Forza Financial, a student-run domestic microlending firm, is expanding and looking to recruit additional student workers.
Forza is founded on the principle of microfinance, a lending tactic in which small loans of $500 to $5,000 are given to entrepreneurs and small business owners with low interest rates of 10 to 20 percent. Because Forza is a nonprofit microfinance institution, the interest rates they collect are thereby used to generate more loans.
Forza CEO David Bailey said this provides students an opportunity to use what they learn in the classroom in real-life settings. Because the concept of microfinance is so new to the state of Alabama, Forza’s founders came to realize that a microfinance model based on uncollateralized loans and competitive interest rates could be beneficial to the many impoverished residents of Alabama’s Black Belt region.
“We basically want to help the small business community,” Bailey said. “Our goal is to extend to the entire Black Belt because that’s where we feel we’re most needed. We’re literally offering a service [to them] that is not offered by anyone else.”
Interns are charged with a large number of responsibilities, ranging from financial operations to communications. Alexandria Gilbert, director of production for Forza, said that team members are placed in the firm based on their individual skills.
“The experience we gain from Forza is seriously amazing,” Gilbert said. “We’re taking a revolutionary approach to finance and, even though we’re just college students, we’re giving real money to real people to affect tangible change in our community.”
While a number of Forza employees are in business, any student with a serious interest in anything the group does, from writing loans to creating marketing materials to managing our website to meeting people, should consider applying, Gilbert said.
Forza interns are expected to be capable of working autonomously and independently in an environment that deals with a high level of ambiguity and changing variables. According to John Oberkor, director of recruiting for Forza, the firm plans to hire no more than thirty interns.
“If the number [of interns] is bigger than thirty, the experience won’t be beneficial,” Oberkor said. “This is the best way to keep everyone focused and to give them a meaningful experience.”
Bailey said a Forza Financial internship is a unique opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in real life circumstances.
“We’re looking for students that want to impact change in the community and want to implicate practical skills they’re learning in the community,” Bailey said. “We’re looking for hardworking, determined students who believe in the mission of Forza.”
Katherine McLarney, the Forza communications director, said the intern program is a gateway for virtually any major on campus to gain tangible work experience.
“We are looking for passionate, dedicated students looking to get involved and make a difference in the community,” McLarney said.
Students interested in becoming a Forza intern can apply online at www.forzafinancial.com.
