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News Blog

Conference Breakout: Engaging the Next Generation of Microfinance Champions

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

The following post by YAO member and Opportunity supporter Sonja Egeland Kelly is one of the many blog posts we published from the 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference. Click here to read all our conference blog posts… Recognizing the importance of inspiring the next generation of microfinance champions, thehttp://www.opportunity.org/young-ambassadors-for-opportunity/Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO)[/intlink] breakout session at the Microfinance Conference emphasized inspiring, educating,…

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In Closing: Ambassador Tony Hall and More Conclude the Microfinance Conference

by Opportunity International

We began the final plenary session of the http://www.opportunity.org/opportunity-international-conference/2010 Fall Microfinance Conference[/intlink] with Ambassador Tony Hall, one of the world’s leading and most inspiring advocates for hunger relief, poverty eradication and human rights, and the author of Changing the Face of Hunger. Today, he is interviewed on stage by our SVP of human resources, Connie Stryjak. Tony Hall Hall described to the audience his nearly 30-year-long fight to eradicate…

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LiveBlog: Innovating Technology: Bringing the Bank to the Doorstep of the Poor

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

“The cell phone has won. Everybody wants a cell phone, and they are at a price point that our customers can afford.” Daryl Skoog, Senior Vice President, Technology, explained how the cell phone is revolutionizing microfinance banking. “These networks enable us to move information locally where we were unable to do that before. We implemented cell phone banking in January, and by March, 40% of our customers were using it.” The http://www.opportunity.org/blog/cell-phone-banking-examination/cell…

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LiveBlog: Plenary Session III: Will Ball, Knight Kiplinger and more

by Opportunity International

This Friday evening plenary session features Opportunity CEO, Bill Morgenstern; chair of the Opportunity Board of Governors, Mary Lynn Staley; director of credit support at Opportunity Rwanda, Alice Gasatura; vice president of the Caterpillar Foundation, Will Ball; economic journalist and editor-in-chief of The Kiplinger Letter, Knight Kiplinger; and Dale Hanson Bourke, president of the CIDRZ Foundation, which supports AIDS research and treatment programs in Africa. Bill Morgenstern opened the session…

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LiveBlog: Rural Finance in Africa: It’s Our Opportunity

by Opportunity International

Sixty-five percent of the sub-Saharan African labor force is employed in agriculture, yet the region’s agricultural sector receives just 4% of official development assistance. In this breakout session, http://www.opportunity.org/blog/john-magnay-on-food-security-in-africa-and-agricultural-finance/John Magnay[/intlink] discusses how Opportunity effectively reaches agricultural clients with microfinance services, and he details strategies he’s developed to support the rural sector using a range…

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LiveBlog: Advocating on Behalf of Those Who Cannot Advocate for Themselves

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

Those living in chronic poverty often do not have a voice. Who is here to advocate on behalf of the poor? We are. In the breakout session, “Stand Up for People in Poverty,” an advocacy workshop at Opportunity’s Fall Microfinance Conference,http://www.opportunity.org/blog/meet-jennifer-kottler-leader-of-a-breakout-session-at-fall-microfinance-conference/Rev. Jennifer Kottler[/intlink], Director of Policy and Advocacy at Sojourners, reminded us of our role as advocates advancing the rights of…

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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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LiveBlog: Plenary Session II-Richard Leftley, Claudia Kennedy and Sheryl WuDunn

by Opportunity International

This plenary session, featuring Richard Leftley, president of MicroEnsure; Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the U.S. Army; and Sheryl WuDunn, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner, discussed microinsurance, global security, and the empowerment of women through access to education and microfinance. Richard Leftley, president and CEO of MicroEnsure, explains how life insurance can protect clients when natural disasters or other crises hit. “It…

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LiveBlog: Plenary Session with Roger Thurow, the Gates Foundation’s Tamara Cook, Under Secretary of State María Otero and more

by Opportunity International

This very first plenary session kicks off our fall microfinance conference. It’s led byhttp://www.opportunity.org/blog/westmont-college-optinnow-event/A.T. Tshibaka[/intlink]; author and senior fellow for Global Agriculture and Food Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs,http://www.opportunity.org/blog/opportunity-liveblog-roger-thurows-global-food-for-thought/Roger Thurow[/intlink], and writer for the blog Outrage & Inspire; program officer for Financial Services for the Poor in the…

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Starting Tomorrow: Microfinance Experts and Supporters Gather at Opportunity’s Fall Microfinance Conference

by Opportunity International

More than 300 people are registered to attend Opportunity’s 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference in Washington, D.C. this weekend, on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 8-9. The conference includes a lineup of speakers from the public and private sectors, from within our organization and outside of it. And each will share their unique perspectives regarding the challenges we face as a global society in solving poverty and hunger. Have you registered to watch the live video stream of the plenary sessions? Go…

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