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College student shares her discovery of microfinance

By Guest Post on March 24, 2010

The following is a guest post by Kelsey McGrath a student at the Univerity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In January, I spent a couple of hours with staff at Opportunity International’s Oak Brook office. Although it was just a lunch break for them, it was a turning point for me. This semester, I’ve decided to Read more…

Posted in Our Work
Tagged Campus, College, Education, Grameen, Grameen Bank, Mobile Banking, Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize, Peace Corps, Students, Students Twodollarchallenge, Women

#Mifimon: Microfinance and Higher Education

By Guest Post on February 26, 2010

The following is a guest post from Andres Hammer, an intern at MF Transparency. Our mid-February #mifimon topic was: “microfinance and higher education.” One of the panelists was Chuck Waterfield @chuckwaterfield, who has 25 years of experience in microfinance, is on the faculty of Columbia University/SIPA, and is CEO & president of MicroFinance Transparency. Chuck’s course at SIPA teaches Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Work
Tagged #MifiMon, Alexandra Fiorillo, Chuck Waterfield, Columbia University, Coursework, Education, Higher education, Intern, MFI, Microfinance, MicroFinance Transparency, Professional training, Schools, Social Entrepreneurship, Teaching, Two Dollar Challenge, Undergraduate, University

Guest Post: Believe in Sheela

By Guest Post on December 16, 2009

The following is a guest post by Desiree Adaway, Sr. Director of Volunteer Mobilization at Habitat for Humanity. It was first posted on her personal blog. I want you to believe in Sheela. She is a leader of Opportunity International’s Baba Trust Group meeting in Chennai, India. Nineteen women have joined together to repay loans, learn accounting skills Read more…

Posted in Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Desiree Adaway, Guest Post, Habitat for Humanity, India, Sheela, Trust Groups, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, WON

Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Teach me and I will understand.

By Guest Post on December 7, 2009

The following is a guest post from John Wayman written on November 12th, 2009. Eighteen hours ago, I was one of 10 students from Northern Illinois University preparing to embark on a trip to Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, to learn more about and study in depth the elements that comprise the principles of Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Training, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Clients, Empowerment, Entrepreneurs, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Loans, Local staffin, Mexico, Microfinance, Northern Illinois University, Passion, Students, Trip, Trust Groups, Women

My Life Changing Experience: What I learned from a Woman Leader

By Guest Post on December 2, 2009

The following is a guest post by Darcy St. John. The events described below took place on November 23rd, 2009. Yesterday was life-changing. I could write a book about this one part of my visit to Nicaragua, so describing it in a few paragraphs is going to be a challenge. I’ll start at the beginning. The Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Client Stories, Community, Education, How Strong Women Lead, Loan Officer, Loans, Mothers, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Opportunity Nicaragua, Poverty, Ruth-Anne, Trust Group, Women, Women Leaders, Women's Philanthropy

#MifiMon: Women and Microfinance

By Guest Post on December 2, 2009

The following is a guest post by Sheethal Shobowale, Kiva Fellow at MFIs Asociación Arariwa in Cusco, Peru and Emprender in La Paz, Bolivia starting in January. Interested in learning about microfinance? Follow our biweekly Twitter discussion group #mifimon (because Microfinance Mondays was too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit). Our aim is to host an Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Training, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged #MifiMon, Accion, Clients, Community, Community development, Education, Entrepreneurs, Equal opportunity, Gender equality, Group lending, Healthcare, Kiva, Lending Laws, Loan Officers, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Savings, Seven Bar Foundation, Social Performance Indicators Blog, The Next 4 Billion, Training, Trust Groups, Twitter, WAM, Women, Women Advancing Microfinance, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Indiana University Students Engage with Opportunity, Microfinance

By Guest Post on November 17, 2009

The following is a guest post from Kristy Anderson, president of the Indiana University Trockman Microfinance Initiative-a student group of the Kelley School of Business. http://www.tminitiative.com/ After a five-hour carpool from Bloomington, Ind., and a night at the Holiday Inn, the 12 members of our group entered through the glass doors at Opportunity International’s Oak Read more…

Posted in Our Work
Tagged Education, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Loans, Microensure, OptINnow, Savings, Students, Trockman Microfinance Initiative, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

Help Create Opportunity for Women Worldwide

By Guest Post on November 13, 2009

The following is a guest post from Women’s Opportunity Network Member, Susan Gillette: I have just finished reading “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn. It’s a difficult but inspiring read about the oppression of women in the developing world Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Savings, What We're Reading, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Community, Education, Half the Sky, Nicholas D. Kristof, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Challenging Children For Change: One Hen 10K Bead Challenge

By Guest Post on October 30, 2009

The following is a guest post from Karen Schultz the Communications Director for One Hen, Inc. The spread of microfinance, as captured in the One Hen story, is drawing more and more kids to participate in poverty eradication. This summer, One Hen completed a successful pilot of our financial literacy curriculum in three urban communities of Read more…

Posted in Events, One Hen Children’s Book
Tagged 10K Bead Challenge, Building Educated Leaders for Life, Children, Children for Children, City Year, Education, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurs, One Hen, Schools

More Than a Loan: Investing in Holistic Approaches to Microfinance

By Guest Post on October 29, 2009

The following is a guest post from Betsy Perdue, Chair, Women’s Opportunity Network: Tomorrow, I will be participating in a panel with two other Opportunity International supporters at the Chicago Global Donor Network’s 6th annual conference, “Opportunity in Tough Times.” Our panel is titled “More than a Loan: Investing in Holistic Approaches to Microfinance.” Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Savings, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Chicago Global Donor Network’s 6th annual conference, Chicago Global Donors Network, Hotel Rwanda, Microfinance, Microloans, Paul Rusesabagina, Rwanda, Savings, Women's Philanthropy, Women’s Opportunity Network, WON

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