Global Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion

The Global Assets Project and the Citi Foundation invite you to attend a reception on Wednesday, July 30 2008 to celebrate the launch of their new report: “Global Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion: Lessons, Challenges and Opportunities“

This report highlights insights and findings from the 2007 Global Symposium on Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion, addressing emerging global trends, opportunities and collaborations across the fields of asset building, microfinance, policy and financial education.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served at this event, which will be held on the terrace of the Evening Star Building, in downtown DC, with panoramic views of the nation’s capitol and the DC skyline. Space is limited, so please RSVP early to secure your attendance.

About the Report: Innovations in the financial services and asset-building fields and their cross-fertilization are sparking increased access to savings, assets, and financial inclusion for those living in poverty around the world. This report provides a glimpse into a wealth of information candidly and generously provided by participants in the 2007 Global Symposium on Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion. The report describes lessons, challenges and opportunities for thinking about how the poor, in developed and developing countries, can build their assets and wealth. Finally, the report includes possible next steps that the diverse range of actors working within these fields should take to move this emerging body of work forward.

About the 2007 Global Symposium: For three days in June 2007, the Global Assets Project of the Center for Social Development and the New America Foundation; the National University of Singapore; and the Financial Access Initiative convened 100 leaders from diverse fields at a Global Symposium on Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusion. Sponsored by the Citi, Levi Strauss, and F.B. Heron Foundations, the purpose of this first-of-its-kind symposium was to illuminate and inform strategies for universal inclusion in savings and asset-building products, programs, and policies around the world.

About the Global Assets Project: The Global Assets Project – created in 2006 as a joint venture between the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St Louis and the Asset Building Program of the New America Foundation – aims to advance strategies and public policies that build savings and assets for low- and moderate-income people around the world.

About the Citi Foundation: The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for underserved individuals and families in the communities where we work throughout the world. Globally, the Citi Foundation is focusing its giving on Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Small and Growing Businesses, leading to economic expansion and job creation; Education, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; Financial Education, which helps individuals make informed financial decisions; and the Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and stimulate economic growth while preserving the environment.

Participants

• Leslie Meek-Wohl
  Citi Foundation

• Gina Chowa
  Center for Social Development
  Washington University in St. Louis

• Ray Boshara
  New America Foundation

• Kate McKee
  Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)