Peoples Times

Ian Axford Fellow, Laura Benedict, recently commenced a seven-month co-placement with the OCVS and Philanthropy New Zealand to conduct a research project exploring ways that lending can support social goals in New Zealand.

Laura is here as part of the Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowships in Public Policy programme administerd by Fulbright New Zealand.

The different forms of non-profit lending can include loan programmes designed specifically for non-profit and social mission organisations, social venture capital, Program Related Investments (PRIs) and government-sponsored loan guarantee programmes to incentivise traditional banks to lend to non-profits.

While in New Zealand, Laura will:

* meet with government officials who work with non-profits and in the field of community development, and with non-profits already active in the social lending field

* work closely with the philanthropic community; especially the staff of Philanthropy New Zealand and with Glen Saunders, author of A new funding paradigm commissioned by ASB Community Trust and Tindall Foundation in late 2009

* learn from current Māori and Pacific people's activities in this area and assess new opportunities in these communities for social lending

* write a report on her findings that will be presented in August at the Institute of Public Administration of New Zealand (IPANZ) in Wellington.

Laura comes from North Carolina, where she is one of the leaders of Self-Help, the largest non-profit lender in the United States and one of the most effective non-profits in the country, according to Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits. Self-Help has invested billions of dollars into low-income and minority communities in the States, including over 800 loans to non-profits and human services providers for $213 million, creating or maintaining 9,017 jobs, and 50,054 child care, school and housing spaces.

Laura recognises that the culture and history that have shaped New Zealand are quite different from that of the States. She is keen to learn about Māori and Pacific people's histories and cultures, and to investigate social lending opportunities for Māori and Pacific-led initiatives. She expects to bring invaluable lessons to her work at Self-Help and find opportunities for cross-fertilisation between the States' more established community development finance sector and New Zealand's emerging one.

Contact Laura if you have ideas or initiatives that you think may be of interest to her research project.

Read 'A new funding paradigm: Prospects for social lending and investments by foundations in NZ' at: http://www.goodpracticefunding.govt.nz/funding-options/other-funding-opt...