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.
MicroEnsure Wins Financial Times/International Finance Corporation Sustainable Finance Award
The following news announcement appeared on MicroEnsure’s website on Friday, June 17. MicroEnsure has won the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Award in the category Achievement in Financing at the Base of the Pyramid. The awards, organized by the Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, were announced on Thursday, June 16 at a dinner in London attended by more than 250 senior decision-makers in finance and sustainability. The FT/IFC Sustainable Finance…
Read MoreCelebrating Fathers Like Opportunity Ghana Client Godwin Ocolo
Today on Father’s Day, it’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate the responsible, caring men all over the world who work hard to support their families and the people of their community. Meet Godwin Ocolo, a 30-year-old Opportunity International client from the city of Koforidua, Ghana. Godwin is married and the father of two children. To support his family and help pay for his children’s education, Godwin has a small shop where he sells and repairs electronics. In order to keep his shop stocked…
Read MorePalm Soup and Fufu: Elizabeth Mensah’s Chop Bar
The Students of the World (SOW) Boston team is in Ghana all this month visiting Opportunity Ghana‘s microfinance operations and documenting their experiences in a diverse array of photos, posts and more on their blog. You can see all their updates and content on their site, and stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog and our Facebook page as we repost their updates in the coming days and weeks. Elizabeth Mensah is a client of Opportunity International. We visited her chop bar as part of our visit to…
Read MoreTraveling with Students of the World (SOW): Seeing the Impact of Microfinance on Opportunity Clients in Ghana
The Students of the World (SOW) Boston team is in Ghana all this month visiting Opportunity Ghana‘s microfinance operations and documenting their experiences in a diverse array of photos, posts and more on their blog. You can see all their updates and content on their site, and stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog and our Facebook page as we repost their updates in the coming days and weeks. This week, one of our own team members joins SOW in Ghana. Ian Haisley, our online communications manager,…
Read MoreWhat We’re Watching: New Short Film by MicroEnsure on Cashless & Low-Cost Health Insurance in India
The following video was published in a blog post on microensure.com on June 14. MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of Opportunity International, is the world’s first microinsurance intermediary, and it serves people living in poverty with innovative products in crop, loan, health, life and property insurance, offering clients and their families a safety net when an unexpected hardship or disaster occurs. Why do people in poverty need Health Insurance? Research has shown that of all insurance products,…
Read MoreListen In: Opportunity International on “The Not for Profit Exchange” Radio Show
Learn more about Opportunity International’s use of gift cards as a fundraising tool from Ruth-Anne Renaud, Opportunity’s vice president of interactive media. On Wednesday, June 14 at 4:00 p.m. ET, Ruth-Anne was interviewed on the “The Not for Profit Exchange” internet radio show. Listen to the archived episode below or click here to listen to the episode on Blog Talk Radio. Listen to internet radio with NotForProfitExchange on Blog Talk Radio. Beginning at just $10, Opportunity gift cards…
Read MoreIllinois Congressman Rep. Peter Roskam Visits Opportunity’s Oak Brook Offices, Following a Visit to Ghana
This past Wednesday, June 8, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (IL-6th) stopped by Opportunity’s Oak Brook, Ill. offices to learn more about our work. During his visit, he toured the office, met many members of our US staff, and had a meeting with a few members of our senior staff, including Opportunity CEO Bill Morgenstern, Senior VP Dennis Ripley, VP Simona Haiduc and VP Ruth-Anne Renaud to discuss poverty eradication, the need for global development, and the impact of microfinance on developing countries. In…
Read MoreONE Blog: “Creating Jobs for Africans: An interview with Ambassador Marantis”
The following interview of Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, conducted by the ONE Campaign‘s Malaka Gharib, was originally published on the ONE Blog on Monday, June 6, 2011. I had the huge honor of interviewing Ambassador Demetrios Marantis for our Trade = Development blog series. He plays a leading role in enforcing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a US legislation to help assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa, and his passion for his work is infectious.…
Read MoreWhat We’re Watching: Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka’s Voice of America Interview on Congo Grand Opening
Following the grand opening of our first regulated microfinance institution in the DR Congo, Congolese native and Opportunity supporter Kadita “A.T.” Tshibaka appeared on Voice of America‘s In Focus TV program, which airs throughout Africa, to discuss the growth of microfinance in the DRC and the impact of Opportunity DRC on the lives of the Congolese people. Tshibaka, a former executive at Citibank, now serves on Opportunity’s Board of Directors. In this June 7th interview with VOA‘s Ndimyake…
Read MoreYAO-ZA! Young Ambassadors Launches its Denver Chapter
The following post was written by YAO member and YAO-ZA! co-organizer Amy Steinhoff. Greetings from the Denver chapter of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO). We are thrilled to officially become part of the YAO network after YAO-ZA!, our successful chapter launch on Saturday, May 21st. Thanks to a dedicated team and the generous support of our sponsors, families and friends, we were able to raise over $10,000–enough to fund two Trust Groups at Opportunity Tanzania–and spread awareness about…
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