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.
In 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…
Read MoreCGI Session-Going Small for Big Results: Microfranchise and Entrepreneurial Growth
It’s been a full first day already at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. This morning, CGI sessions have explored climate change with President Clinton and eight other world leaders, population issues with Clinton and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Then, attendees learned about development in post-conflict zones at a keynote lunch featuring philanthropist and former “Lost Boy of Sudan,” Valentino…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading: The Huffington Post on a Microfinance Client in Bogotá
The following post, “Turning Bogota’s Red Light Green: The Miracle of Microfinance,” by Elmira Bayrasli, was published on The Huffington Post on Monday, Sept. 12. It explores the impact of Opportunity’s microfinance work in Colombia, including loans, savings and training, on one Bogotá client. The original post on huffingtonpost.com can be found by clicking here. Bogotá’s red light district, zona roja, is gritty and grim. It teems with drug addicts, transvestites and menacing figures…
Read MoreClass Is in Session at Neighborhood School Near Kumasi, Ghana
As U.S. students settle into the new school year, we check in with a Ghanaian school in the IDP Rising Schools Program, an initiative created and implemented by the IDP Foundation, Inc., in partnership with Opportunity International and Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), which funds the development of quality local private schools in Ghana through school proprietor loans and other financial and capacity-building services. Supreme David Educational Complex is situated in Buoho, outside of Kumasi, in the Ashanti…
Read MoreKenyan Government Declares Two Days of Mourning for Victims of Monday’s Fire
On Tuesday, Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki declared Wednesday, Sept. 14 and Thursday, Sept. 15 to be days of national mourning following Monday’s oil pipeline fire that has claimed the lives of more than 100 people to date, and injured more than 100 others. The president and the national Cabinet have determined that during these two days, the national flag shall fly at half-mast and there will be no celebrations. They also made an official public statement expressing their sincerest sympathies…
Read MoreRetrospective on Opportunity’s 40 Years: Spotlight on the 1990s
Opportunity International celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In honor of our four decades partnering with microfinance clients, we’re taking a look back at all the triumphs and joys of helping people around the world create change in their lives. A Look Back at the ’90s In the 1990s, Opportunity expanded into new continents, bringing tremendous growth as we began serving Africans and Eastern Europeans living in extreme poverty. Opportunity reached a milestone of 25,000 active clients…
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