Microbusinesses generally means businesses employing fewer than five that borrowed less than $35,000 often much less to start up.

And just this week Kiva, the San Francisco nonprofit that made international microfinance a household name, launched a Web-based way for individuals to make small loans to small businesses in the United States.

Weaver says microlenders also need to get the word out among potential borrowers. "The one thing I think we need most to take it to scale," he says, "is raising the awareness that it is here so that people know to look for it."

To that end Opportunity Fund, Kiva and Silicon Valley Community Foundation late last month hosted a daylong microfinance conference at Stanford University. The day's agenda was none-to-subtly labeled "Microfinance: It's Happening in Our Backyard." About 500 attended to debate the future of the industry in the United States and to discuss models that might broaden the success of the practice.

It was during one of those sessions, a field trip to two businesses launched with microloans, that a group of conference attendees met Taran and even took an impromptu salsa lesson from her.

At a news conference held at the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne this morning, Lilly Endowment Inc. announced that it will provide a $20 million grant to accelerate the development of northeast Indiana’s workforce and talent resources.

The grant will be administered via a program, entitled Talent Opportunity Success (TOpS) 2015, which will develop education, training and talent initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. TOpS 2015 -- an unprecedented collaboration in northeast Indiana -- will better prepare the region’s workforce to capture the high- quality job opportunities available in the near term and those of the future.

The grant will be made to an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, Community Partnerships, Inc. (CPI), which will govern and provide oversight for the program. CPI is a supporting organization of the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne.

Many workers who are vital to the community compete for a limited number of affordable units. According to the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission Housing Analysis, entry-level firefighters and police officers could only afford 129 of the single-family homes and 42 of the condominiums sold in the Planning District between 2004 and 2005.

The Charlottesville Areas Association of REALTORS (CAAR) created a Work Force Housing Fund to assist those people who serve essential community functions to purchase homes near to where they work. The Fund is based at the Charlottesville Albemarle Community Foundation and administered by the Piedmont Housing Alliance.

The Aspen Institute Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group YES GROUP, chaired by the President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, and The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship NFTE launched the 'I Said Yes' campaign and released the nation’s first policymaker action guide on youth entrepreneurship education.

The guide was unveiled on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 during a Global Entrepreneurship Week YES GROUP Policy Briefing event at the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. The event, entitled We Say YES To Youth Entrepreneurship Education in America's Schools: What Policymakers Can Do to Prepare Youth for the Market Economy, focused on bringing about change in how youth are educated and empowered.

HandsNet: Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group Publishes Action Guide for Policymakers.

Maximizing economic opportunity

Those are the watchwords of the continuum of Learning, a community partnership among the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Central Illinois and the Sangamon County Community Foundation.

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I just read an article about the Silicon Valley Community Foundation establishing the "Strengthen the Safety Net" fund to assist non profits that provide food and shelter in the San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. These organizations are seeing a dramatic rise in families needing their services due to the economic crisis. As a result the foundation is using this fund to challenge individuals and corporations to donate money; the foundation will match dollar for dollar up to $1 million through the end of this year. Now that's creative philanthropy in a time of crisis.

New Voices Of Philanthropy: Desperate times call for creative measures.

Energy policy is by far the most important issue in this year's presidential election, one that transcends partisan politics and dwarfs the nation's current economic crisis, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy, an environmental activist and attorney, addressed a crowd of nearly 700 people Tuesday at Grant High School. His visit was part of the Fremont Area Community Foundation (MI)'s Speaker Series.

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On the short road into the Golden Briar housing project, a sign reads No Exit.

There are no doubt some in the surrounding suburbs would prefer to keep it that way for Golden Briar and its low-income residents – out of sight, out of mind, out of their big backyards.

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The Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, The IMPACT! Group, The Brand Banking Company and a network of local builders are partnering to provide down payment assistance for consumers who buy a home in Northeast Georgia.

Tough economic times and the recent turmoil in the mortgage market have made it harder to secure mortgage loans. For buyers without funds for a down payment, the dream of home ownership has become even more elusive.

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At the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, every one of the more than 2,200 funds is an example of tremendous generosity. The stories of the people behind the funds are remarkable evidence that giving is alive and well in Kansas City, improving the lives of everyone who lives here. Consider the story of Beth Smith, who, with her husband, Ed, established one of the first funds under the Community Foundation's umbrella. Nearly three decades later, Beth's commitment to the future stability of the nonprofit sector is as strong as ever. Beth recently established a fund for the Women's Employment Network, an organization dedicated to supporting all women in their pursuit of careers.

Greater Kansas City Community Foundation: Big shoes to fill.