Karim Harji – Microfinancier – Co-founder and director of Purpose Capital
Tell us about your experience as an International Youth Fellow.
I was an International Youth Fellow with AKFC in 2004 and 2005. I was based in Pakistan where I worked in microfinance for the First MicroFinanceBank. I saw how microfinance helped people generate more income, which allowed their kids to go to school more often and more consistently, and allowed them to access better quality health care and better food.
We had one client, for example, who owned a little convenience store and wanted to expand the kinds of products he was carrying. We provided him with a loan to buy products – things like soap and basic medication – that could help the people in the village. It allowed him to carry a wider range of products, attract more customers and generate more income, more consistently.
What did you learn from your work in Pakistan?
Being a fellow has been at the seed of everything I’ve done since then. I had a tremendous experience in Pakistan, and when I came back I realized I wanted to have an impact in Canada, too.
This is what led me to co-found Purpose Capital, a firm that works with organizations wanting to finance and invest in social change. These projects are in health and education, and include grassroots projects in the developing world.
We’re involved in social impact investing, which is the idea that you can make money and you can do good: there’s not a trade-off. So when you’re making an investment, you can generate a financial return, as well as a social impact.
Tell us more about your work at Purpose Capital.
We’re a mission-driven organization and our whole goal is to embed purpose within capital. We’re also a B-Corp, which is a type of organization where your mission is part of your articles of
incorporation. This basically holds us accountable to all of the stakeholders we work with, not just the people who own the company.
How did your worldview change after your fellowship experience?
Before I went on the Fellowship, I was a little skeptical that business and development could actually co-exist. But microfinance was the perfect embodiment of a situation where there isn’t a trade-off. I took this idea, having seen it in practice in Pakistan, and brought it back to Canada to see how companies and organizations here could use these same principles. This is just one of the ways the Fellowship has helped me refine my perception of what a global citizen looks like.
http://specialfeature.worldpartnershipwalk.com/content/karim-harji
http://specialfeature.worldpartnershipwalk.com/
Earlier related Karim Harji:
- Canadians Making a World of Difference: AKFC International Fellowship Alumni Tracey Clark, Karim Harji, Sarah Gauthier, Nikhil Agarwal
- Karim Harji to present at Social Enterprise World Forum, Calgary, October 2013
- Karim Harji, Co-Founder and Partner at Purpose Capital
Earlier related Partnership Walk Canada 2015:
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