Women's rights pioneer
Guerrant grew up in Iowa City, Iowa, in a big family with seven children. As a little girl she was always playing sports. Even though she was one of the best local baseball players, when she was 10 she was not allowed to play Little League baseball because she was a girl. Looking for an alternative sport open to girls, one of her brothers showed her how to play tennis. She was discovered by Don Klotz, the Tennis Coach at the University of Iowa, when she won her first tournament. Klotz taught her for free until she was 18 and went off to college. While she was at Iowa City High School there were no sports for girls at all. When she was a high school junior Guerrant went to her local school board and made a case for a girls' tennis team. She got all five votes. The school got a girls' tennis team, and Guerrant won the state high school tournament twice. She received an academic scholarship to Rollins College in Florida where she played varsity tennis. The women's pro tennis tour was just getting started when she graduated with a degree in Behavioral Science, and she decided to try the pro tour until her money ran out. The money never ran out. Guerrant was one of the founders of theCharitable activities
When Guerrant was playing on the pro tour and traveling the world she saw poverty, especially the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She resolved to help those impoverished people but did not know an effective way until she took a trip in 2005 to India with her husband, Terry. They visited a micro-lending program in a small village of mud huts and saw firsthand what small loans of $40–350 could do to transform a village. After seeing the extreme poverty and the impressive entrepreneurial results that women had achieved taking out and re-paying small loans, the couple decided micro-lending was the best way to make a lasting difference. They created the Guerrant Foundation, Inc. in late 2005. The Guerrant Foundation helps women and families improve their lives through small loans to start their own businesses. The interest on these small loans covers administrative expenses, and the repaid principal is loaned out again and again in a never-ending cycle of prosperity.Guerrant Foundation
The Guerrant Foundation has improved the lives of thousands of the world's most impoverished people. The Foundation’s signature event is a “Battle of the Sexes” team tennis event featuring four doubles matches between eight men and eight women. It is held annually in November in Phoenix, Arizona.References
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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrant, Anne Microfinance people Living people American female tennis players Tennis people from Iowa 1948 births Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Universiade medalists in tennis Universiade bronze medalists for the United States Australian Open (tennis) champions 21st-century American women College women's tennis players in the United States