ADVISORY/Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation and Grameen Foundation USA to Launch Major New Technology Initiative to Help the Poor.

City Desks/Assignment Editors

ADVISORY...for March 19

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

WHO: Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the revolutionary
concept of micro-credit lending, and the Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation WHAT:
A media briefing to announce details of a major new technology initiative to
help facilitate micro-credit lending to the poor in developing countries using
wireless and other advanced technology. WHEN: 10 a.m.-10:45 a.m., Monday, March
19 WHERE: Fidalgo Room at Seattle Center's Northwest Rooms on the north side of
the Key Arena near QFC BACKGROUND:

Dr. Muhammad Yunus is internationally recognized for his work in poverty alleviation and the empowerment of poor women. He's the founder of Grameen Bank, a micro-credit institution committed to providing small amounts of working capital to the poor for self-employment. From its origins as an action-research project in 1976, Grameen Bank has loaned more than $2.6 billion to the poorest of the poor, while maintaining a repayment rate consistently above 95 percent. The innovative approach to poverty alleviation pioneered by Dr. Yunus in a small village in Bangladesh has inspired a global micro-credit movement reaching millions of poor from rural South Africa to inner city Chicago.

While in Seattle, Dr. Yunus also will speak at a free, public Town Hall meeting on Monday evening as part of the Forum 2001 Speaker Series. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 8th Avenue and Seneca Street in Seattle. Tickets are not necessary. The event is co-sponsored by the Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation, the World Affairs Council and the University Bookstore.