non profit organization founded 1985 headquarters arlington va united states number of employees 30 2010 website www.seepnetwork.org www.seepcommunity.com the seep network the small enterprise education and promotion network is a non profit organization that acts as a network for practitioners working in microenterprise development and microfinance fields . founded in 1985 by elaine edgcomb and candace nelson and sponsored by the bill and melinda gates foundation ford foundation 1 citi foundation 2 usaid and omidyar network 3 the seep network since then has developed into a global learning community of 124 member organizations . contents 1 initiatives 1.1 global learning exchange 1.2 the practitioner learning program plp 1.3 network development exchange 1.4 value initiative 1.5 seepcommunity 1.6 the seep annual conference 2 member organizations 9 3 see also 4 references 5 external links initiatives edit global learning exchange edit seep documents and gathers the experience of practitioners through its working groups made up of self selected individuals they serve as the vehicle for seep members to engage in participatory research applied learning documentation and training on a particular topic . some of the working groups include poverty outreach working group social performance working group consumer protection working group and market facilitation initiative . the research accumulated through the working groups is disseminated via various publications training tools as well as seep communities of practice . each community of practice provides practitioners an opportunity to collaborate on particular areas of shared interest while ensuring cross collaboration between communities where priorities or programs overlap and align . currently there are three overlapping communities of practice financial services enterprise development and associations along with many cross cutting initiatives . 4 the practitioner learning program plp edit plp was developed by the seep network to engage practitioners in a collaborative learning process to document and share findings and help identify effective and replicable practices and innovations . the plp is a process oriented program rather than an output oriented program as it emphasizes on the lateral learning opposed to producing documents or deliverables . the outputs produced are practically written as peer to peer how to guides technical notes case studies and even a periodic newsletter to maximize their effectiveness with practitioners and the industry at large . the plp s comparative advantage practicing locally sharing globally is based on working with on the ground organizations to test strategies in institutional settings common to many practitioners . furthermore this model of learning by doing has the added benefit of more institutionalized knowledge because when practitioners learn from their own experiences mistakes and discoveries the learning itself is often more sustainable . network development exchange edit microfinance associations play a powerful role in advancing the industry . the seep network provides strategic framework for strengthening the microfinance sector through association leadership by implementing institutional strengthening activities and developing practical tools and resources in four areas organizational effectiveness membership services standards and indicators and global community . the seep network currently has 38 network member organizations . 5 value initiative edit the value initiative advances urban value chain development to help millions of people work their way out of poverty . funded by the bill and melinda gates foundation the value initiative is in the third of four years of learning with urban value chain development program partners in india kenya jamaica and indonesia . the project includes an on line community enterprise development exchange where practitioners can post their profile opportunities and documents and participate in on line conferences ; the global enterprise development network which is an open online platform on the enterprise development exchange to bring together different stakeholders to advance sustainable enterprise development ; and two practitioner learning programs plp on urban value chain development uvcd and business planning for sustainability and scale up . the value initiative and partner access development services of india produced a 2009 video baseline survey of the initial stages of the access jjade project which supports artisans and microenterprises from the jaipur jewelry industry with training and services to improve their income and quality of life . seepcommunity edit seepcommunity is the latest initiative of the seep network that aims to foster online dialogue among microenterprise practitioners by leveraging social networking technology . as of right now there are over 1400 members on seepcommunity representing seep member organizations as well as various independent stakeholders in microenterprise and microfinance industries . an integral part of seepcommunity is online collaboration between the working groups that features online discussions podcasts and webinars . the seep annual conference edit the seep annual conference provides a forum in which practitioners can connect with each other ; it is through the exchange of experiences and the interactive learning that conference participants strengthen their collective efforts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people . the annual conference attracts a broad cross section of key players in microenterprise and microfinance industries including ngos private sector firms foundations investment funds and bilateral agencies . in 2009 more than 500 people representing 225 organizations and 56 countries participated . the seep annual conference consists not only of traditional plenary sessions but also of workshops two days skill building trainings and global network summit . 