WOMAN SPECIAL ....Every woman can live the life she chooses

Every woman can live the life she chooses  As he wrapped up a successful visit to India on Tuesday,  US president Barack Obama said if countries wanted to develop  effectively, they must educate and empower their daughters as  much as their sons. Obama's visit coincided with the international  board meet in New Delhi of Opportunity International, the  premier global financial services organisation for the poor, which  primarily works with women. It provides small business loans,  savings, insurance and training to more than 6 million people in  more than 20 countries. It was one of the first nonprofit  organisations to recognise the potential of providing small loans  as capital to people working to emerge out of poverty.  Opportunity, which does significant work in India thanks to its  association with microfinance support company Dia Vikas,  is driven by Vicki Escarra, who is group CEO, and Carly Fiorina,  who is chair of its global board. Fiorina is a former CEO of HP  -the first fe male head of a Fortune 20 company -who is "seriously   considering" fighting the US presidential elections. Escarra was chief marketing officer of Delta Airlines. In their  capacity as philanthropic workers and women business leaders,  the two women spoke to Prerna Katiyar and Binoy Prabhakar  about a host of topics, including their work in India and the  challenges for women in the corporate world.  Edited excerpts: What exactly do you do in India? VICKI ESCARRA: We are an organisation that serves close to 6 million,  primarily women around the world.We provide financial services to  support them -loans, savings, insurance and finally, training. We focus  on three things: providing empowerment to women, creating economic  independence and converting people into entrepreneurs. In India, we  serve close to 2 million women. We have seen a tremendous 20%  growth in India. We are an interesting financial institution. We are a  private sector company underneath the nonprofit umbrella. We own  12 banks in the developing countries. We are also a minority investor  in Dia Vikas. How much do you lend in a year? VE: Last year, we distributed around $1.3 billion as microfinance loans  around the globe. We manage assets worth $900 million. Why is it that you primarily target woman? There are poor men too, right?      VE:We help women because they are better investments. CARLY FIORINA: In India, 97% of our clients are women.  Women tend to invest in those around them.A woman builds a better  life for her family, her children. Women that we help generally send  their children to school. There are many positive ripple effects that impacts not just the women, but also those around them. What is the experience you have had here, regarding the repayment side? VE: It is phenomenal at 98%. We would like to see that in the US. CF: Just this morning, we met two Trust Circles (a group of clients).  Each trust circle has a leader. They help each other. The leader of one  Trust Circle said how she wanted to start a business but her husband  and in-laws were not supportive. But somehow she had the courage to  push this idea .... She has been a client for about seven years. And her  husband and inlaws are very supportive now (laughs). What was the thinking behind supporting women not just with loans  but also training? VE: It wasn't just a thinking but a strong belief that clients that we  work are also our partners. We go into countries not assuming that  we are going to tell people of what to do with the capital. We offer   loans that are paid back (which is reinvested). It is like giving a gift. CF: Microfinance is a tool we use to invest in someone, a client,  to give them the opportunity to lead better lives. The people we met today talked about the transformations they have seen in their lives. People use loans to turn entrepreneurs? Is it as easy as it sounds? VE: It is not just the loans. It is easy to just give someone money.  But you have to partner the loan with a suite of programmes that  includes savings accounts, insurance and so on for results.  We have a very robust programme around insurance that is growing  with around a million clients a month. Then we wrap it up with training. What kind of businesses do your clients launch? VE: Some are large and focused on farming, especially in Africa  and the Philippines. So it is a mix of farming, education and business   development. CF: One of the women we met today bought a used sewing machine   with her first loan. Now she has four.She has people working for her.  What is heartening to see is that she says she now very much wants  to take a loan to move her business to a market place to show her  product and samples. She wants to expand. Running a business is not easy. Have you seen businesses of your  clients faltering? VE: What we try to do is we involve a community where men and  women know the other. Both here in India and outside.  Of course, there are situations where it doesn't work.  But the defaults are few and far between because a community steps  in to support an individual. CF: The circles we met today have been together for nearly seven  years and they all spoke about how if one person is in difficulty,  the other pitches in to help. These are the partners, people we have  invested in. We have many clients in India whose businesses were  destroyed because of riots. So they were unable to repay loans not  because they did not have the capacity or the desire but due to  circumstances beyond their control. Which is why it is important to  have savings and insurance products in addition to loans. As funds are critical in your line of work, how do you raise money? VE: Money comes in from private investors, corporates and agencies  like USAID.  