Blog Archives

What We’re Watching: Banking on Education Video by Students of the World at CGI 2011

By Opportunity International on October 6, 2011

We’re watching this video produced in partnership with Students of the World, which had its world premiere on the main stage at this year’s CGI. In it, Opportunity staff and clients discuss the goals and the impact of our Banking on Education program, which provides , and to 280 schools serving 120,000 students in Malawi, Uganda and Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Local Staffing, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Resources, Savings, Training, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Banking on Education, CGI 2011, Clinton Global Initiative, Community, Conference, Education, Effie Cooke, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, Kadita "A.T." Tshibaka, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Savings, School Proprietor Loans, Schools, Students of the World, Training, Uganda, videos

Building Access to Savings and Financial Services

By Opportunity International on October 5, 2011

Despite a desire to save and plan for the future, impoverished people are often excluded from commercial banks. In fact, fewer than 10% of people living on less than $2 a day have access to savings accounts. In the last 40 years, Opportunity International has become a global leader in building regulated banks that provide Read more…

Posted in Bank Building, Events, Loans, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Resources, Rural Outreach, Savings, Where We Work
Tagged 40th anniversary, Africa, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Conference, Daryl Collins, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, Loans, Microfinance, mobile banking vehicle, mobile banks, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Portfolios of the Poor, Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Savings, Women

Faith in Action: Opportunity Supporter Walks 500 Miles of Christian Pilgrimage El Camino de Santiago

By Opportunity International on October 1, 2011

With just 50 miles to go, Opportunity International supporter Ann Loar Brooks is about to complete a 500-mile walk for Ugandan women. Ann began her journey on August 27th, hiking the last 500 miles of the Christian pilgrimage El Camino de Santiago, which starts from southern France and winds through the Pyrenees across northern Spain. Her mission: to raise awareness Read more…

Posted in Board of Governors, Events, Faith in Action, Our Work, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Africa, Board of Governors, Clients, Ending Poverty, Faith in Action, Financial Access, Financial services, Fundraising, Global Poverty, Microfinance, Online fundraising, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Supporters, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Mobile Phone Banking & Technology: Learn from Microfinance Experts

By Opportunity International on September 29, 2011

Geoffrey Thige, chief operations officer of Opportunity International Kenya, arrived at our Oak Brook, Ill. offices this week–his first stop in a U.S. tour that culminates as a guest speaker at Opportunity’s conference in San Francisco, Oct. 14-15. With over 15 years of experience in microfinance, COO Thige oversees Transformation, IT, Risk/Compliance and Special Projects Read more…

Posted in Events, Local Staffing, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Technology, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Breakout session, Clients, Conference, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Geoffrey Thige, international staff, Kenya, M-PESA, Microfinance, mobile phone banking, Nairobi, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Kenya, Poverty, Safaricom, Technology

What We’re Watching: Opportunity Lifts Up Families with the Support of the Caterpillar Foundation

By Opportunity International on September 28, 2011

It’s through the commitment of individuals and strategic partner organizations like the Caterpillar Foundation that Opportunity International is able to do so much to impact the lives of our clients. Opportunity is about building from the base of the economic pyramid. And Caterpillar is about building the infrastructure for the communities and nations where we work Read more…

Posted in Our Leadership, Our Work, Resources, Strategic Partners, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Caterpillar Foundation, Clients, Education, Ending Poverty, Families, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, strategic partners, videos

In Memory of Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

By Rob Meloche on September 27, 2011

I had the great honor of twice meeting Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. The first time was in the frenetic hallways of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. The second was in a quiet lecture room at the Los Angeles Public Library. While the settings were in stark contrast, Professor Maathai was quite the same Read more…

Posted in Events, Resources, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Community, Desmond Tutu, Ending Poverty, Global Poverty, Green Belt Movement, Kenya, Nairobi, Nobel Peace Prize, Poverty, Raila Odinga, Women, Women's Philanthropy

Why is Microinsurance a Powerful Safety Net for Clients?

By Opportunity International on September 22, 2011

Last week, Opportunity supporters and staff dialed in for a lunchtime conference call with Richard Leftley, the president and CEO of MicroEnsure, Opportunity’s microinsurance subsidiary. Leftley shared background on MicroEnsure’s growth in recent years and then answered callers’ questions on what he envisions for the organization’s future. He detailed how insurance is an indispensable tool Read more…

Posted in Microinsurance, Our Leadership, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Asia, credit life insurance, Crop insurance, Ending Poverty, Financial services, funeral insurance, Ghana, Health insurance, India, Insight Trip, Insurance, Kilimanjaro, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Phones, OIC2011, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Poverty, property insurance, Richard Leftley, Tanzania, Weather-index crop insurance, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

CGI Day 2-Pres. Barack Obama, Opportunity’s Education Initiatives, Rajiv Shah on Peace & Food Security, and More

By Opportunity International on September 21, 2011

Today’s afternoon plenary session at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative opened with a Students of the World documentary on Opportunity International’s Banking on Education initiative, which is increasing educational opportunities for more than 120,000 children in underserved neighborhoods in Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. The video was a progress report on Opportunity’s Banking on Education commitment Read more…

Posted in Events, Resources, Where We Work
Tagged #CGI09, #CGI2011, Africa, Banking on Education, Barack Obama, CGI, CGI 2011, Clinton Global Initiative, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Drought, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Feed the Future Guide, Food security, Food Sustainability, Ghana, Hunger, international day of peace, Malawi, Melanne Verveer, Muhammad Yunus, Nicholas D. Kristof, Poverty, Rwanda, Students of the World, The New York Times, Twitter, Uganda, USAID, videos

A Look Back at YAO’s Summer Fun 2011

By Sonya Perez-Lauterbach on September 20, 2011

Summer 2011 was a busy season for YAO chapters across the country. From a soccer tournament in San Francisco, to the Chicago Half Marathon, to networking at Chapter Happy Hours, Young Ambassadors organized fun summer events that got them inspired and energized to put their passion to end poverty into action. Here are highlights from Read more…

Posted in Events, Microfinance Conference, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, Banking on Africa, Chicago Half Marathon, chicago half marathon and 5K, Community, Conference, Ending Poverty, Events, Facebook, Financial services, fundraisers, Global Poverty, Insurance, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Tanzania, Poverty, Savings, Tanzania, Training, YAO, YAO - San Francisco, YAO-Chicago, YAO-Denver, yao-la, yao-los angeles, YAO-New York, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

What We’re Reading: The Huffington Post on a Microfinance Client in Bogotá

By Guest Post on September 19, 2011

The following post, “Turning Bogota’s Red Light Green: The Miracle of Microfinance,” by Elmira Bayrasli, was published on The Huffington Post on Monday, Sept. 12. It explores the impact of Opportunity’s microfinance work in Colombia, including loans, savings and training, on one Bogotá client. The original post on huffingtonpost.com can be found by clicking here. Bogotá’s Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Savings, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged Blog, Bogotá, Client Stories, Clients, Colombia, Community, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Huffington Post, Latin America, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Colombia, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Training, Women

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