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.
Meet Opportunity: Minnesota College Students Get to Know Microfinance
This fall, I spoke to a class at the University of Minnesota about Opportunity International’s work and about my involvement with Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO). The students were asked to write a one-page reflection paper on the topic, which gave me a great insight into a college student’s first impressions of Opportunity. The students in this class, called Entrepreneurial Management: Launch to Maturity, were primarily upper-classmen, and most of them were double-majoring in…
Read MoreMerry Christmas from Malawi
Merry Christmas from our world family to yours. Watch the video below for a special Christmas message to Opportunity supporters from Fanny, Dorothy, Grayson, Elizabeth and Elliot inMalawi–just a few of the more than two million clients around the world whom Opportunity served this year. We wish you a peaceful Christmas season and a joyful new year.
Read MoreA Meaningful Last-Minute Gift
Give the last-minute gift that helps end global poverty. You can still order OptINnow gift cards in time for Christmas through one of our two online options: print or email. Go to optinnow.org/giftcard and choose to email your cards to family and friends with a personalized message, or print them out at home to give them in person. Give a meaningful gift in an instant. OptINnow gift cards start at $10 and are a great way to get your family, friends and co-workers involved in the movement to end…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading: “Microfinance: Women’s Way Out”
Every Wednesday, we highlight an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We feature works that are noteworthy, inspiring, educational or relevant to the work we do at Opportunity. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–-tell us what you’re reading, or respond to the piece we’ve highlighted. The following post reflects on a piece published this week in WomenEntrepreneur.com entitled ”Microfinance: Women’s Way Out,” written by our VP of women’s…
Read MoreOpportunity Mozambique Is on a Roll with Three New Mobile Banking Vehicles
Last week, Doug Pond, head of operations for Opportunity Mozambique, announced the Mozambique Central Bank’s approval of our three newest mobile banking vehicles. Opportunity plans to deploy all three mobile banking vehicles in the coming weeks to significantly increase its outreach to families living in Mozambique’s rural villages. With the rollout of its agriculture finance program, Opportunity Mozambique plans to increase its number of satellite branches and ATM service centers to serve…
Read MoreLeading Researchers in Support of Microfinance
This week, nine leading economics researchers–from MIT, UC-Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Boston University and the Chicago Booth School of Business–co-wrote a piece for the Financial Timesentitled, “Microcredit is Not the Enemy.” In it, they support the principles of microfinance, defend it against the extreme attacks being leveled at the sector, and caution against undermining the financial services that their research has demonstrated “fill a vital need in developing countries.” “Microfinance…
Read MoreFive Million People in Five Years: Bank-Building in Africa
Last Wednesday, Opportunity staff and supporters gathered for the quarterly conference call hosted by the Board of Governors. The topic was “Bank-Building in Africa” and Opportunity’sBanking on Africa campaign, a discussion led by two of our experts in the International Business Development department: Dennis Ripley, SVP of programs, and Simona Haiduc, VP of program management. Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) member Ed Kashmarek got a chance to join in and he shares an…
Read MoreIn South Africa this Week, Tomorrow’s World Leaders Usher in Hope for the Future
Yesterday, December 13, was the start of the World Festival of Youth and Students in Pretoria, South Africa, the largest youth festival in the world. More than 500 young people from around the world are gathering all this week, Dec. 13-21, to discuss social, political and economic issues that affect their generation. Youth represent a growing share of the population in many developing countries, particularly those like South Africa, where the adult population has been heavily affected by AIDS deaths. South…
Read MoreToday, Honor Human Rights Defenders, Celebrate Human Rights Day 2010
This year, the theme for Human Rights Day, on Friday, Dec. 10, is recognizing and acclaiming human rights defenders who act to end discrimination, often at great personal risk to themselves and their families. According to the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, “the day is also intended to inspire a new generation of defenders to speak up and take action to end discrimination in all of its forms whenever and wherever it is manifested.” So read the stories of human rights defenders…
Read MoreMobile Banking Reaches Remote Microfinance Clients in Malawi, Tanzania
Mobile banking including mobile phone banking continues to be one of the great success stories in poverty alleviation for geographically remote microfinance clients in sub-Saharan Africa. Yesterday, the Bureau of International Information Programs at the U.S. State Department published an online article highlighting the ways in which mobile banking is reaching more geographically remote clients in Tanzania andMalawi. According to the report, the majority of Tanzania’s 41 million inhabitants…
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