SPBD Microfinance Ltd (Fiji) 2011 Foundation Day Celebration 7 December 2011 - Comments by Greg Casagrande Founder and President of SPBD

We are pleased to share Greg Casagrande's speech at the inaugural Business Woman of the Year Awards in Fiji:

NisaBula Vinaka! and Welcome to the 1st ever SPBD Foundation Day Celebration.

Before we get started I want to acknowledge a few special persons.
• Thank you to Mrs Kesaia Fung for your thoughtful opening prayer and remarks.
• Thank you to our very special guest keynote speaker today, the Honorable Governor Whiteside.
• And finally I’d like to give a big thanks to each of our event sponsors, our local business partners, and all of our other esteemed guests.
• Thanks to all of you for gracing us with your presence and for making this celebration a truly grand affair.

I started SPBD as the first successful, independent, Greenfield microfinance organization in the country of Samoa back in the year 2000. Today we work across three Samoan islands and in nearly every Samoan village serving over 12,000 families in Samoa. Today, one out of every four Samoan families is an SPBD client.

We then launched the first-ever, independent, Greenfield microfinance organization in the country of Tonga back in the year 2009. Today we work across three Tongan islands and are now serving over 5,000 families in Tonga.

And then, exactly one year ago, we launched the first-ever, independent, Greenfield, microfinance organization here in Fiji.

And while the locations have changed over the past 12 years of SPBD’s operations, I am proud to say that whether it is in Samoa, Tonga or here in Fiji, that we have remained true to our mission of “providing underprivileged families with meaningful economic opportunity.”

We have done this by providing our clients with training, unsecured credit and ongoing guidance and motivation to help them start and expand small income generating businesses.

After 12 months here in Fiji we have now successfully:
• Worked with over 3,000 families spread across the five provinces of Tailevu, Suva, Rewa, Lami and Namosi.
• And we have provided them with over FJD$2.5M of unsecured credit.

We have done all of this to help our members:
• To build small businesses,
• To improve their families living conditions and
• To provide for the costs of their children’s education.

SPBD’s micro-entrepreneurs are empowered, driven and successful entrepreneurs who are:
• Providing their families with significant new cashflow,
• Investing in improving their homes and
• Ensuring a proper education for their children.

SPBD also provides our members with a basic savings service. The savings service helps our members to build their own financial assets so that they can provide themselves opportunities for a better tomorrow.

I am also proud to announce that as of today we are now providing all of our clients with access to a basic life insurance service in conjunction with LICI. This life insurance service will ensure that our clients’ families are not met with extreme financial stress in the event of a death.

We have also just announced just hours ago, a partnership with Vodafone. SPBD will be employing Vodafone’s MPAISA service to facilitate the efficient disbursement and collection of loans and to allow our clients to deposit and withdraw funds from the their SPBD savings accounts remotely. We think that this will be a big value add to our clients as we will now have more time to provide our clients with further small business training services.

All of these achievements could not have been made if it were not for my very industrious and dedicated staff of 20. So, I want to give them all a big special thanks. Team – thanks to each of you for your outstanding efforts. You make your boss’ life a lot simpler.

Today we are going to have a lot of fun. Many of you will receive awards to commemorate your hard work and achievements over the past year.

But prior to giving out your awards, I want to pay a special recognition to the thousand of SPBD woman micro-entrepreneurs in scattered villages across Viti Levu who each day:
a. are working hard at their businesses,
b. are bringing in significant extra income for their families,
c. are improving their families living conditions and
d. are fueling their children with positive hopes and dreams.

To me they are all winners and I think they all deserve our congratulations on the significant accomplishments they have achieved over the past year.

I want to briefly talk about three items:
1. Keeping your dreams alive,
2. Investing in your children and
3. Being a leader.

The first item is: “Keeping your dreams alive.” Martin Luther King, a famous US civil rights leader, once said “I Have a Dream.” Like Martin Luther King, I want all of you to have a dream.

The rock n’ roll band “the Rolling Stones” sang “lose your dreams and you will lose your mind.” I want to encourage you to hold onto your dreams. They are precious. Don’t let the world rob you of your dreams.

Whether your dream is to build yourself a nicer home, to create significant wealth through your business or to see your children graduate with a university degree, please know that it is achievable.

Let me tell you a quick story. When I set out to launch SPBD over ten years ago, my vision of SPBD was nothing but a crazy dream. Many people, friends and experts alike, told me that it was a crazy dream and that I should just return to my normal line of work. However, instead of listening to the skeptics, I decided to follow my crazy dream. I took the initial first steps and eventually SPBD was born and I was on the path towards realizing my dream.

You too can realize your dreams. Hold onto your dreams and advance towards them each day.

The 2nd item I want to discuss is “Investing in your children.”

Obtaining a proper education is the key to opening the doors of opportunity. If your children receive a proper education, then there is no limit to what they can achieve.

There is no reason that every child of every SPBD member shouldn’t complete Form 6. I encourage you all to ensure that your children do so. Also a university education should not be beyond the reach of any child of any SPBD member.
 
I encourage you to help guide your children toward obtaining a proper and complete education so that they can take advantage of as many opportunities as the world is able to provide them and so that they can follow their own dreams and ambitions.

The 3rd item I want to discuss is “Being a Leader.” Colin Powel is a famous former US Secretary of State and Former Head of the entire US Military. He was the first black-American to ever achieve such a high level of authority. He is considered to be a great leader. I have had the honor to hear him speak on a number of occasions on the topic of leadership.

One item that has particularly struck me is his assertion that “70% of leadership is leading yourself.” Think about that. It is true. If you can’t lead yourself, then you can’t lead others. So, be mindful of your conduct. Lead yourselves and then look for opportunities to lead others.

SPBD provides terrific opportunities for leadership training. Each of you not only plays a leading role in your own micro-business, but you are also given the opportunity to assume a leadership role in your individual group and centre. Every group needs a strong group leader and every centre needs a strong centre chief and centre secretary. For those who are handling these roles, thank you for your efforts. For those who are seeking leadership training; look no further, your group and your centre need your leadership. Get involved.

And so today I want to leave you with this one last thought, just as I advanced towards my dream of establishing SPBD with one small step, I want each of you to think of one small thing that you can do to advance yourself and your children closer to your dreams. And then I want you to be bold and to take that first step.

I am so proud of all of you. Keep up the great work and keep your dreams alive.

Vinaka Vakalevu