Global Microfinance Internships with FSD

Since traditional lending does not reach most marginalized communities, microfinance offers a collective solution that lends small increments of capital to local businesses. Along with credit, FSD partners train entrepreneurs to effectively integrate credit management and savings principles into their business growth. To help micro-entrepreneurs manage finances and increase sales and profitability, FSD interns work to expand microfinance and microenterprise efforts through capacity-building workshops, creating community connections, and supporting research and strategic development.

FSD interns have the opportunity to work with organizations that directly interact with communities. Examples of initiatives that FSD interns work on include the development and financing of new businesses, teaching marketing and business strategies, performing cost analysis, assisting entrepreneurs to create budgets and business plans, and monitoring microfinance savings and loans programs.

Successful Candidates Should Be:

• Be a student studying business, commerce, economics, or related field of study
• Be able to read financial statements, understand their component parts, and have a good grasp of basic business concepts such as profit, loss, revenue, equity, and net income
• Be an enthusiastic self-starter, flexible, and punctual
• Have experience working with Excel
• Have good organizational, time management and problem solving skills
• Possess the ability to exercise flexibility, good judgment, and discretion
• Have an experience or knowledge of budgets, accounting and/or microfinance
• Have the ability to relate to people from diverse ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds
• Conversational Spanish for placements in Latin America