The "MBA Program" of the MFMI was its first project, based on the convening of six leading business schools in 2004:

• Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Manila in the Philippines
  
  
• Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIMB)
  
  
• Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad (IIMA)
  
  
• Institute of Rural Management in Anand, India (IRMA)
  
  
• University of Pretoria Graduate School of Business in South Africa (Pretoria)
  
  
• Central American Business School (INCAE) in Alajuela, Costa Rica.

At that time, the emphasis of the MFMI was to stimulate leading business schools to create and expand their research and course offerings in microfinance.  The MFMI provided seed co-funding to academic "champions" in these schools and also helped them professionalize their work by creating links among them, bridging institutions in different regions of the world.

Originally, the "MBA Program" was seen as a contained, five-year project.  However, as it succeeded, it became apparent after 3 years that the MFMI should expand the concept to more schools in more countries.

This program succeeded in embedding microfinance curricula into MBA programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America, along with generating a significant amount of new curricula, teaching cases, and related teaching and learning materials that can be shared across the network.

Alongside the MBA program, the MFMI also began in 2005 its "International Fellowship Program" which sponsored eleven scholars at additional universities, in Brazil, Kenya, Mongolia and other emerging market countries.  Fellows created course materials, conducted field research and pioneered new classes in microfinance in their institutions.  During this period, MFMI staffer Sarah Lissfelt was instrumental in managing much of the MFMI's work in culling and synthesizing the activities and products of this program and network.

An evaluation of the first three years of the program confirmed the original concept, that "there is an important emerging role for business schools in this market, given the growing sophistication of the industry."  For more information about this program, see the summary of this evaluation at: http://www.themfmi.org/about/evaluations.php.