Trickle down economics was a political selling point in 1979 and Glen and Mildred Robbins Leet weren’t buying it.  Frustrated that huge sums of money allocated to top levels of society never reached the world’s poorest, the Leets decided to reverse the equation — from the bottom-up.  In 1979, the Leets founded Trickle Up as an empowering response to global poverty.

Trickle Up outreach began when the founders traveled to one of the Caribbean’s poorest nations, Dominica.  The Leets recognized what other poverty alleviation programs were missing: that even the world’s lowest income people have entrepreneurial potential.  The model they created was simple but effective.
 
With the assistance of local agencies and $1000 of their own money, Glen and Mildred gave ten people grants of $100 to launch their own microenterprises. The Leets provided them with Trickle Up business plans and reports to track business expenses and earnings.  New business activities ranged from building blocks to selling eggs, jams, and school uniforms.  Some of those businesses are still operating today!  Results were overwhelmingly positive in terms of quality of life improvements for entrepreneurs.  Like this, the Trickle Up program was born.
 
Twenty-eight years later, Trickle Up is a critical vehicle for social and financial empowerment.  Since its founding, Trickle Up has helped very poor people around the world start or expand over 150,000 microenterprises to improve their quality of life. These businesses have benefitted the lives of over half a million people.