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| INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES |
| Vikram Akula |
| Microfinance expert and founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance |
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Vikram Akula has gained respect worldwide for his innovative schemes to help poor people improve their lives. Akula applies his entrepreneurial skills, as well as his experience in educational and environmental organisations, to make effective use of microfinance for the benefit of those struggling to survive.
"For microfinance to have a long-term impact on poor people's lives," he says, "you have to leverage the principles that lead to profitable and flourishing businesses: operational excellence and technological innovation."
Born in Hyderabad, India, Akula grew up in the United States where his family emigrated in the 1970s. As a child, he often visited India, and the poverty that plagues the country left a lasting impression.
In the early 1990s, he was a researcher for the Worldwatch Institute where he wrote about poverty, development and environmental issues. In 2004, he completed his studies with a Ph.D. focusing on microfinance from the University of Chicago.
In 1995, thanks to a Fulbright Scholarship, he coordinated a programme combining microcredit and food security in rural Andhra Pradesh. This inspired him to set up Swayam Krishi Sangam (SKS) Microfinance in Hyderabad in 1998 to economically empower the poor by providing them finance to establish micro-enterprises. By pioneering the use of an automated management information system to streamline lending operations, SKS was able to benefit over 800,000 women in 11 Indian states.
In 2001, Akula established SKS Education, which runs a boarding school for 100 girls who have dropped out of school, as well as 20 primary schools, rural education centres and village libraries. In 2007, he launched SKS Assist, which teaches the very poor how to participate in micro-enterprises.
In 2006, Time magazine named Dr Akula one of the world's 100 most influential people.
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