Organization: Count Me In (New York)
Project: General Operating Support
Award Date: October 2003
Award duration/amount: 2 years, $50,000 total

Founded in 1999, Count Me In is the first organization of its kind to make micro-business loans available online. CMI makes loans ($500 - $10,000) to women using the internet for every step of the process, and addresses systemic discrimination against women’s access to credit and capital by working to change the credit-scoring systems used by banks and other financial institutions.  Credit scoring is a key lever to women’s economic equity, and traditional credit scoring used by major financial institutions unintentionally discriminates against women.  Count Me In is breaking new ground using its unique women-friendly credit scoring system.

To date, CMI has approved more than 400 loans to women in 50 states, with a 92% repayment rate.  CMI expects to prove the model and engage mainstream financial institutions in adopting a more equitable credit scoring system by 2006.  Count Me In has developed its model for replication both domestically and internationally.  Nell Merlino, CMI's President and CEO, is a social entrepreneur who created “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” and has worked in state governments, union organizing, and as a Fulbright Scholar.

3GF awarded Count Me In a two-year $50,000 grant to Count Me In to help prove its model and influence financial institutions.

For more information on this project email Nell Merlino, President and CEO, at , call (212) 245 1245, or visit www.count-me-in.org.