Bold Vision of Growth and Impact From The Fonkoze Family

Click here to download the full memo in pdf form.

Ten years of real results on the ground in Haiti have positioned the Fonkoze Family to have a major national impact on poverty over the next five years. That was the conclusion reached at a strategic planning retreat in Miami this December 3-5 attended by twenty-nine representatives from Fonkoze (FKZ), Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze (SFF), Fonkoze USA (FKZ USA), Fonkoze SA (FKZ SA), and their partners.

In three days of intense work sessions, participants saw the possibility of growing the Fonkoze Family to a scale that could help significantly to move Haiti to a more democratic economy. Success will be measured by the level of economic activity represented by the volume of successful banking clients among the rural poor. With over 4.0 million rural poor in a population of 8.5 million, including 200,000 of the rural poor in the micro-finance sector would change the economy of the nation. All of the participants representing the Fonkoze Family committed to achieve that goal.

Fonkoze intends to see the number of banking clients grow by at least a factor of seven over five years, from 25,000 loan clients today to 200,000 in 2010. At this scale, over five years we would see clients moving out of poverty - at least 40,000 by 2010. We would see literacy rates grow among our clients, from 40% to 90%. And most significantly, Fonkoze will have developed the capacity to bring those stuck in “extreme poverty” into the economic life of their communities. Fonkoze’s new initiative to prepare the extremely poor for success in microfinance will see 5,000 rural Haitians moving from extreme poverty to participation in a mainstream microfinance program.

Achieving these goals calls for special attention in two domains: expansion of the Fonkoze product and service lines, and developing the infrastructure of Fonkoze to finance and deliver services.

Expansion of products and services will achieve Fonkoze’s objective of universal access for the rural poor. We know financial services alone are not enough to end poverty. We will continue to make education and literacy training an integral part of our program. Partnerships will tie our clients to health and other services. Success will also mean breaking the grip of extreme poverty that keeps a whole class of people unable to participate. Bringing people out of extreme poverty and making them successful microfinance clients is a new program that Fonkoze will build.

To reach these goals Fonkoze will have to develop the workforce that will provide high quality, professional services to clients. For example, extrapolating from 400 current employees for 25,000 clients would mean at least 3,200 employees for 200,000 clients. Staff recruitment, development and training will be a major component of the Fonkoze infrastructure. All of this will be supported by measurements of financial and social results and a business discipline that brings accountability, profitability and sustainability.

The strategic agenda that was developed at the Miami retreat is summarized as a vision statement with three sets of strategic goals:

Fonkoze Family Vision: Reducing Poverty and Eliminating Extreme Poverty In Haiti Through Rapid, Large- Scale Growth Of Financial And Educational Services To The Rural Poor

Fonkoze Family Strategic Growth Goals For 2010
• Loan clients: from 25,000 to 200,000
• Savings accounts: from 80,000 to 400,000
• Poverty impact: 40,000 clients have moved out of poverty
• Literacy: from 40% literacy rates to 90% …180,000 clients are literate
• Extreme poverty impact: 5,000 clients originally in extreme poverty have successfully moved into Fonkoze mainstream micro-credit program.

Strategic Intent For Expansion Of Fonkoze Products
• Establish Universal Access in Haiti to Fonkoze’s Services
• Expand Client Literacy and Education Services
• Prepare the Extremely Poor for Micro-Finance

Strategic Intent For Fonkoze Infrastructure
• Develop Haitian Professional Talent Through Employee Relations and Training
• Measure Fonkoze Impact for Transparency & Accountability
• Achieve Profitability & Sustainability Across the Fonkoze Family

We all agree this kind of growth is necessary to truly impact the Haitian economy. With our mission we have no choice but to be ambitious. What will make this possible is our ability to enroll new partners and new investors. Just doing what we have done will not get us there. We know success has created a bigger game to play that has different rules and more players. Everyone at the retreat left excited about launching a new, high impact campaign.

We left the strategic planning retreat with a common two-part game plan: (1) each institution and partner in the Fonkoze Family will develop the long range leadership story and business plan that will prepare each institution to contribute to these goals, and (2) the collective Fonkoze Family leadership will develop the campaign that will bring the new relationships we need.

It’s the action each of us will take alone, and take together, that will end poverty in Haiti. Together with those waiting to be involved, we will bring the democratic economy in which all Haitians thrive. We will be following up with each of you to make this dream come true.

Thank you for being a part of this great campaign.

Strategic Planning Participant List

Fonkoze USA Board
1. Mary Becker, Chairperson and SFF Investor
2. Jerry Bedford, Vice Chairperson
3. Leigh Carter, Treasurer
4. Brian Gately, Secretary
5. Gary Becker, SFF Investor
6. Beverly Lucas
7. Marie Racine
8. Claude Alexander

Fonkoze S.A. Board
9. Gordon McCormick, SFF Investor, Former Managing Member Fonkoze Capital, LLC
10. Michel Beauregard, SFF Investor

SFF Board
11. Sharmi Sobhan, SFF Investor, Executive Director, Fonkoze USA
12. Sr. Kathleen Wright, SFF Investor, Board member of Fonkoze USA
13. Pamela Fehr, SFF Investor

Fonkoze Board
14. Carine Roenan, Treasurer
15. Jean Claude Cerin, Assistant Coordinator
16. Fr. Joseph Philippe, Coordinator and Founder, Board member of FKZ USA, President of SFF Board and Fonkoze S.A. Board

SFF Staff
17. Steve Callison, CEO
18. Maxime Jerome, Director of Operations

Fonkoze Staff
19. Anne Hastings, Director, SFF Investor, Board member of SFF, Fonkoze SA and Fonkoze USA
20. Alexandre Hector, Director of Logistics
21. Gauthier Dieudonne, Director of Business Development
22. Domerson Millien, Director of Operations
23. Marie Chery, Community Development
24. Herold Boursiquot, Director, Community Development

Partners
25. Georgette Jean Louis, Consultant
26. Jean-Guy Noel, President, Rapid Transfer
27. John Scanlon, Consultant

Facilitators
28. Nick Craig
29. John Anderson, COO of Grameen Foundation USA