Investing in microfinance through Opportunity International is the best, most efficient way that we’ve found through all of our philanthropic investments to make progress possible in the lives of people who need our help most.

- Caterpillar Foundation Vice President Will Ball

Caterpillar Foundation announces an aggressive, year-end $1 million challenge grant that will enable corporations and small businesses around the globe to double the impact of their donations to Opportunity.

Now through Dec. 31, 2010, Caterpillar Foundation will match new donations from corporations and small businesses to Opportunity dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million total. Any business donating to Opportunity for the first time or contributing above its previous year’s gift is eligible for the match.

The Caterpillar match is crucial to help fund Opportunity’s cutting-edge initiatives, including rural savings and agricultural finance programs that are helping people in sub-Saharan Africa, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China and more to work their way out of poverty and feed their communities. The Caterpillar Foundation’s generosity and commitment to eradicating global poverty is inspiring. Encourage your company to donate before year-end to double its impact.

Read the full grant announcement here »

Caterpillar Foundation’s vice president Will Ball announces the matching grant at the 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference in October:

At Opportunity International’s US office, we draw our motivation and sense of purpose from the stories of our clients and their families as they build a bridge out of poverty. This week, I am further inspired by a different group of people – the members of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) Chicago.

On September 17^th this group of women microfinance professionals met together for the first time. Even in its infancy, WAM Chicago is the fastest growing chapter of WAM International. At the inaugural meeting we heard from women across the microfinance industry – Shorebank, ACCION, Opportunity International, SEEP, and others – who are doing incredible work to advance the field and impact the lives of the poor.

Jessica Horn of ACCION Chicago shared about the microfinance activity happening in our own backyards. The organization provides small loans (average of $8,000) to men and women in the Chicagoland area who have been shut out of the traditional banking sector.

The SEEP (Small Enterprise and Education Promotion) Network was represented by Mary McVay, who has over 20 years of experience in microenterprise development (10 as an on-the-ground practitioner in Kenya). She now directs SEEP’s Value Initiative, which is pooling learning from practitioners in Indonesia, India, Kenya, and Jamaica to advance urban value chain development.

I was thrilled to hear a report from one of the two men in our group (men, you are invited too!). Paul Christensen, senior lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management and founder of Shorebank International Ltd., described the Financial Inclusion 2020 project at the Center for Financial Inclusion. This is an ambitious initiative to accelerate progress towards achieving “full financial inclusion” around the world by 2020. The pilot program in Mexico (which Opportunity is involved in) has taken an all-encompassing approach to address the multiple leverage points – private, public and social sector – needed to make the vision a reality.

Sitting in that room, I felt honored to be a partner in microfinance with the incredible women who surrounded me.

And as I sit down at my desk today, my motivation comes not only from knowing that lives are being transformed in the field, but that I stand shoulder to shoulder with women and men in Chicago who are doing groundbreaking work to advance the impact of microfinance in every corner of the world.

You can learn more about WAM International at http://www.wam-international.org. The mission of WAM International is to advance and support women working in microfinance and microenterprise development through education and training, by promoting leadership opportunities, and by increasing visibility of women’s participation and talent while maintaining a work/life balance.