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Grameen Foundation Australia
{{complex|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox organization
| name              = Grameen Foundation Australia
| image             = 
| type              = non-profit organization
| ceo               = Shan Ali
| location          = Sydney
| origins           = Grameen Bank
| key_people        = 
| area_served       = 
| product           = 
| mission           = To create a world without poverty
| focus             = 
| method            = microfinance  
| homepage          = [http://www.grameen.org.au website] 
}}
'''Grameen Foundation Australia''' (GFA) is a [[501(c)(3)]] [[non-profit organization]] based in Sydney (Australia) created to support the poverty alleviation work and mission of the Grameen Bank, Grameen Trust and their affiliate organisations by giving access to the poorest people to [[microfinance]] and as a result of access to these services, move themselves out of poverty. <br />
"The poor themselves can create a poverty-free world … all we have to do is to free them from the chains that we have put around them." -[[Muhammad Yunus]]

==History==
Inspiration provided by the work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, lead to the founding of Grameen Foundation Australia (GFA) in 1998. GFA works to accelerate the impact of Microfinance and Social Business on the world’s poorest people, especially women.

Based in Sydney, GFA is an independent AusAID endorsed charitable organisation that is able to offer tax deductibility to Australian donors.

The Grameen brand, now internationally recognised for its ‘best practice’ quality and sense of urgency providing tools to help the poorest lift themselves out of poverty, originated in Bangladesh in 1976 when Professor Muhammad Yunus loaned a mere $27 to a very poor woman.  Grameen Bank now serves more than 7 million poor families with loans, savings, insurance and other services. In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize.

GFA, as part of the Grameen family, is able to access to the vast expertise and experiences of the broader Grameen group as a means of further enhancing the effectiveness of the projects it develops.

Because GFA believes that people everywhere have an inherent desire to improve their lives, the organisation harnesses the strength and ingenuity of the poor by providing them with access to the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty – actionable information, appropriate financial services and unique business opportunities.

The experienced GFA team is constantly working to identify opportunities and create sector-wide solutions that can transform the way the Development and Aid sector works, accelerating the impact of our efforts – impact that, collectively, will one day eliminate abject poverty.

GFA focuses on Asia and has particular experience in developing microfinance and social business activities in the region.

==Mission==

The mission of GFA is to see poor people, especially the poorest and those living in harder to reach areas, to extract themselves from poverty through micro finance, to enable them to lead lives of respect, dignity and opportunity for the long-term. GFA works for empowerment of targeted populations, not dependence (non paternalist organization).

==Projects==

GFA is currently operating and developing programs in three countries and has advised on programs in over 10 countries.

The Current GFA Projects  are :
1.	GFA Microfinance Business School in Manila, the Philippines
2.	Auto Mechanic Training Centre and Workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh  
3.	Khmer Japan Chicken Training Centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia

==Core Principles==

Every action made by GFA follows the core principles that the foundation impose to herself and which are:
§	A holistic approach to assisting development in a targeted region (i.e. not just micro-finance)
§	Effective use of partnerships (e.g. Rotary clubs, Farm Africa, local governments) which can bring particular skills, resources and local knowledge to help maximise project outcomes 
§	Hard work, efficiency, innovation, cost-effectiveness
§	Honesty,Grameen Foundation Australia's vision is to help communities to apply best practise business principles to help the poor out of poverty in developing countries. GFA's mission is to promote and deliver microfinance programs and social businesses through both direct involvement and advice to partners on creative program delivery.

In all our work, we embrace and draw inspiration from our rich Grameen Heritage.

In particular we:

* Seek to empower the world’s poor, especially the poorest women
* Hold ourselves and our partners accountable for transparency, accountability 
§	Constant improvement in the way that we operate
§	Maximizing the organization's leverage at all times so that we can have the maximum substantive effect on helping poor people in poor developing countries.
§	Empowerment of targeted populations, not welfare and dependence
§	Remain secular and respectful to others’ values and beliefs.nd measurable results, including social and financial performance
* Champion innovation focused on making sustainable difference
* Seek to form partnerships with those who can advance our mission
* Respect, invest in and promote local social entrepreneurs and local innovation.
* Replication is the essential methodology that underpins all programs in which we have direct involvement have direct involvement

==Current structure==
'''Board''' 
*[http://www.greenhillcaliburn.com/directorDetails.asp?ModuleID=2&PageFlag=1&RowId=5 Peter Hunt, AM (Chairman)]
*[http://www.globalcoaching.com.au/pmurnane.html Paul Murnane]
*[http://www.allardpartners.com/wayne-peters Wayne Peters]
*[http://www.aseanfocus.com/staff/team_profile.php?userid=4 Lindley Edwards]
*[http://www.grameen.org.au/the-board/ Nigel Ampherlaw]

==Further reading==
[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586481983/flatwave-20 Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus]<br />
[http://www.amazon.com/Creating-World-Without-Poverty-Capitalism/dp/1586486675/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism by Muhammad Yunus]<br />
[http://www.amazon.com/Building-Social-Business-Capitalism-Humanitys/dp/1586488244/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs by Muhammad Yunus]

==Other websites==

[http://grameen.org.au/ Official website]

[[Category:Non-profit organizations]]