the ACCIÓN Texas Summit onMicrofinance in the United States from Nov. 6-7 in San Antonio, Texas.

 

The Summit brought together nationally recognized expertsand practitioners to discuss microfinance in a series of addresses and paneldiscussions. Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Board of Governors of theUnited States Federal Reserve, provided the keynote speech.

 

The event focused on the need for access to capital inunderserved communities in the United States, and the importance ofmicroenterprise and small business development in creating and retaining wealthand assets for low-income families and communities across the nation.

 

Gillette , Lamanna and Ulaky were able to gointo the San Antonio community to witness firsthand how important these loansare for small business owners.  These students will be presenting theirfindings from the Microfinance Summit at the Martha and Spencer Love School ofBusiness in the upcoming weeks.