BRAC USA is an independent, non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that received its 501(c)(3) status on July 12, 2007. A brainchild of BRAC

BRAC (NGO)

BRAC, based in Bangladesh, is the world's largest non-governmental development organization. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC is present in all 64 districts of Bangladesh, with over 7 million microfinance group members, 37,500 non-formal...

, a Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

-based non-profit organization, BRAC USA’s mission is to raise awareness of BRAC’s successful community development model, mobilize resources and cultivate business partnerships to support BRAC’s global expansion. The creation of BRAC USA and BRAC UK made BRAC the world’s first international development organization initiated and led by people from the developing world with solidarity and support from the developed world. http://www.brac.net/usa/history.php#History_of_BRAC_USA

Mission

BRAC USA seeks to improve the well being of the poorest in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, particularly its women and children. To do so, BRAC USA will support building scalable, sustainable institutions that, over time, are indigenously led to create wealth for the poor, promote health and social development and advance education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 and entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...

. The organization will support the transfer and adaptation of BRAC’s knowledge and experience in organizing people for power in vulnerable communities throughout Africa and Asia. BRAC USA’s grant-making philosophy is based on three fundamental ideas:

• Building capacity in African and Asian communities has more impact and is more sustainable than traditional development models
• Investing in women and girls has a disproportionately large return for communities
• Northern hemisphere solidarity in support of Southern hemisphere leadership and South-South collaboration can generate lower cost and higher impact solutions for poverty
  Poverty
  Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
  
   http://www.brac.net/usa/about_us.php

Vision

BRAC USA does not accept unsolicited proposals from organizations that are not part of BRAC International. It supports a strategic agenda based on priorities agreed upon by BRAC and the BRAC USA Board. Its grant-making program facilitates flexibility, innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and learning.

By removing the constraints on BRAC’s global expansion, BRAC USA facilitates a South-South strategy of ‘barefoot bootstrapping.’ BRAC USA seeks business partnerships, strategic alliances, philanthropic and other capital to provide microcredit, health, education and other services sought by people living in poverty, especially women and children. http://www.brac.net/usa/about_us.php

See also

• Microfinance
  Microfinance
  Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
  
  
• Microcredit
  Microcredit
  Microcredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...
  
  
• Microcredit Summit Campaign
  Microcredit Summit Campaign
  The Microcredit Summit Campaign is an American non-profit organization started as an effort to bring together microcredit practitioners, advocates, educational institutions, donor agencies, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and others involved with microcredit...
  
  
• Social entrepreneurship
  Social entrepreneurship
  Social entrepreneurship is the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change . While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a...