A CEO Masters Micro-Credit

Percy Barnevik's retirement plans are more ambitious: He intends to lift millions of people out of the world's deepest poverty. His passion is an organization called Hand in Hand International, which he came to four years ago, when it had 30 employees; today it has 6,000, plus 20,000 volunteers. He spends about 80% of his time on Hand in Hand and its mission of raising living standards among the poorest of the poor, starting in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hand in Hand's model is microfinance, but with several important differences. Like Grameen Bank and others, it makes tiny loans (average size: $125) to groups of women who are starting or running businesses. Unlike most of those lenders, Hand in Hand insists on extensive training for the borrowers before advancing the money, because those little businesses need to succeed.