MCE Social Capital

MCE Social Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit impact investing firm that uses a pioneering loan guarantee model to generate economic opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people, particularly women, in more than 30 countries.

More than two billion people in the world lack access to formal financial services—including savings accounts, insurance, and loans—and consequently must contend with financial insecurity on a daily basis. Small businesses also suffer from a lack of appropriate finance opportunities, despite their unique potential for transformative job creation and social impact. We help fill these financial inclusion gaps by making loans to:

• Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) that help people living in rural areas gain access to credit, savings accounts, insurance, healthcare and health education, business education, and technical assistance.
• Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) that create jobs, help smallholder farmers, facilitate clean water and energy, and increase household savings.

Commitment to women: Across its lending, MCE focuses on organizations that are women-led, include a majority of women in a supply chain, specifically develop products or services for women, employ a majority of women, and/or have a majority of direct clients who are women.

MCE’s loan guarantee model: MCE finances its MFI and SGB lending by collecting philanthropic pledges from foundations and individuals (its guarantors) to make tax-deductible contributions if – and only if – an MFI or SGB fails to repay a loan from MCE. MCE pools these pledges – now $113M from more than 90 guarantors – and uses them as collateral to borrow capital from U.S. financial institutions.