The Hadassah Foundation hosted a presentation on Microfinance in Israel given by Chagit Rubinstein from Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF).

The presentation took place on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at the Hadassah House.

The Hadassah Foundation is proud to be a pioneer funder of microenterprise projects as a tool to help low-income Israeli women rise out of poverty.

Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF), a Hadassah Foundation grant recipient, sponsors a Microenterprise Initiative. The project provides loan guarantees to economically disadvantaged populations seeking to establish home-based and other small businesses. Prior to working with KIEDF, Chagit Rubinstein co-founded and developed Economic Empowerment for Women (EEW), another Foundation grantee and the first Israeli microenterpise organization. KIEDF and EEW partner with Bank Hapoalim to identify program candidates and to help them to qualify for loans of up to $5,000. Chagit worked for 10 years as a marketing manager for major Israeli exporters and received her MBA from INSEAD in France in 1990. In 2000, she received a Hubert Humphrey Fellowship (Fulbright) to study microfinance at American University in Washington DC.