Microenterprise & Development Institute - New Hampshire (MDI-NH)
Founded in 1999, the MDI-NH is held each June in New Hampshire, and focuses on both financial and non-financial practitioner skill building with emphasis on "Double Bottom Line" approaches to address the needs of poor families, their communities and building sustainable microenterprise development institutions.
The Microenterprise and Development Institute - New Hampshire is distinguished as a program dedicated to building financial as well as social capital. The institute recognizes the challenge to practitioners in the field of Microenterprise in being able to find a balance between these two important interests that will stimulate sustainable growth, and aims at providing practitioners with an intensive learning opportunity for exploration of current topics with fellow practitioners and experts from around the world.
In the past ten years of the institute in New Hampshire and Africa, we have trained more than 1,000 practitioners from approximately 100 countries and 600 INGO's, NGO's MFI's, Universities, Banks and other organizations. The MDI serves as a significant professional development training opportunity to the field.
Who Should Attend
The Microenterprise and Development Institute is designed for Microenterprise Managers, Executive Directors, Program Directors, NGO managers and CEOs, Financial Managers, Operations Managers, Board Members from Micro Finance NGOs, Credit Unions, Banks, and other Micro Finance institutions, staff from State and National governments, Donors of Micro Finance institutions, Regulators, Policy decision makers and newcomers to the field. Students have come from five continents, providing a unique opportunity for learning and networking with a diverse group of fellow practitioners.
Earn a Masters Degree
Southern New Hampshire University's School of CED, located in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA is the oldest graduate program of its kind in the United States. Those students who garnered academic credits through their participation in MDI courses and who seek a graduate degree can apply to the School of CED's low-residency ICED Summer Intensive Program based in Manchester, N.H.
About the School of Community Economic Development
The School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University is the only academic program in the United States offering an accredited graduate degree in the field. It started in 1982 with a master's degree program for adult practitioners throughout the U.S. and Canada. Four years later, the university initiated a master's degree program for international practitioners. In September of 1998, it started the first Community Economic Development doctoral program in the country.
Together with its affiliated Center for Community Economic Development, SNHU has helped create new institutions and models of CED, including three new community development financial institutions and 'Working Capital', the largest peer lending microfinance program in the United States. In 2000 the School of CED, in a partnership with the Open University of Tanzania, inaugurated the first Master's in Community Economic Development on the African Continent. In 2004 and 2006 with co-sponsorship of the University of Limpopo (formerly the University of the North) and the Small Enterprise Foundation we offered the Microenterprise and Development Certificate in Limpopo province which was attended by more than 150 students. In 2007 with the support of the Association of ProPoor Microfinance Institutions in South Africa (AMFISA) and the Ford Foundation we brought the African based Institute to Johannesburg.
The MDI New Hampshire learning experience is based on SNHU's School of Community Economic Development Educational Philosophy which emphasizes a learner-centered model in its approach to education and is based on the following principles:
- Education promotes critical thinking and empowers the learner to act effectively.
- Experience is a rich resource for learning.
- Participants' prior experience is integrated into the learning process.
- The participants play an active role in the planning, implementation and evaluation of his or her learning experience.
- Cultural diversity and a respect for cultural diversity enhance the learning process and is an integral part of CED practice.