Blog Archives

Conference LiveBlog: Daryl Collins, Co-Author of Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day

This morning at the Opportunity International Conference, Daryl Collins, co-author of Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day, spoke from the main stage about the financial portfolios of people in poverty and the impact that   has to mitigate the effects of their uncertain financial futures. Highlights from Daryl’s Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Microfinance Conference, Our Work, Resources, Savings, What We're Reading, Where We Work
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Opportunity Implementing Member ASKI in the Philippines Wins SIPAG Award, Donates Prize to Local Typhoon Victims

Opportunity International is proud to report that one of our implementing members in the Philippines, Alalay Sa Kaunlaran Sa Gitnang Luzon, Inc. (ASKI), was recently rewarded for their outstanding achievements by the National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC). The honorary award received by ASKI was part of the sixth annual SIPAG (Sustainable Income for People in Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Where We Work
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Why is Microinsurance a Powerful Safety Net for Clients?

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
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What We’re Reading: Top 10 Blogs About Microfinance & Poverty Eradication

Blogs are a great way to hear a variety of voices and experience an issue from diverse perspectives and if you’re interested in microfinance and global development there are a variety of sites full of information, opinions, and more.  These blogs, like our Opportunity Blog, are fun ways to learn more about the voices and Read more…

Posted in Our Motivation, Resources, Uncategorized, What We're Reading
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Sheryl WuDunn to Speak at Opportunity’s Fall Microfinance Conference in Washington, D.C.

One of the best ways to fight poverty is to educate women and give them economic opportunity. Microfinance institutions are at the center of that solution. I’m looking forward to seeing more and more people getting involved in this effort.   –Sheryl WuDunn (March 2010)  Sheryl WuDunn, an advocate for global women’s issues and proponent of Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Our Work, What We're Reading, Women's Opportunity Network
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Melinda French Gates on the Impact of Agricultural Finance

 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
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Crop Insurance: Protecting Farmers Against the Effects of Climate Change

Jeffrey Ebarrita (right) uses a GPS device to survey the land of Rodolfo Felipe, an Opportunity crop insurance policyholder in the Philippines. A recent UPI wire story, which highlights Opportunity International’s weather-index crop insurance, hails microinsurance as an exciting new tool to help communities in the developing world face the worst impacts of climate change. The article, Read more…

Posted in Microinsurance, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Strategic Partners, Where We Work
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This Quarter’s Book of Choice: Half the Sky

This quarter the Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) and Opportunity International’s staff book clubs are diving into Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. A read that Melinda Gates calls “a brutal awakening and an unmistakable call to action”, Half the Sky captures one of our era’s most pervasive human rights violations: the Read more…

Posted in Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, What We're Reading, Women's Opportunity Network
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