May 1, 2007
Re: Anders Cornelius Maltha Winther/KaosPilot Outpost 2007
I am pleased to write this letter of reference for Anders Winther. I had the pleasure of working with four students from the KaosPilots University from February to May, 2007, during their outpost in Vancouver, Canada.
Anders Winther lived up to the tagline of the KaosPilots: where creativity and innovation go to school. Over an eight week period, Anders and the other students developed a process design, including a research methodology and a reporting framework. The project – examining our microcredit portfolio to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement, in service of our commitment to providing access to financial services for the “underbanked” – came at an important time for Vancity. Just before the KaosPilots arrived, our senior management invited me and my department to examine a ten-year old lending program, and to come back with recommendations for improvements.
The KaosPilots played a key role in conducting original research, including interviews with past borrowers, and testing our model against other microcredit models. They spoke with other providers, with community partners, and immersed themselves in the theory and practice of microcredit around the globe. The came back to my group with their findings, including recommendations for increasing loan volumes and reviewing pricing structures, and suggestions about reaching a wider audience of potential borrowers.
This research and reporting is becoming the basis for significant rethinking and retooling of our microcredit offerings. And it is timely. We will be reporting out to senior management in a month’s time, and many of our recommendations for improvements will be the direct result of the work the KaosPilots completed. We believe we will be able to see immediate results, and increase in our portfolio, from our engagement with the KaosPilots.
Not only did we learn much about our microcredit program and its effects on its users, but we also learned about project management, process design and innovative ways to examine business challenges. I wish Anders every success in future endeavors; here is a talented and thoughtful contributor to business development and social enterprise, and I expect Anders will make many significant contributions to the field of sustainable and responsible business practices over his career. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information.
Yours truly,
Catherine Ludgate, Manager Community Business Programs Vancity Credit Union E: catherine_ludgate@vancity.com