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Subscribe via EmailMonthly Archives: November 2011
Skip the Mall Today
We’re offering a way for you to skip the mall and spread the joy all at the same time. Instead of fighting the crowds on Black Friday, order Opportunity International gift cards at opportunity.org/giftcard for all your family and friends. With our gift cards, they’ll experience the joy of helping an entrepreneur like Margaret Wangui (pictured) grow her business Read more…
Tagged Africa, Black Friday, Christmas, Clients, Ending Poverty, Gift Cards, Kenya, Loans, Margaret Wangui, MFI, Microfinance, Nairobi, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Poverty
We’re Grateful for You
On behalf of Opportunity International’s global family, we want to wish you a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving holiday. This Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for contributors like you who work side by side with us to empower families in poverty and create lasting change in the world. Your support means so much to both our clients Read more…
Tagged ashanti, beat, Geoffrey Thige, Ghana, Opportunity Ghana, Thanksgiving
Innovation to Aid the Horn of Africa: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Last Thursday, USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah spoke at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs lunchtime talk entitled “America’s role in Food Security and the Horn of Africa Famine.” Administrator Shah began with slides and stories from the amalgam of refugee camps that make up the Dadaab camps in Kenya. The camps, which were built for Read more…
Tagged Africa, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, China, Dadaab, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Ending Hunger, Facebook, famine, Feed the Future Guide, Haiti, Horn of Africa, Hunger, Kenya, Rajiv Shah, United Nations, USAID
Opportunity Celebrates 40 Years at “Side by Side” Gala in Minneapolis
Last Thursday night, more than 400 guests gathered at International Market Square in Minneapolis, Minn. to celebrate Opportunity International‘s 40th anniversary at a gala event, “Side by Side: Celebrating 40 Years of Opportunity.” The evening included entertainment by Minnesota resident and contemporary Christian singer Sara Groves and the African musical group Duniya Drum and Dance, Read more…
Tagged 40th anniversary, Al Whittaker, Board of Directors, Board of Governors, Colombia, Duniya Drum & Dance, Events, Faith in Action, Frida Mungoma, fundraisers, gala, Minneapolis, Nonprofit, Opportunity Uganda, Philanthropy, Sara Groves, Side by Side, YAO, YAO-Minneapolis, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Today, Opportunity International and Empact’s Young Entrepreneurs Are at the White House
Today, Opportunity International and Empact visit the White House. Empact, formerly known as Extreme Entrepreneurship Education, is honoring the country’s top 100 young entrepreneurs on their Empact 100 list at a White House event with senior administration officials from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Opportunity staff member Sonya Perez-Lauterbach, the manager of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO), Read more…
Tagged Empact, Empact 100, Future of Entrepreneurship Summit, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Kaufmann Foundation, Opportunity International, Poverty, Startup America Partnership, Washington D.C., White House, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Opportunity Participates in the 2011 Global Microcredit Summit
This week, one of the largest microfinance industry conferences in the world launches in Valladolid, Spain. The 15th annual Global Microcredit Summit runs Monday, Nov. 14-Thursday, Nov. 17 and features Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, and more than 2,000 delegates from over 100 countries, including Opportunity International‘s Read more…
Tagged BRAC, Ending Poverty, Events, Facebook, Financial services, Fonkoze, Global Microcredit Summit, Grameen, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, International Labour Organization, MFI, Microcredit, Microensure, Microfinance, Microfinance Information Exchange, Microinsurance, MIX Market, Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize, Opportunity International, Richard Leftley, Social Media, Spain, Twitter, videos
Tunes for Tanzania–who knew a Tuesday could be this good?
While everyone seemed moved by the goal of building a bank in Tanzania, as I gauged from the robust rounds of applause, Tuesday’s Tunes for Tanzania event was also just a good time for all. We packed into Schubas in Chicago to listen to the music of three different bands; we strategized to win tantalizing Read more…
Tagged Africa, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Go Long Mule, Ivory Coats, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Tanzania, Rachel McClusky, Schubas, Tanzania, Tunes for Tanzania, YAO, YAO-Chicago, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Carlos Moreno-The Success of Opportunity’s First Microfinance Client
Carlos Moreno was a small business owner selling spices in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, but he knew he needed additional funding in order to grow his business. In 1971, Carlos became Opportunity International’s very first loan client. Today, Carlos says, “My loan helped me expand my business so I could sell 52 different spices, teas and medicinal herbs.” With the Read more…
Meet Ugandan Staff Member Frida Mungoma, Education Finance Manager
This past Monday, just after arriving in the United States, Opportunity Uganda‘s Education Finance Manager Wakhasa Frida Mungoma–known as Frida–sat down with me at the Opportunity-US offices in Oak Brook, Ill. for a discussion of her work, the challenges she faces and the most rewarding aspects of her job. Below, see brief excerpts of my Read more…
Tagged Africa, Education, Education finance, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Frida Mungoma, international staff, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, School Proprietor Loans, school proprietors, Students, Uganda, Women, YAO, YAO - San Francisco, YAO-New York, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
