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Microfinance

YAO Member on Chicago Microfinance Conference & How Innovations Expand the Reach of Savings

by Lauren Dillon

The following guest post was written by Lauren Dillon, a co-chair of the Chicago chapter of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) who works at Illinois-based nonprofit Oasis International. Innovation is at the heart of microfinance. It’s also the engine that propels it. Innovation is packed with chance, risk, fun, adventure! And, when coupled with microfinance, it helps bring opportunities to the people who need it most. Last week, a dozen of my fellow YAO members attended the 7th Annual Chicago…

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What We’re Reading: The Impact of Microfinance at Home and Abroad

by Eric Walcott

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 by Eric Walcott, an intern in our Resource Development department, reflects on two recent articles he read about domestic microfinance, and the lessons…

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Meet Opportunity: Minnesota College Students Get to Know Microfinance

by Nolan Soltvedt

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…

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Leading Researchers in Support of Microfinance

by Rob Meloche

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…

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What We’re Reading: Putting Savings in the Bank in the Era of Climate Change

by Annsley Scruton-Wilson

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 by Opportunity’s program manager, Annsley Scruton-Wilson, uses a 2009 article in The Economist as the catalyst for an examination of the potential…

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LiveBlog: Stability in Times of Crisis with Microinsurance

by Opportunity International

At this breakout session, called “Stability in Times of Crisis: MicroEnsure,” we learned how Opportunity’s MicroEnsure, the world’s firsthttp://www.opportunity.org/our-work/microinsurance/microinsurance[/intlink] intermediary, provides protection against the many risks faced by those living in poverty. Our insurance products cover more than one million policyholders with crop, loan, health, life and property insurance—offering clients a safety net when an unexpected hardship or disaster…

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Inspiring the next generation of global citizens

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

Microfinance is a compelling, sustainable, working solution to global poverty. When a woman receives financial services, she sets into motion monumental changes. Family income rises. Children are well fed. Neighbors become employees. Homes are improved. Tuition is within reach. Women, who comprise 85% of our clients, gain status. For Opportunity clients around the world, these transformations take place with loans as little as $80 and savings deposit balance requirements as little as $.05. However,…

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How to Measure the Positive Impact of Microfinance

by Opportunity International

When you work on poverty every day, you ask yourself if what you’re doing is having a lasting impact. Today, Opportunity International and five other leading microfinance organizations issued a position paper, which discusses our belief in the positive impact of microfinance. This paper is based on lessons learned from our combined work over the last four decades in more than 40 countries across five continents. It also affirms the industry’s increasing focus on and support of quantitative research…

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College Student Shares her Discovery of Microfinance

by Kelsey McGrath

In January, I spent a couple of hours with staff at Opportunity International’s Oak Brook office.  Although it was just a lunch break for them, it was a turning point for me.  This semester, I’ve decided to double major in Global Studies and Spanish.  And I am so incredibly happy and fulfilled with this decision.  I’m loving all of my classes for the first time in my college career, and I am actually incredibly interested in what I am studying.   In my Global Studies class, we focus primarily…

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#Mifimon Preview: Women and Microfinance

by Amy Carol Wolff

Next week we have the privilege of discussing how microfinance is changing the lives of women around the world. We’ve got a pretty dynamic panel coming to this as well. Below, you’ll find their bios and thus, have the chance to learn more about them as we prepare for next week. We look forward to talking with you next Monday from 12pm-2pm CST! Spread the word! Panelist: Ruth-Anne Renaud (rarenaud), Vice President of Women’s Philanthropy and Interactive Marketing,Opportunity International Ruth-Anne…

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