Article published by Unitus about Tim Stay

Tim Stay and his wife Dalita Stay visit Pro Mujer Mexico borrower Hortencia Santiago Díaz and her daughter.

This article appears on the Unitus website

Tim Stay: A Technology Entrepreneur’s Passion for Poverty Alleviating Loans

In 1984, Unitus board member Tim Stay was a civil engineer, installing water and sewer facilities in some of the world’s most impoverished regions. Despite his good work, he knew he wasn’t solving the underlying causes of poverty, and he wanted to do more.

While studying international economic development in graduate school, Stay marveled at the enormous resources spent alleviating world poverty with seemingly little accountability or success. At times, the problem seemed overwhelming.

“Eventually, I found pockets of success where poverty was actually being eliminated,” says Stay. “It was happening at the grassroots level, utilizing basic entrepreneurial principles and empowering individuals.”

What Stay discovered was microfinance institutions (MFIs), organizations that make small loans to the working poor – usually women – to help improve their small businesses. The high repayment rates on these small loans of approximately $100 demonstrated that the working poor are willing and able to repay their loans and are capable of transforming their lives, if given the chance.

In 2000, instead of starting yet another MFI locked into one geographic area, Stay formed an organization with several other like-minded individuals. The result was Unitus, a global microfinance accelerator that provides lending capital and capacity consulting to the highest-potential MFIs, vastly increasing the number of loans they can make. As a result, MFIs can serve exponentially more clients in a short time period – an economic miracle to the poorest families.

“We can all donate time and money to organizations that dole out money, food or services to the needy, but they often do not create or facilitate individual self-sufficiency,” says Stay. “Through Unitus, I am involved in an effort on a global scale to eliminate poverty, where millions will benefit.”

Stay holds a civil engineering degree, an M.B.A. and a master’s degree in international relations with a focus on third-world economic development. He has founded Marketing Ally, NorthSky and Rappore Technologies. Unitus is privileged to have him on our Board of Directors.