50 Weeks of Opportunity
Each week for the next 50 weeks, we will share a piece of Opportunity’s history—major or minor, sobering or inspiring, we have gotten where we are today by facing some of the world’s greatest challenges, with you by our side. Please join us in celebrating the many impactful moments that have built the foundation on which we will embark on our most audacious vision yet: ending extreme poverty.
What We’re Watching: Banking on Education Video by Students of the World at CGI 2011
We’re watching this video produced in partnership with Students of the World, which had its world premiere on the main stage at this year’s CGI. In it, Opportunity staff and clients discuss the goals and the impact of our Banking on Education program, which provides loans, savings and training to 280 schools serving 120,000 students in Malawi, Uganda and Ghana so that more impoverished families can educate their children. Watch it now: Want to learn more about Opportunity’s work to improve…
Read MoreBuilding Access to Savings and Financial Services
Despite a desire to save and plan for the future, impoverished people are often excluded from commercial banks. In fact, fewer than 10% of people living on less than $2 a day have access to savings accounts. In the last 40 years, Opportunity International has become a global leader in building regulated banks that provide interest-bearing savings accounts to impoverished people. With money in the bank, our clients can now purchase medicine for a sick child, replace a leaking roof, or prepare for…
Read MoreFaith in Action: Opportunity Supporter Walks 500 Miles of Christian Pilgrimage El Camino de Santiago
With just 50 miles to go, Opportunity International supporter Ann Loar Brooks is about to complete a 500-mile walk for Ugandan women. Ann began her journey on August 27th, hiking the last 500 miles of the Christian pilgrimage El Camino de Santiago, which starts from southern France and winds through the Pyrenees across northern Spain. Her mission: to raise awareness about Opportunity and donations of $15,000 through an online fundraiser to support the Women’s Opportunity Network Uganda campaign,…
Read MoreMobile Phone Banking & Technology: Learn from Microfinance Experts
Geoffrey Thige, chief operations officer of Opportunity International Kenya, arrived at our Oak Brook, Ill. offices this week–his first stop in a U.S. tour that culminates as a guest speaker at Opportunity’s conference in San Francisco, Oct. 14-15. With over 15 years of experience in microfinance, COO Thige oversees Transformation, IT, Risk/Compliance and Special Projects at Opportunity Kenya, guiding his staff to directly impact the lives of clients through training programs that enable them…
Read MoreWhat We’re Watching: Opportunity Lifts Up Families with the Support of the Caterpillar Foundation
It’s through the commitment of individuals and strategic partner organizations like the Caterpillar Foundation that Opportunity International is able to do so much to impact the lives of our clients. Watch this video about Opportunity’s work to end global poverty with the support of the Caterpillar Foundation: Want to learn more about our partnership with the Caterpillar Foundation? Go to caterpillar.com/foundation»
Read MoreIn Memory of Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
I had the great honor of twice meeting Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. The first time was in the frenetic hallways of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. The second was in a quiet lecture room at the Los Angeles Public Library. While the settings were in stark contrast, Professor Maathai was quite the same in both: powerful, gracious and wise. She did not seem to rate the contrasting rooms or the people in them of greater or lesser importance. Her gravity not only drew both rooms to her, it…
Read MoreSupporting Rural Farmers, Reducing Poverty and Hunger
The John Deere Foundation recently approved a $2.5 million grant to support Opportunity’s agricultural finance program, which will extend a full range of financial services and crop-specific loans to smallholder farmers in five countries in Africa. “We are impressed with the progress that Opportunity International has made in increasing access to financial services for African farmers, food processors and retailers,” said John Bustle, vice president, John Deere Foundation. “Likewise, we…
Read MoreWhy is Microinsurance a Powerful Safety Net for Clients?
Last week, Opportunity supporters and staff dialed in for a lunchtime conference call with Richard Leftley, the president and CEO of MicroEnsure, Opportunity’s microinsurance subsidiary. Leftley shared background on MicroEnsure’s growth in recent years and then answered callers’ questions on what he envisions for the organization’s future. He detailed how insurance is an indispensable tool for our clients that can help protect them from slipping deeper into poverty after loss, a death in…
Read MoreCGI Day 2-Pres. Barack Obama, Opportunity’s Education Initiatives, Rajiv Shah on Peace & Food Security, and More
Today’s afternoon plenary session at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative opened with a Students of the World documentary on Opportunity International’s Banking on Education initiative, which is increasing educational opportunities for more than 120,000 children in underserved neighborhoods in Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. The video was a progress report on Opportunity’s Banking on Education commitment made at the 2009 CGI annual meeting. The plenary session closed with remarks from President…
Read MoreA Look Back at YAO’s Summer Fun 2011
Summer 2011 was a busy season for YAO chapters across the country. From a soccer tournament in San Francisco, to the Chicago Half Marathon, to networking at Chapter Happy Hours, Young Ambassadors organized fun summer events that got them inspired and energized to put their passion to end poverty into action. Here are highlights from just three of the cool events YAO members organized this summer, written by the chapters’ co-chairs… Denver YAObeque by Caitlin Andrews YAO – Denver is happy to…
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