Getting a philanthropic body like the Gates Foundation may   not be difficult, but what about the big businesses?  How do you get them to part with money? VE: It is easier with Opportunity because we are dealing with America.  The reason why our model is so attractive is because people investing  with us really like the idea that the money is reinvested, reinvested and  reinvested. So the notion that $1 over five years ends up being $6 is  very attractive to those who are financially focused. That's how it  works.CF: The work we do is very core to the mission of some  corporates. Vicki was talking about our programme focused on  farming. We have some partners who are very interested in  increasing food production in places like Africa.So Caterpillar  would be an example of a corporate partner. MasterCard would  be another example where obviously they are associated with  financial product central to their mission. They would like to invest  in the foundation with a product relevant to their strategy. Ms Escarra, you hired Boston Consulting Group to help with strategy  at Opportunity despite your corporate background. Why? VE: My belief is that especially if you work for a large organisation,  you tend to be more focussed on the inside rather than external world. The view of a consultant is a very healthy thing. That ended up with  having a global chair.  That allows economies of scale and all the right kind of things. Does that mean an organisation like yours must be run like a corporate? CF: The ways businesses are run are extremely important in social  investing because of the discipline of understanding that every dollar,  every action should have an impact.We have to be wise towards our  donors' generosity and also wise towards our clients and assets,  and those assets might be their hard work or the money we lend. What drove you to this field after aviation? VE: It wasn't an automatic switch. I was promoted to the role of  CMO of Delta Airlines a week before 911. It was a pretty traumatic time not only for the aviation industry, but for the whole country as well as  for the world.So, I spent a better part of a year after that promotion   rebuilding schedule and security for Delta. That got me rethinking  how to spend the rest of my life. I had the good fortune to be introduced to Feeding America and then to Opportunity. Do you see your work with Opportunity as an extension of your political  career? CF: My particular path at Opportunity came from an organisation  I founded in 2007-08 called `One Woman' initiative in conjunction with  help from the State Department.Women are the most underutilised  resources in the world; they are also the most subjugated people in the  world. Too many women lack the access to not just opportunity, but  also justice and dignity. So we raised money and funded a number of  worthwhile organisations but in the course of doing that I also  realised that to have an impact you have to have a model that is  sustainable. So I heard about Opportunity International.  It became obvious it was the right fit because our focus was the same. How has a high-profile business leader like Ms Fiorina helped  Opportunity? VE: I actually went to her to ask if she would be interested to  join the board as chair because she was uniquely qualified, having been  the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company. If she has opened doors for you, maybe there is a lesson for other  organisations like yours... VE: She has certainly opened a number of doors for us. We have been  together for six months. We have got a lot ahead of us. There's a lot in  our agenda. What is holding back women in US to reach their full potential? CF: We need to acknowledge that a lot of progress has happened.  When I became HP CEO, there wasn't another woman in the top  50 companies. Now, companies such as IBM, Yahoo!, Xerox and  PepsiCo and aerospace companies have women heads. My view is this:  because women are half the nation, and talent is evenly distributed,  ultimately women should hold half the position. So we are not there  yet. In the US, it's about the mindset.There was a time when we talked  about diversity and that was an important value. But we should be  talking about meritocracy -it's about who does the best job. That's the  right model for India and the  US or anywhere else.The world has many problems. You don't solve  those without tapping the potential of people and women are half of it.  Everybody's lives get better if women get a chance. Are you subscribers of Sheryl Sandberg's theory that `women can have  it all' or of Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo who said women can't have it all? CF: Here's my definition of feminism -every woman can live the life  she chooses. Some woman may choose to homeschool her kid, some  to run a company. A woman has the choice. You've said women are victimised by gender... CF: Real change, lasting change comes through a combination of a  bottom-up approach and some messages about tolerance or potential  from the leadership. Let's think about those women we met today  -one had the courage to launch a business despite resistance from  her family. Now families see the benefit. That's the key.  So it is a selfish thing. That's the breakthrough we need.