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The First Day of Summer & Transforming Communities through Solar Power
Today is the first day of summer, the summer solstice, here in the U.S. and our longest day of the year. Hopefully, you’re celebrating tonight with a picnic dinner, a barbeque, maybe an evening run or a walk to take full advantage of the extra minutes of daylight. But today also reminds us of the Read more…
Tagged Africa, Clients, Community, Economic development, Ending Poverty, Financial services, first day of summer, Global Poverty, Iganga, Lady Agnes School, Loans, local economy, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Schools, solar energy, solar panels, solar power, Students, summer, Summer Solstice, Technology, Uganda
Obama Announces Food Security Partnership at Chicago Council on Global Affairs Symposium Before the G8
Last Friday, agricultural finance took center stage at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs symposium, “Advancing Food and Nutrition Security,” in Washington, D.C. on the eve of the G8 Summit. President Obama announced a partnership among the G8 member nations, African countries and the private sector called the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which has a Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Alliance to End Hunger, Board of Advisors, Bono, Cargill, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Food security, G8, Global Agricultural Development Initiative, global hunger, Hillary Clinton, Hunger, Microfinance, Monsanto, ONE blog, Opportunity International, President Obama, Tony Hall
Taking the Live Below the Line Challenge: Actress Malin Akerman, Young Ambassadors, Governors & Staff
All this week, May 7-11, supporters around the country, including members of and , and our own staff took part in the Global Poverty Project’s Live Below the Line challenge to eat and drink for only $1.50 a day. They’re raising awareness for the 1.4 billion people who have to not only eat, but cover Read more…
Tagged Abbi Antablin, Blog, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Global Poverty, Ian Haisley, Insight Trip, Live Below the Line, Malin Akerman, Opportunity International, Poverty, Tanzania, yao-DC
Technology & New Innovations at Chicago Microfinance Conference
At Friday’s Chicago Booth and Zell Center Microfinance Conference, several of my colleagues and members of heard from ‘s SVP of International Business Development, Dennis Ripley, who spoke as part of a panel called “New Products and Innovations in Microfinance,” along with Kate Cochran, COO at Vittana; Karl Muth, Consulting Economist at Grameen; and moderator Nina Read more…
Tagged 2012 Chicago Microfinance Conference, Africa, ATMs, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Chicago Microfinance Conference, Clients, Colombia, Credit Suisse, Dennis Ripley, DePaul University, Ghana, Grameen, hub-and-spoke model, Kenya, Latin America, Loans, M-PESA, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, POS devices, Poverty, Richard Leftley, Savings, Smart Campaign, Students, Technology, Tigo, Uganda, Vittana, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Day 1 of My Live Below the Line Challenge for Opportunity
Living Below the Line – Day 1: Shopping from Ian Haisley on Vimeo. Today is the first day of my Live Below the Line challenge for Opportunity, where I eat and drink for $1.50 a day for five days. Live Below the Line is a campaign that raises awareness about the 1.4 billion people who live below Read more…
Chicago Premiere of No Woman, No Cry, Directorial Debut of Christy Turlington Burns
Yesterday afternoon, YAO members, members of the Board of Governors, several of my colleagues and I went to the Chicago premiere of Christy Turlington Burns‘s directorial debut, the powerful documentary “No Woman, No Cry.” It’s part of the Every Mother Counts campaign, which raises awareness and support for maternal health issues worldwide. In her film, Burns shares Read more…
Tagged Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, CARE, childbirth, Christy Turlington Burns, Community, Education, Every Mother Counts, Global Poverty, Guatemala, Health insurance, Healthcare, Latin America, Maternal Health, maternal mortality rates, Mothers, No Woman No Cry, Poverty, Tanzania, U.S., Women, women's health, Women's Philanthropy
Opportunity Malawi Sends Two Clients to Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) Summit in the Netherlands
Last week, April 3-4, was the first Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) summit in Amsterdam, entitled “Reshaping the Future of Finance.” Two young Opportunity Malawi clients were sent to the summit to represent Malawi as special guests, participating in youth panel discussions. One is Grey Katsilizeni, 23, from the rural Lilongwe area of Nambuma. He’s involved in Read more…
Tagged Africa, Ban Ki-moon, Child & Youth Finance International, Children, Colombia, CYFI, Entrepreneurs, Events, G20 Summit, Ghana, international business development, Kevin Smith, lilongwe, Loans, Makonen Getu, Malawi, MFI, Mulanje, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Savings, Uganda, UNCDF, United Nations, what we're reading, Youth, YouthStart
My Lunch with Ghanaian Staff Member Vida
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Vida Marfo of Opportunity International. She is the Regional Head of Small/Medium Enterprise (SME) and a Manager for Property Folios at Opportunity Ghana. Vida was kind enough to do an interview with me so I could share what I learned from her with all Read more…
Tagged Africa, blogger, Board of Governors, Financial services, Habitat for Humanity, International Visitor, Loans, local staff, Microfinance, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Training
Look Good, Do Good
This week only, the social entrepreneurs at Sevenly selected Opportunity International as their featured nonprofit, designing t-shirts and a hoodie for sale to benefit our work. They were especially inspired by our work in India, focusing their week-long campaign on our microfinance there, especially health insurance through our microinsurance subsidiary MicroEnsure. After all, our financial services Read more…
Check It Out! Credit Suisse Reports on the Impact of Microfinance & Technology in Malawi
We’re pleased to announce that Opportunity International is featured in this month’s Credit Suisse Bulletin. The four-page article, which was the result of Credit Suisse’s visit to Opportunity Malawi last year, is located on pages 42-45. Click here to see a complete copy of the Bulletin or read the story online. In addition, Credit Suisse has Read more…
Tagged Africa, ATMs, biometric fingerprint technology, biometric technology, Cell phone banking, Clients, Credit Suisse, Electronic wallet strategy, Financial literacy programs, financial literacy training, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, mobile banking vehicle, mobile phone banking, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, regional manager, Rural Outreach, Savings, Technology, Training, Trust Groups, Women
