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Spotlight on the Annual Report: Microfinance Helps Communities Thrive

By Opportunity International on August 6, 2010

The Opportunity Progressive Trust Group in Kampala, Uganda provides the perfect example for how Trust Groups[/intlink] can strengthen a community, helping families provide for themselves, send their children to school and build for their futures. Charity Namutebi[/intlink] is an Opportunity Uganda[/intlink] loan officer for the Progressive Trust Group[/intlink]. She says that helping others thrive is her way of serving Read more…

Posted in Faith in Action, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Trust Groups, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Banking on Education, Charity Namutebi, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, james kyeune, Kampala, lady infant primary school, Loan Officer, Mariam Noah, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Nuulu Nankya, Opportunity International, Poverty, progressive trust group, Ruth Nassimbwa, Schools, Students, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Melinda French Gates on the Impact of Agricultural Finance

By Opportunity International on August 4, 2010

Want to do more to impact global poverty? In an interview in the August issue of Smithsonian magazine, Melinda Gates outlines the techniques the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is using to fight global poverty in the 21st century. (“Melinda French Gates on Saving Lives,” by Terence Monmaney) It’s part of the magazine’s 40th-anniversary issue, featuring ”40 Things You Read more…

Posted in Loans, Microinsurance, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Asia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell phone banking, Clients, Community, Crop insurance, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Farmer, Farmers, Financial services, Green Revolution, Healthcare, Hunger, Insurance, Loans, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, Melinda Gates, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, Opportunity International, Savings, Schools, Smallholder farmer, Students, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Weather-index crop insurance, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Spotlight on the Annual Report: Empowering Emerging Women Leaders in Microfinance

By Opportunity International on August 3, 2010

Meet Beatrice William. Beatrice is undergoing training through Opportunity International’s Emerging Leaders Program – part of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women Initiative–which trains talented women in banking and finance to help them establish or advance careers in microfinance as loan officers and bank managers. “When I heard that I had been chosen to come to Nairobi for the Emerging Leaders Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged 10000 women initiative, 10k Women, 2009 annual report, Africa, annual report, Banking, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Dar es Salaam, Education, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Goldman Sachs, Kenya, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nairobi, Opportunity International, Opportunity Tanzania, Poverty, Tanzania, Training, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

What We’re Reading: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

By Guest Post on August 3, 2010

Looking for a summer read? At , we’re reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. It’s the story of a young boy with an entrepreneurial spirit who was able to transform the lives of the people in his community. Young William Kamkwamba and his family grew up in surrounded by Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, Children, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Entrepreneurs, Malawi, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Students, Technology, the boy who harnessed the wind, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, Youth

Notice anything different?

By Emily Riemer on August 2, 2010

Regular visitors to the Opportunity blog will notice it has a different look and format than before. Go further. Opportunity.org[/intlink] has been completely refreshed and upgraded. Here are a few of our favorite features on the new site: 1. Photos at Your Fingertips On every page, including the homepage[/intlink], there is a slideshow of thumbnail pictures of Read more…

Posted in Our Work, Technology, What We're Reading
Tagged Client Stories, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity International, opportunity.org, Poverty, Schools, Technology, Trust Groups

Knowledge Leads to Understanding: Getting to Know Uganda

By Guest Post on July 30, 2010

Women’s Opportunity Network (WON)[/intlink] supporter and her 16-year-old nephew contributed this final post about their trip to Uganda, summing up the unforgettable people they met and places they saw on their journey. The Mighty Nile River Debby: is a beautiful country: Winston Churchill described it as “the pearl of Africa” because of its green hills, Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Local Staffing, Our Work, Trust Groups, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Insight Trip, Kampala, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nile River, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Schools, Students, Trust Groups, Uganda, University, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Meet Betty Mutua of Opportunity Kenya

By Opportunity International on July 29, 2010

“Working in microfinance has transformed me. We use the word ‘transformation’ to describe our client training, but that word also describes how I feel,” says Betty Mutua, a regional manager at . Mutua began working for as a in 2001, which was also the year she got married. “I’ve been married as long as I’ve been Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, Client Stories, Clients, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, International Visitor, Kenya, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Nairobi, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Poverty, Trust Groups, Washington D.C., Women, Women's Philanthropy, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

Spotlight on the Annual Report: Harvesting Hope

By Opportunity International on July 28, 2010

Providing access to clients living in the world’s most geographically remote areas is an important part of what does. Reaching clients like farmer , or Jakob as he’s known, who live hours from urban areas is crucial to connecting them with financial services, access to markets for agricultural goods, and economic sustainability. Through financial services like Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Microinsurance, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Strategic Partners, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged 2009 annual report, Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, agriculture finance, Agriculture Microfinance, annual report, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, harvesting hope, jakobo chikayiko, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Savings, Technology

Vote for OptINnow in the Paperless Choice Challenge

By Megan Colgan on July 27, 2010

’s fundraising campaign, OptINnow, is entered in the Paperless Choice Challenge funded by the Overbrook Foundation. The contest is looking to reward non-profits with innovative digital fundraising techniques. The winners receive $5,000! OptINnow is an innovative, multi-functional digital fundraising campaign. Help optinnow.org win the contest, so Opportunity International can receive $5,000 to help end global poverty. Faster. How Read more…

Posted in Events, OptINnow, Our Work, Technology
Tagged Ending Poverty, Facebook, Financial services, Global Opportunity Quilt, Microfinance, Mother's Day, Mothers, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Technology, Twitter, Women

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