HERNANDO DE SOTO JOINS TRICKLE UP PROGRAM ADVISORY COUNCIL Renowned Development Theorist, Economist and Best-Selling Author Brings Expertise to International Poverty Alleviation Program

The Trickle Up Program, an international non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty through microenterprise development, today announced the addition of famed economist, best-selling author and development theorist Hernando de Soto to its Advisory Council. Trickle Up provides seed capital in the form of conditional grants, along with business training, to the poorest of the poor around the world to help them start their own micro-businesses.

NEW YORK, NY, March 5, 2002 -- The Trickle Up Program, an international non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty through microenterprise development, today announced the addition of famed economist, best-selling author and development theorist Hernando de Soto to its Advisory Council. Trickle Up provides seed capital in the form of conditional grants, along with business training, to the poorest of the poor around the world to help them start their own micro-businesses.

Hernando de Soto, chosen as one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century by Time magazine, is currently president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), headquartered in Lima, Peru and deemed one of the most important think tanks in the world by The Economist. Mr. de Soto joined the Trickle Up advisory council in acknowledgement of Trickle Ups ...noble and efficient efforts to help the poor." He is known for designing and implementing capital formation programs for the poor in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. de Sotos recent book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, is lauded as the best-selling book in Peru of all time and is among the 10 best business books for 2000 in the U.S. and Europe.

Richenda Van Leeuwen, executive director, Trickle Up, said, It is a privilege and honor to have Hernando de Soto endorse Trickle Up by joining the Advisory Council. He is a preeminent authority on economic development who will greatly affect the strategic direction of the organization. We look forward to working with him and benefiting from his proven philosophies and effective approach to overcoming poverty." She adds, After September 11, the Trickle Up program remains steadfast in its efforts to create the jobs, self-reliance and hope that are among the surest weapons against hate, despair and violence."

With his post September 11th Op-Ed article in the New York Times, de Soto supported microenterprise development, It is now time for the West to create new policies that inspire governments to harness the entrepreneurial energy that is already humming among the poor and focus on development at a micro-level, encouraging capitalism from below."

Previously, as Perus former President Alberto Fujimoris personal representative and principal advisor, de Soto along with the ILD have been responsible for some 400 laws and regulations that have modernized Perus economic system, opening it up to greater participation by the majority.

About the Trickle Up Program

Mildred Robbins Leet and her late husband Glen Leet founded the New York City-based Trickle Up Program in 1979 to help alleviate poverty and empower the poor. The organization has started or expanded more than 100,000 business in 119 countries, benefiting more than a half million of the worlds poorest people. Trickle Up provides seed capital in the form of conditional grants, along with business training, to the worlds poorest people. Its grant-based model provides access to capital to marginalized people often overlooked by micro-credit programs, including refugees, displaced people, disadvantaged minorities, single mothers, women- and child-headed households, youth at risk, HIV/AIDS-affected families, persons with disabilities, victims of domestic abuse and illiterates, among others. Trickle Up currently works with nearly 300 local coordinating partner agencies in 31 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, including the U.S. to help implement its microenterprise program. Nearly 70 percent of all Trickle Up Program entrepreneurs are women. Visit our Website at www.trickleup.org.
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