Olga Estrada dedicated her life to raising her children. She was born in Nicaragua and joined her family in California more than 20 years ago to build a better life. Working in a data entry position, Olga didn’t have a lot of money but she always made ends meet.
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This report was commissioned by the Ford Foundation's Affinity Group on Development
Finance (AGDF)'s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Committee. In early 2004, the Committee asked CFED to conduct a desktop review of the current literature on the SME sector and its links to poverty reduction strategies in the United States and internationally, and to inform committee members and the broader AGDF of the current state of practice and knowledge. The desktop reviews in this report encompass key questions, issues and challenges affecting the ability of the SME sector to reduce poverty in both developing and mature economies.
The report is structured in two parts, comprising both a U.S. and an International desktop
review. The U.S. review was prepared by CFED, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes asset-building and economic opportunity strategies, primarily in low-income and distressed communities. Throughout its 25 year history, CFED has explicitly focused on the role of entrepreneurship and business development in reducing poverty. The international review was prepared by Philip Bylund, an international consultant and former investment banker who has spent the last several years promoting the practice of community development venture capital on a global basis. Both reviews used existing primary and secondary sources, with the domestic review drawing extensively on CFED's networks and experience in the U.S., and the international review informed by additional interviews conducted by Mr. Bylund (see Appendices for details).
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