“The conference was informative and inspiring!” On Saturday, November 21st, 150 students from 21 schools on Oahu and Maui participated in PAAC’s Conference on Microfinance.
The Global Leadership Program cohort kicked it off, leading ice breakers to help their peers relax and get to know each other. With their high energy level and enthusiasm, it did not take long for a quiet room filled with shy smiles to turn into a room filled with warm laughter and lively conversations.
Students were exposed to microfinance, a tool for poverty alleviation, and learned how it functioned in communities abroad and locally through keynote speaker Bob Harris, role-play activities as entrepreneurs and lenders, and a career exploration panel. Pictured left, students role-play as entrepreneurs and give a pitch advocating for their microfinance project to be funded.
“I learned that you should never
be discouraged by your failures and that I am able to change the world, it’s just a matter of figuring out how I will do it.”
Career exploration panelists, Renie Lindley, John Cheever, and Miemie Winn Byrd, share their local and international experience in microfinance, moderated by Rachel James.
See more pictures from Fall Conference in our picture gallery.