Our Organization

The Spartan Global Development Fund was founded in 2009 by Michigan State University undergraduate, Michael Thelen, with the help of Paulette L. Stenzel - Professor of International Business Law and Sustainability. Soon thereafter, Spartan Global became a Registered Student Organization at Michigan State run entirely by students. Our first loans were made through Kiva on July 4, 2009.

In 2011, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization was established through the State of Michigan and the Internal Revenue Service under the same name, Spartan Global Development Fund. A Board of Directors was subsequently put together to oversee business transactions of the newly formed nonprofit. Today, the two companion branches of the Spartan Global Development Fund, the Registered Student Organization and 501(c)(3) nonprofit, operate hand-in-hand to effectively facilitate microloans to entrepreneurs around the globe.

Special Projects

As a result of our interactions with the people to whom we extend loans, occasionally we have conducted special projects to meet their needs.  

One example is our 2020 fund-raising project to provide basic food supplies for many of our borrowers in Guatemala who were subject to serious economic stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.   For information about that project, see https://www.spartanglobalfund.org/blog/2020/12/1/covid-relief-fund-update. 

Our Awards

• 2017 Lewis Quality of Excellence Award | Eli Broad College of Business

• 2013 Outstanding Service Organization | Michigan State University

• 2012 Emerging Student Organization | Michigan State University

• 2010 Lewis Quality of Excellence Award | Eli Broad College of Business