About

Truelift is a global initiative to push for accountability in pro-poor development. Truelift is a trust mark – in microfinance and other forms of social business – to signify commitment to positive and enduring change for people affected by conditions of poverty. We provide accountability and a strategic framework for pro-poor development, including standards and indicators. We also promote a learning environment for improved products and services in which practitioners and others share effective practices and collaborate to solve difficult challenges. Initially conceived as the “Seal of Excellence for Poverty Outreach and Transformation,” the initiative was renamed in order to represent its broader objective.

There are millions of people living in poverty who can change their living conditions if they have access to the right services. Truelift recognizes those practitioners that are doing the most to reach people living in poverty and to create positive and enduring change in their lives. Truelift collects and shares effective practices of these practitioners and, in so doing, promotes the Poverty-focused Community of Practice, alongside the Social Performance Task Force and others, of microfinance practitioners, networks, donors, investors, policymakers, regulators, researchers, and others who want to see measurable progress for poor families. All stakeholders stand to benefit by being able to differentiate those that are acting in the service of poor clients and those who only claim to do so.

In his remarks at the opening plenary session of the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit, John de Wit, Managing Director of Small Enterprise Foundation in South Africa, expressed his hopes for Truelift’s greatest milestone of recognition, the Pro-Poor Seal of Excellence.

As a practitioner, what I am hoping for is that the Seal will be able to differentiate between those who are really trying to do constructive microfinance—who are really trying to make sure that we do deliver a difference in the lives of poor people, that we give them their chance at dignity, their chance of climbing out of poverty—from a lot of microfinance that is very, very worrying.

–John de Wit, Managing Director, Social Enterprise Foundation, South Africa

Watch the video of John de Wit’s presentation below. Watch the full plenary session on our You Tube Channel.

Led by diverse stakeholders from across the industry, Truelift defines pathways to better outcomes. Through its focus on successful models, the Poverty-focused Community of Practice brings together a group of pro-poor organizations representing all the stakeholder groups, promotes best practices and tools, and provides guidance as institutions attempt to improve their practices and move through the stages of Truelift recognition.