About the Project

Liya Shuster, a member of the Class of 2010, will be working throughout the next year to establish microcredit networks in the Upper Valley. Liya will start work in Summer 2009 to link Microcredit NH and Mascoma Bank with low-income populations in the Upper Valley who could benefit from microlending. Microcredit NH is a microfinance organization that works with entrepreneurs leading small businesses (which comprise 87% of all businesses in New Hampshire) to provide loans, business and entrepreneurial training. In her project proposal, Liya described the many agencies and non-profits in the Upper Valley that provide support to prospective entrepreneurs, but noted that there is no existing network that links these services together or expands microcredit's reach to the Upper Valley.


Through the course of her fellowship, Liya will network with Microcredit NH and several microfinance organization in the Vermont region to pilot a microcredit program at the Family Place in Norwich, VT. After undergoing training from Microcredit NH, Liya will work with single mothers, participating in the Family Place's Jewelrio's Program, to develop financial literacy, create business plans, and build up credit scores and savings. Liya will collaborate with Microcredit NH to create community educational microfinance panels and distribute pamphlets to enhance understanding of microcredit's opportunities for financial inclusion and weathering the current economic downturn.


Liya is currently collaborating with MicroCredit NH to better understand poverty demographics in the Upper Valley and help map geographies of need for microfinance in the region. Working at the Family Place, a non-profit based in Norwich, VT that works to build the community by supporting families, She has installed a financial literacy and budget-counseling component to in the JewelryO’s business worksite program. JewelryO's is a sustainable business that provides young mothers with jewelry making skills, business acumen, and entrepreneurship training. Liya hopes for participants to realize entrepreneurship and self-employment as a bridge out of poverty. Upon the project’s culmination, participants will have the chance to take out a loan from MicroCredit NH. Future goals in the project includes showcasing JewelryO’s products at termly campus arts shows at Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, a financial inclusion panel held for local community organizers at Montshire Museum in February, and a microfinance bazaar cosponsored by SEEDS, the Tuck School, Women in Business, and Women in Leadership held in March.