In this month of Economic Empowerment and Community Development, we are reminded that nearly 800 million people live on less than $1.90 a day. Rotarians worldwide provide financial services and training for the poor, which are powerful instruments for reducing poverty by enabling them to build assets, increase incomes, and reduce their vulnerability to economic stress. Services such as savings, loans, and money transfers enable poor families to invest in enterprises, better nutrition, improved living conditions, health, and education of their children. Microfinance has built a solid track record as a critical tool in the fight against poverty and has entered the financial mainstream. The rapid growth of microfinance has reached almost 130 million clients over the past fifteen years. Microfinance has also been a powerful catalyst for empowering women. Yet it still reaches less than 20 percent of its potential market among the world’s three billion or more poor. Microcredit spawns other forms of poverty alleviation, providing an avenue to access Rotarians’ vast array of knowledge in all of the areas of focus for improving lives. it’s not just about money. It is about unlocking human dreams. We seek to employ financial capital to unleash human potential. ” The Rotary Foundation invests to grow local economies and reduce poverty. Community economic development is more than microfinance. It includes providing the tools and education required to start new businesses or improve existing ones and the development of community leaders who take ownership of their own future. Rotary members train people to become resources for their community, offering networking activities, advice on new business development, and training on financial management. Rotary provides support and information on successful projects that employ a multifaceted and coordinated strategy to break the cycle of poverty in extremely impoverished communities. A particular focus of this strategy has been to improve economic opportunities for low income women. Investment in areas such as sustainable farming can make a difference in local economies by giving farmers the skills they need to improve crop yields and profits.