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News Blog

Opportunity LiveBlog: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Champions Rural Outreach

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

When Bill and Melinda Gates decide to take on a project, they do it with gusto. They call themselves “impatient optimists,” and firmly believe that they are changing the world, one person at a time. Associate program officer in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative, Clara Veniard is no stranger to impatient optimism. She works with financial institutions to deliver saving services at scale to underserved populations. In particular, she has witnessed…

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Opportunity LiveBlog: Harvesting Hope

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

It has been argued that rural outreach is the “Holy Grail” of microfinance. If that statement is true, John Magnay is the person who stands on the cusp of the discovery. John Magnay has lived and worked in Uganda for the last 32 years, including surviving two years running dairy farms during the reign of dictator Idi Amin. Since 2008 he has served as Opportunity’s Senior Agricultural Specialist, lobbying locally and internationally on issues related to strengthening output markets in Africa.…

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Opportunity LiveBlog: Roger Thurow’s Global Food for Thought

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

Roger Thurow’s job is to “outrage and inspire.” His recent book, co-authored with Scott Kilman, Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, certainly does just that. He previously spoke at our Fall 2009 Conference, and Opportunity is delighted to host him again at our Spring 2010 Conference. The Opportunity audience sat enraptured as we listened to his story today. Thurow’s three decades at The Wall Street Journal lead him to Europe and Africa. While in Africa, he…

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Opportunity LiveBlog: Frida Mungoma Banks on Education

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

Wakhasa Frida Mungoma spends most of her days in the classrooms and offices of her clients. As a loan officer for the Education Finance program in Uganda, Frida works with people who need development loans, operation loans, salary loans and school fee loans. With a Master’s degree in Microfinance from the State University of Bergamo, Italy, she is well trained to handle the intricacies of managing her day-to-day activities and also the big picture of advancing education through microfinance.…

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Opportunity LiveBlog: Sharing Your Story

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

Daniel Taylor is a storytelling professional. He understands the importance of where to start a story, how to tell it, and what its conclusion should be. At Opportunity International’s fall Board of Governors Conference, each session he led was standing room only. We are delighted to have  him join us again for our Spring 2010 Confernece. The wisdom he shares resonates so deeply with the Opportunity family. Daniel’s seminal book, Tell Me a Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories, is powerful.…

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Welcome to the Opportunity Microfinance Conference

by Sonja Egeland Kelly

Welcome to Phoenix. The sun is shining, the hallways of the Scottsdale Resort and Conference Center are filling up, and hopes are high as we begin the Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, hosted by the Opportunity Board of Governors. These next few days promise to be ones brimming with stories. Indeed, the theme of the conference is “Share Her Story: Change Your World.” We invite you to join us right here at blog.opportunity.org during the conference. Along with speakers and special…

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Mourning with World Vision

by Opportunity International

Opportunity International mourns with World Vision for the loss of six staff members who were killed by gunmen in an attack on their office in Pakistan yesterday. The office focused on providing continued relief to the Mansehra District, where a devastating earthquake killed 80,000 in 2005. These World Vision staff members were local citizens who were dedicated to improving the lives of those in their community affected by poverty and disasters. Please remember in your prayers the families of these…

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“Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0” Nope, not ours!

by Ruth-Anne Renaud

Ian Haisley, Jonathan Neddenriep, Reuben Thiessen and I will be meeting in Austin, Tex., this Friday to attend the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival. We are very excited to be with the “world’s most creative web developers, designers, bloggers, wireless innovators, content producers, programmers, widget inventors and new media entrepreneurs.”  The festival includes presentations and panel discussions, and I will be representing OptINnow in the panel discussion, “Will Kiva Kill…

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Bill Morgenstern Named CEO of Opportunity International

by Opportunity International

We at Opportunity International are excited to welcome our new CEO, Bill Morgenstern.  We are grateful that a man of Bill’s great character and compassion has found his way to Opportunity International to work alongside us to serve those who are suffering in the world.    “I am tremendously honored to join Opportunity International and its almost 40-year history as a leader in the microfinance field,” Bill said. “The story of Opportunity continues to be the story of the people we serve.…

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Strong Women: The Heart of Community in Kampala, Uganda

by Cynthia Greenwood

I woke up today, on the eve of International Women’s Day, thinking about the remarkable women clients I met on a recent trip to Kampala to visit Opportunity Uganda’s operations.  For me, these women give new meaning to the words “hardworking,” “committed,” “brave,” and “strong.” Opportunity Loan Officer Charity Namutebi works out of the Kira Branch inKampala, Uganda’s capital city. Charity, just 27 years old, serves 455 clients in 20 Trust Groups. She encourages…

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