Donate

Menu

Donate

Follow Us

Search

Donations: PO Box 2826, Carol Stream, IL 60132

Toll Free: 1-800-793-9455

© 2026 Opportunity Internationala 501(c)3 nonprofit. EIN: 540907624.
Headquarters: 101 N Wacker Drive, Suite 1150, Chicago, IL 60606

News Blog

Meet David Gardner

by Opportunity International

David Gardner is a software entrepreneur and early stage investor to new entrepreneurs. This month, as we celebrate entrepreneurship, we asked entrepreneurs to share their insights with us.  David, tell us a little bit about yourself.  After spending nearly thirty years starting software companies, I have now become an early stage investor and advisor to first time entrepreneurs.  What has been one of the most challenging elements of starting your own business? Funding is always difficult.  And…

Read More

Meet Kaelen McCrane

by Allison Kooser

In 2014, Opportunity's Manager of Outreach Allison Kooser sat down with Kaelen McCrane, Young Ambassador for Opportunity and founder of acclaimed fashion company The West is Dead. Kaelen shared his personal journey of entrepreneurship - and offered his lessons learned from creating a business from the ground up.  Allison: Kaelen, tell us a little bit about yourself and your business. Kaelen: The company I started with my business partner Will is called the West is Dead. I started it just over three…

Read More

Schools Are Not Just For Children

by Brad Skeba

People assume that the most important thing a quality school can do is to equip the next generation of children with the relevant skills they need to find gainful and meaningful employment. Children learn to read and write in the classroom - they learn to think, analyze and present information. They learn the skills they need to work and provide for themselves as they grow. But while the future employment potential of each child is indeed a very important and noble cause, it is not the only benefit…

Read More

Transforming the Next Generation

by Allison Kooser

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel to Uganda to meet our clients and staff. While there I met Rwamubende, an Opportunity client and cattle farmer in rural Uganda. Rwamubende has a serious exterior but a big heart. He proudly showed us his ever-growing farm and introduced us to the many farmhands he employs. When we took his photo, we teased, “Seca! Seca!” (“Smile!” in Luganda) and he laughed at our accents. He explained how Opportunity allowed him to build a new home to replace…

Read More

The Rift Valley

by Opportunity International

Running along the eastern part of the African continent, the Rift Valley is a prominent geological feature. Originally thought to extend from Jordan to Mozambique, geologists now note that the full Rift Valley is comprised of several smaller Rifts – including what is now considered the East Africa Rift, extending from the Afar Depression in Ethiopia to Mozambique. Unlike traditional valleys created by rivers or other forms of erosion, Rift Valleys are created by shifts in the tectonic plates of…

Read More

Meet Engelberto

by Lydia Baldridge Meier

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:20-22 Engelberto and his family lived in rural Colombia on a small farm near the village of Maria La Baja until one fateful day when everything changed. Hoping to be among the first to arrive at the marketplace in the morning to take advantage of early risers at his market stall, he jumped on the first bus before light. However, a group…

Read More

Good Friday

by Lydia Baldridge Meier

Good Friday is a day that challenges many of us. We want to skip ahead to the joy and new life of Easter. However, that joy cannot be fully realized apart from the deep pain of the preceding Friday. Today, we think about that pain and the love it took to endure. But for Jesus’ disciples and followers, that pain was even deeper because on the very first Good Friday, they could not see that new life was just two days away. All they could see was hope dashed. A devotion I recently read discusses the…

Read More

Easter and Rwanda

by Allison Kooser

When I think about Easter, I think about "re". Rebirth. Restoration. Reconciliation.  Redemption. And I think about where I have seen these beautiful things in action. I fell in love with East Africa while working in Rwanda in 2011. Beyond the rolling hills and  picturesque landscapes, the true beauty of Rwanda was in the people. Wide, bright smiles  greet you everywhere you go and sweet children hold your hand as you walk down the  street. It’s a country that has the sneaky ability to totally…

Read More

Farmers Working to Feed Their Families

by Opportunity International

For many people living in extreme poverty, food scarcity is real - and feeding their families is an all-consuming, top-of-mind priority. It's not about preference or variety or deliciousness - it's about calories and energy and nutrients. It's about filling children's bellies so that they can go to school and learn. It's about eating enough to provide needed energy to make it through the day. It's about survival.  Opportunity's agricultural entrepreneurs are working to improve the quantity and…

Read More

A Reflection on the Occasion of World Water Day

by Brad Skeba

I drank the water. There’s a reason a hotel in a place like this stocks at least four bottles of sealed water with each turndown. It’s not a surprise to find zero tumblers sitting rim-down next to the bathroom sink just waiting to be used. This is a Nice Hotel - perhaps the best in the city (country?) - and still the message is clear: In a hotel in a city in a country on a continent like this, you still don’t drink the water. Sorry, bottles on the house. - mgmt So, of course, I drank the water. It…

Read More

Filters

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to receive Opportunity International microfinance news and updates via email or RSS.

Subscribe via RSS

Subscribe to our Newsletter