Despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grameen Australia has taken significant steps forward to establish our first branch in the local government area of Hume. We acknowledge the tremendous resilience of communities, particularly in Broadmeadows and Fairfield, that were impacted by the rapid spread of the Delta variant.
Our new office is in Broadmeadows, Victoria and has been generously provided through a partnership with Spectrum – a leading community organisation which delivers services to people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in the northern and western Melbourne areas.
Our Chief Operations Officer, Shaz Newaz, will join us from Grameen America this month and we are recruiting Centre Manager positions in Broadmeadows and Melton. These critical roles will coordinate small loans, financial training and support to each of the groups in the centre.
In addition, the development of our service delivery model has been informed by our local community engagement and learnings from Grameen internationally. Core banking systems are being tailored and technology is taking shape to start operations in January 2022.
These strong foundations see Grameen Australia perfectly placed to support COVID-19 recovery efforts with a focus on the economic empowerment of women.
We thank our all our supporters, especially individual donors and the Australian Government Department of Social Services, for its investment in delivering the life-changing Grameen model of microfinance to the Australian community. We look forward to new partnerships supporting this work and to sharing our progress in 2022.
Thank to you our Board and Establishment Team for their energy, commitment and professionalism to establish our new program during a challenging year.
The holidays are a special time to pause, reflect and re-energise before the start of a new year. We wish you joy, peace and happy holidays.
Warm regards
Adam Mooney