The goal of the Microcredit Summit is to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the year 2005. Participating institutions launched the campaign in 1997. The Institute is a member of the Council of Advocates of the Microcredit Summit and undertakes research on microcredit as it affects urban planning and management and develops a module on the use of microfinance in community-based development initiatives and in particular for the development and improvement of housing and infrastructure. The modules are integrated in the Institute's international executive education seminars and workshops.

Past research has demonstrated the use of housing as a productive investment and documented the link between housing and income generation. The Institute continues to document microcredit's potential to dramatically improve the living environment of lower-income households particularly in the developing world where these communities house a large segment of the urban population and constitute a dominant feature of the urban landscape.

The Institute participates in annual microcredit conferences and special events held by the Microcredit Summit. In 2000, Institute Staff worked with Development Alternatives, Inc. to document Housing microfinance initiatives for a study funded by USAID.