Corporate Social Responsibility

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11.01.2007 - 09:45am ET

CSR News from:	ACCION International
News Categories:	Finance
	Socially Responsible Investing

Microfinance Pioneer ACCION Launches New Website

Boston-based Nonprofit’s www.accion.org Designed to Bring Best Tools to Bear on Poverty Alleviation

(CSRwire) BOSTON, MA - November 1, 2007 - ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance, today announced the launch of its new website, www.accion.org, offering major enhancements in functionality, appearance, resources and accessibility. The new site is a continuing expression of ACCION’s goal to bring the best possible tools to bear on the fight against global poverty.

Created to better educate and engage the world about how microfinance can help millions to help themselves, the site was designed to facilitate information-sharing, advance dissemination of best practices in the industry, and to improve networking and fundraising. Its new features include:

'ACCIONconnect', a new online community for users who want to engage with microfinance and ACCION on a deeper level - connecting people in the developed world more directly to those in under-developed nations. 'ACCIONconnect' provides individually personalized content, registration for exclusive events and seminars, and tailored subscription management, among other features.

A Flash video library, showcasing eight new, download-able films about ACCION's microfinance work at home and abroad, narrated by CBS News' Mike Wallace, and filmed on location in the U.S., Peru, Uganda and Tanzania.

A more comprehensive 'Products & Services' section, including links to additional resources and publications; and a new 'Events & Publications' section, which together help to provide other microfinance practitioners with the tools they need to improve, expand and innovate in their own work.

Designed by Boston Interactive of Charlestown, MA, the site capitalizes on ACCION's rich photo archives of microentrepreneurs from around the world, captured by contributing photographers Rohanna Mertens and John Rae, among others.

About ACCION

ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need - microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services - to work their way out of poverty. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. ACCION International's partner microfinance institutions today are providing loans as low as $100 to poor men and women entrepreneurs in 25 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States. In the last decade alone, ACCION partners have disbursed more than 17.9 million loans totaling more than $12.3 billion; 97 percent of the loans have been repaid. Selected for the fourth consecutive year for its pioneering approaches to poverty alleviation, ACCION was among 43 organizations awarded the 2007 Social Capitalist Award by Fast Company magazine. ACCION has also been awarded Charity Navigator’s highest rating - four stars - for efficiency and sound fiscal management. For more information, visit www.accion.org.

For more information please contact:

Bruce MacDonald, VP, Communications
ACCION International
617-625-7080, x1245
www.accion.org

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