ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need – microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services – to work their way out of poverty.  A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil.  ACCION’s partner microfinance institutions today are providing loans as low as $50 to poor men and women entrepreneurs in 23 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States. In the last decade alone, ACCION partners have disbursed more than 28.5 million loans totaling $23.4 billion; 97 percent of the loans have been repaid. For more information, please visit www.accion.org.

Bradesco Insurance and Pension Plan Group

Member of the Bradesco Organization and founded 75 years ago, Bradesco Insurance and Pension Plan Group is the largest insurance conglomerate in Latin America. Its country-wide coverage includes the following segments: capitalization, property casualty, automobile, health, dental and life insurance, as well as individual retirement accounts, with a portfolio of over thirty million clients. Its revenue in 2009 exceeded R$ 26 billion, which means 13.75% above the R$ 23,2 billion reached in 2008. It has three hundred and thirty four facilities housing offices and branches. Partnerships established with brokers reached thirty two thousand.

Aside from being the pioneer in selling products with the micro-insurance concept and philosophy in Brasil, it also operates mini and midi-insurance, all within current Brazilian rules. The group, which sold over thirteen million policies in such segments, is the only Brazilian representative in the Microinsurance Network, the largest worldwide study group on the subject.

BlueOrchard/Bamboo Finance Group

The BlueOrchard/Bamboo Finance Group is a global leader in impact investing at the Base of the Pyramid. Jointly, BlueOrchard and Bamboo Finance offer a broad range of products and services to millions of people from low income communities. The Group uses a market-based approach to financing commercial enterprises that improve the lives of low income communities. The BlueOrchard/Bamboo Finance Group companies have facilitated investments worth over USD 1.15 billion.