Building Livelihoods in Colombia: How Opportunity International's Graduation Program Helps Families Move Beyond Poverty

Opportunity International’s graduation program in Colombia is helping families move from extreme poverty to sustainable livelihoods—one household at a time.

Already, the program has helped 750 families across northern Colombia build more stable futures. Early results from the first cohort show powerful progress:

• Average daily income increased from $0.86 before the program to $2.53 after graduation
• Families overcoming food insecurity
• Children returning to school
• Households beginning to save for the first time

Beyond every statistic is a family working to build a better future. 

Yei's Journey Toward Stability

For Yei, joining Opportunity International’s graduation program meant more than training—it meant rebuilding her family’s future.

She shares, “This program has changed my life and the way I think. I now believe I can achieve my goals, and little by little I will build the future I want for my family.”

Her story reflects the core goal of Opportunity’s graduation program: helping families living in extreme poverty gain the tools and confidence to build lasting economic stability.

A Graduation Program for Families Living in Extreme Poverty

The Pathways to Opportunity graduation program supports families living on less than $1 a day by combining training, mentorship, and financial inclusion.

Many of the individuals and families we reach have lived in generational poverty their entire lives and have been excluded from the formal services and jobs available to others.

Over 18 months, participants receive support across four focus areas:

• Social protection: Connecting participants with healthcare, education, and other essential services, including referrals to government assistance programs
• Social empowerment: Training and support to strengthen self-esteem, decision-making, family relationships, and community participation
• Financial inclusion: The backbone of Opportunity's approach—financial education, links to local Savings Groups, and pathways to formal banking
• Livelihoods: Technical training and seed capital to help participants start or grow small businesses

Participants have launched and strengthened livelihoods as hairdressers, fishermen, cooks, mechanics, and more, building on the skills they already have. But the program creates more than entrepreneurs. Through trainings and Savings Groups, participants share knowledge, encouragement, and support.

“We begin by strengthening trust, and ultimately the social fabric, through training and support to the communities we reach we build together sustainable livelihoods” said Camilo Garcia, VP Strategic Partnerships, Latin America. “These are communities that have felt forgotten for many years, and they will see this program as a lifetime opportunity.”

This comprehensive model strengthens not only families, but local economies—creating opportunity that extends beyond each individual participant.

Expanding Opportunity Across Northern Colombia

The program’s success in Cartagena has also garnered financial and in-kind support from the Mayor’s office, helping us reach even more families in some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods—transforming communities and local economies alike.

This year, the Colombia graduation program launched its third cohort, supporting another 250 families and expanding into other cities across the country’s northern region.

In underserved communities around Barranquilla and other territories in Atlántico, Opportunity International Colombia is partnering with Promigas, a Natural gas distribution company, and Promiga’s NGO to extend our impact.

“This is about transforming realities in Atlántico for the most vulnerable families,” said Sury Ruiz, Graduation Program Manager. “The most effective social development happens when we join forces—and together, we are building a future with dignity, hope, and opportunity.”

Building Opportunity—Family by Family

Programs like Pathways to Opportunity show what becomes possible when families living in extreme poverty receive the tools, support, and opportunity to build their own livelihoods.

For participants like Yei, the program has opened the door to a future that once felt out of reach.

And we will keep expanding, just like Yei has done for her family, little by little.

Family by family, neighborhood by neighborhood, transformation is coming to northern Colombia.

We’re building opportunity from the ground up.