About

Accion was founded in 1961 by a UC Berkeley law student. We began with hands-on work in Latin America; the first group of 30 Americans worked in urban centers around Venezuela.

By the early 1970s, Accion’s leaders were beginning to focus on the lack of economic opportunity in Latin American cities and began issuing small loans.

Over the next decade, Accion helped start microfinance programs in 14 countries in Latin America with a loan repayment rate of 97 percent.

Throughout the 2000s, Accion extended operations into India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and established the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI).

Accion launched its seed-stage investment initiative Accion Venture Lab and participated in the launch of the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund.

Accion is working to build an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, which severely affected low-income families and small businesses globally.