You have probably never heard of her but she and her late husband have helped hundreds of thousands of people fight poverty by starting micro-businesses.

Mildred Robbins Leet, one of the co-founders of Trickle Up, passed away yesterday, May 3.

 Trickle Up was founded in 1979 long before mico-lending became cool.  And, better than micro-lending, Trickle Up worked by giving people the money as seed capital, not working through a lender who charged interests,  usually high.

I have supported this organization for years because it combined the desire to reduce poverty with the ideals that create wealth in rich, western countries.  I suspect that progress is limited because many of the countries where this is needed do not have some of the desired customs and laws supporting individual liberty, property rights, and entrepreneurship.  But, the best way to have people understand those ideals is to let them practice them in their own homes and villages.  What some learn and succeed with will be emulated and spread.

As noted in the linked article above, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trickle Up (TrickleUp.org/MildredRobbinsLeetFund) and Metropolitan College of New York (www.mcny.edu).

The work will continue.