Stories
Show Your Support for Women on Giving Tuesday
Happy Giving Tuesday to our generous Opportunity International community! Coming right after Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday is a unique chance for nonprofits, families and businesses to come together to encourage the spirit of generosity and good will, to start the holiday giving season off right. Learn more about the movement at givingtuesday.org, where Opportunity International is an official Giving Tuesday partner. When you start a fundraiser for Opportunity International’s…
Read MoreBrighten Your Black Friday and Give the Gift of Opportunity
This holiday season, as you hunt for the perfect gift, consider giving friends, family and co-workers an Opportunity Gift Card to bring hope and opportunity to clients like Patience Dameh of Ghana (right). Your friends can use Opportunity Gift Cards to empower some of the millions of clients around the world like Patience who use Opportunity International loans and financial services to grow their businesses, employ their neighbors and feed their children. Patience Dameh owns of one of the most vibrant…
Read MoreOn Thanksgiving and Every Day, We’re Grateful for Clients like Eugenie
As you gather around the Thanksgiving table, enjoying your time with family and friends, we know you’re grateful for all your blessings. At Opportunity International, we’re grateful for the opportunity to be part of work that empowers clients like Eugenie Nyirabagenzi to feed their families and secure a more hopeful future for themselves and their communities. Eugenie Nyirabagenzi owns a three-acre rice farm in Rwamagana, Rwanda. Until she became an Opportunity client, she couldn’t afford to…
Read MoreOne Woman’s Determination to Transform her Life & her Community in Manila
Through one woman’s determination to overcome chronic poverty, she has grown to transform her life and make the future better for people in her community — especially the children in her Manila neighborhood. Opportunity International client Ana Serrano of the Philippines embodies the power of one person to impact the lives of many. Ana Serrano survived the first 20 years of her life on a Manila garbage dump, sifting through heaps of trash and dead animals to find food to eat and recyclables to…
Read MoreOne Woman Holiday Challenge Launches Today for Opportunity’s Women Clients
This holiday season, with your help, Opportunity International has the potential to fund 6,000 new loans for women around the world. For our new campaign, the One Woman Holiday Challenge, we have an ambitious goal of raising $450,000 in 45 days. And thanks to a generous donor, all gifts to the campaign will be matched one to one up to $450,000. More than 1.5 billion people live in extreme poverty and many are women entrepreneurs with a plan to help themselves, their families and their communities.…
Read MoreCEO Vicki Escarra Checks in from 2012 Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna
This is an inspiring week as I attended the fourth annual Global Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna, Austria, where several hundred leaders from the corporate, academic and NGO settings gathered to explore the future of management and its impact on the future of global society. Peter F. Drucker was a management consultant, educator, author and contributor to the philosophical and practical foundations of modern business whose name graces two institutions at Claremont Graduate University in California:…
Read MoreWe Invest in Leaders with Staff Transformation and Capacity Building in the Democratic Republic of Congo
In Democratic Republic of Congo, a highly skilled mentor becomes the catalyst for a lifetime of stability for women and their families. That’s what happens when Opportunity International’s capacity building programs equip staff with the knowledge and skill to guide families through their journey out of poverty. This program puts special emphasis on developing women, and identifying and investing in future leaders. In DR Congo, it empowered staff like Laurette Naul. In August, Opportunity’s…
Read MoreWith a Grant from Citi Foundation, Opportunity Brings Financial Solutions to More Colombians
Opportunity opened a financially-regulated, full-service bank to serve people living in extreme poverty in Bogotá, Colombia in early October. Leveraging a grant from Citi Foundation, a long-time supporter of programs promoting the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of low-income people, we’re developing the capacity to conduct formal banking transactions, including interest-bearing savings, with the goal of reaching 37,000 savings clients and mobilizing $40 million in deposits over the…
Read MoreCredit Suisse Celebrates 10 Years of Microfinance
Congratulations to our corporate partner Credit Suisse on achieving 10 years of leadership in microfinance. Opportunity International CEO Vicki Escarra participated in two panel discussions, both of which highlighted innovations in products and delivery mechanisms to reach and serve clients more effectively. “We take a private equity approach by providing leadership and financial training as well as health and welfare education around that loan,” she said. Today, Opportunity provides financial…
Read MoreHabitat for Humanity & Opportunity Join Forces to Improve Housing in Africa
Opportunity International and Habitat for Humanity announced a new partnership to increase access to better housing for families living in poverty. The two organizations will collaborate to provide home improvement financing, housing support services and construction technical assistance to impoverished people to enhance the well-being of communities, beginning in Ghana, followed by Malawi and Uganda. By 2030, Africa is expected to have the world’s highest urbanization rate, with 50% of the population…
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