6 7 8 member organizations 9 edit academy for educational development access development services accion international acdi voca action for enterprise inc. afe affordable housing institute aflatoun africa microfinance network amfin aga khan foundation agency for technical cooperation and development all india association for microenterprise development aiamed american refugee committee ampath asociacion de instituciones de microfinanzas del peru asomif association of ethiopian microfinance institutions aemfi associations of microfinace institutions of kenya association of microfinance institutions of kosovo association of microfinance institutions of uganda amfiu associations of microfinance organizations of kazakhstan association of microfinance organizations of tajikistan association of professional microfinance institutions of burkina faso apim bf azerbaijan micro finance association amfa cambodia microfinance association cma care usa catholic relief services cedpa centre for microfinance cmf nepal chf international childfund international chinese association of microfinance coady international institute coalition of tanzania microfinance concern worldwide usa conservation international consorcio promuc consortium alafia copeme credit and development forum cdf d veloppement international desjardins did ecdi pakistan ecoventures international endpoverty.org fair trade forum india fair trade usa fam f cape verdean national microfinance network federation nationale des associations de microcredit fnam federation of chambers of commerce and industry of sri lanka financial institutions for a rural development association finrural finca international five talents freedom from hunger friendship bridge non profit ghana microfinance institutions network ghamfin grameen foundation habitat for humanity international heifer international hope international indonesia microfinance association international development enterprises international network of alternative financial institutions latin america inafi la international rescue committee iris center at the university of maryland joint consultative council jcc lanka microfinance association malawi microfinance network mamn mambu mennonite economic development associates meda mercy corps microfinance african institutions network main microfinance centre mfc for central and eastern europe and the new independent states microfinance council of the philippines inc. microfinance information exchange microfinance opportunities microfinance pasifika network microfinance transparency mf transparency national cooperative business association oic international opportunity international organismo cooperativo microempresarial de colombia emprender colombia oxfam america pact inc. pakistan microfinance network pmn plan aid organisation population council practical action pro mujer prodesarrollo finanzas y microempresa reach global red argentina de instituciones de microcredito radim red centroamericana de microfinanzas redcamif red de microfinancieras de honduras redmicroh red financiera rural red katalysis regroupement des acteurs de microfinance au nord kivu ramif nk relief international reseau des institutions de microfinance au burundi russian microfinance center rmc sa dhan sanabel microfinance network of arab countries save the children shorecap exchange south asia microfinance network swisscontact street kids international the foundation for development cooperation the palestinian network for small and microfinance sharakeh trickle up union of credit organizations of the republic of armenia unitus water.org women s world banking world concern world council of credit unions world relief world relief canada world vision world vision canada world vision inc. yemen microfinance network ymn zimbabwe association of microfinance institutions zamfi see also edit sustainable development portal microfinance microcredit microinsurance microenterprise poverty alleviation economic development references edit ford foundation social indicators project . the seep network . http seepnetwork.org pages initiatives fordsip.aspx citi pmn s three year microfinance network strengthening program completes year one . citibank . http www.citi.com pakistan consumer aboutus press current 23feb09.htm seep network . omidyar network . http www.omidyar.com portfolio seep network seep learning initiatives . http www.seepnetwork.org pages initiatives.aspx network development exchange . http networks.seepnetwork.org en about blog archives . opportunity international . http www.opportunity.org blog tag 2010 seep conference conference . the seep network . http www.seepnetwork.org pages conference.aspx enterprising ideas the microlinks event blog . microlinks . http microlinks.kdid.org learning marketplace blogs page 1 members . the seep network . http www.seepnetwork.org pages members.aspx external links edit the seep network seepcommunity 2009 annual report retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the seep network & oldid 730988714 categories non profit organizations based in washington d.c.organizations established in 1985 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 22 july 2016 at 05 05 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit 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