Unitus
Geoff Davis is the founder and CEO of Unitus. For the last nine years, Geoff has worked with microfinance programs worldwide, beginning with a program he founded in central Mexico. He was an early employee at Grameen Foundation USA, a global microfinance leader, and has spoken widely on microfinance, including speeches and lectures at the International Monetary Fund, on National Public Radio, and at Harvard, Stanford and Brigham Young Universities. He has also been a speaker on microfinance topics at conferences in Chile, Switzerland, Bangladesh and elsewhere. In addition, Geoff is an entrepreneur, having worked at numerous startups and formed several companies earlier in his career. Geoff holds a B.A. in international relations from Brigham Young University and a master's degree in development economics and public policy from Harvard University.
Related Links: www.unitus.com
Last Updated: Thu, Feb 9, 2006
| Category | Title | Author/Speaker | Organization | Length | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podcast | The Microfinance of Entrepreneurship | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 51:41 | 10/2005 |
| Video | What is Microfinance? | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 03:24 | 10/2005 |
| Video | Role of Unitus | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 05:16 | 10/2005 |
| Video | Micro credit - A profitable business? | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 01:56 | 10/2005 |
| Video | Challenges Faced by Unitus | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 02:23 | 10/2005 |
| Video | Following Your Gut | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 01:02 | 10/2005 |
| Video | Prodding Small Companies to Think Big | Geoff Davis | Unitus | 02:25 | 10/2005 |
Geoff Davis, founder and CEO of Unitus, talks about microfinance at the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader lecture series emphasizing the relevance and potential of this field.
Geoff Davis, founder and CEO of Unitus, explains the meaning of microfinance and the huge potential and impact the field has. He goes on to discuss the difference between microfinance and micro credit. He reveals that microfinance has a huge growth opportunity as it is potentially a five billion dollar market and is currently about a one billion dollar market.
Davis talks about how he got involved in micro credit and how it led to the formation of Unitus. He explains how Unitus is different form Grameen Bank, a pioneer in the field of microfinance. Unitus uses an Acceleration Model, a venture approach to do micro finance. This means they invest in programs around the world that offer micro loans and that have high growth potential to accelerate their growth.
Davis believes that microfinance institutions can be profitable. This is a business opportunity with incredible social impact, he says.
Davis talks about one of the biggest challenges he faced with Unitus: coming into an established industry that has been successful and showing that things can be done differently and better.
Set your sights high and go for it, says Davis. He encourages students who want to make a difference to believe and follow their dreams with grit and ingenuity.
Davis discusses how Unitus helps transform small non-profit companies into large profitable companies. Unitus makes the companies think bigger and expand their vision. They try to paint the picture of a possibility of a bigger future, he notes.