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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

CEO Announcement Letter from Betty Jane Hess

by Betty Jane Hess

Betty Jane Hess, is chair of Opportunity’s Board of Directors, and is welcoming our incoming CEO Vicki Escarra. Dear Friends, I am pleased to announce that Opportunity International has completed its executive search, and I am delighted to introduce you to our new CEO, Vicki Escarra. Vicki is an exceptional leader, bringing to Opportunity International her expertise in people and financial management, resource development, marketing and execution of business strategies. As president and CEO…

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How to Change Moms’ Lives with Pinterest

by Emily Terrell

To celebrate Mother’s Day last May, we created the Global Opportunity Quilt, a tool that let donors honor women they love with gifts that change the lives of women on the other side of the world. Donors chose from 24 inspirational patches with quotes and images about motherhood, and with a gift of anywhere from $5-$500, they could write custom tributes and added their patches to the Quilt. Then they shared the patches directly with the women they honored and on social media, especially Pinterest…

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Follow-up: Lydia’s Olympic Torch Moment

by Opportunity International

On Tuesday, Opportunity-UK’s Lydia Baffour Awuah made us all very proud when she carried the Olympic flame in Abingdon, U.K.–at 7:58 a.m. local time. Below, check out some photos of her big moment, provided by Harry Turner, CEO of Global Microfinance Operations. The British bank Lloyds TSB is an Olympic sponsor and a strategic partner of Opportunity-UK, and they had a spot available for a torchbearer. So Lydia’s Opportunity colleagues nominated her, telling the story of her upbringing and her…

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The Passing of Ross Clemenger, a Pioneer of Opportunity Colombia

by Opportunity International

We were saddened to learn that one of Opportunity International’s earliest supporters, Ross Clemenger, died unexpectedly on Sunday morning at the age of 88. More than forty years ago, Ross helped Opportunity make its first loan to client Carlos Moreno in Colombia, and the Canadian native was the first executive director and the founder of AGAPE, our microfinance partner in Colombia. Ross’s commitment to eradicating poverty in that country has continued with his efforts to help us secure a bank…

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Opportunity UK’s Lydia Baffour Awuah Will Be Olympic Torchbearer Tomorrow!

by Opportunity International

Opportunity International-UK’s Lydia Baffour Awuah has been chosen to be one of the torchbearers in the Olympic torch relay. Lydia will be carrying the flame tomorrow–Tuesday, July 10–at 1:41 a.m. Central Standard Time (7:41 a.m. BST, local time) from the town of Abingdon, U.K., just south of Oxford. Tomorrow is day 53 of the relay, which culminates on July 27 at the Olympic stadium in London. Lydia is a program manager at Opportunity-UK, overseeing special projects in Ghana and Malawi. Previously,…

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Evangelism is More Than Words

by Bob Lupton

The following post was written by Bob Lupton–a community developer, entrepreneur, and a member of the Board of Directors for Opportunity’s Nicaragua Community Economic Development Project–who brings together communities of resource with communities of need. He’s the founder of the nonprofit FCS Urban Ministries and in the past 40 years has developed housing, congregations, and a number of businesses for hundreds of families, initiating a wide range of human services in inner-city Atlanta.…

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To Nurture the Freedoms of People

by Genzo Yamamoto

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has spoken of how true development in any society (in affluent as well as developing countries) needs to be thought of in terms of the progress made in the different kinds of freedoms experienced by individuals. This goes beyond freedom from tyranny to include the range of goods that bring about human flourishing and the expression and increase of human capacity in the Aristotelian sense. Sen argues that freedoms can build upon each other: political freedoms…

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Photo Blog: Happy Fourth of July

by Opportunity International

For Opportunity clients, freedom is… Education Feeding your children Trusting each other Always learning Planning for the future Access to healthcare Having a job  Improving your community  Having a home What does freedom mean to you? Leave us your comments below. Happy Independence Day!

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Do We Know Who These Smallholder Farmers Are? And Do We Care?

by Cynthia Greenwood

Francis Mamati. Leonida Wanyama. Rasoa Wasike. Zipporah Biketi. Roger Thurow, author of The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change, implores us to get to know these farmers–and to support their development–if we are to meet the challenge of doubling food production by 2050 to meet the demands of a growing population. Roger spoke last Thursday at a Chicago Council on Global Affairs event attended by several Opportunity staff members. Roger serves as the…

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What We’re Reading: Darcy Deane on How Great Women Lead in Teen Vogue and More

by Emily Riemer

Seventeen-year-old Darcy Deane and her mom, Bonnie St. John, wrote the book on inspiring female leaders. In How Great Women Lead: A Mother-Daughter Adventure into the Lives of Women Shaping the World, the co-authors profile some of the world’s most inspiring women–from Hillary Rodham Clinton; to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; to Sharon Allen, the first female board chair at Deloitte LLP; to Opportunity Nicaragua’s regional manager, Noemi Vivas Ocaña–documenting their rises to the top and…

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