Got Talents? Five Talents Launches Fellows Program

Business professionals, graduate students, seminarians and clergy can now lend their talents in a unique way to Five Talents International as a Five Talents Fellow.

Dedicated individuals with an interest in serving the poor through Christian microenterprise development can now apply to work as a volunteer fellow with a Five Talents partner in Africa, Asia or Latin America for six months to one year. Fellowships will start during Summer 2009. Applications are due Monday, March 2, 2009.

The Five Talents Fellows program was created as a response to the demand from both partners asking for assistance with specific projects and from volunteers desiring to lend their talents to serve the poor through microfinance. The program is designed to strengthen the work and mission of Five Talents to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by advancing the goals of its local partner institutions with meaningful projects or research.

Given the high demand for involvement in the rapidly growing field of microfinance, this program offers significant benefits for interested candidates, including substantial exposure to the unique mission of Five Talents.

For more information or to apply, visit www.FiveTalents.org.

Established in 1999, Five Talents International has provided funding for business training and thousands of loans, ranging from $50 to $300, in 15 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Each loan finances a microbusiness that, in turn, supports up to six other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.

Five Talents’ ongoing work is supported by a staff based in Vienna, Va., an office in London, England, and a program office in Kampala, Uganda. Hundreds of volunteers across the United States and United Kingdom participate in the ministry.