Blog Archives

Gaining Insight into Women Worldwide

By Marisa Brown on March 6, 2010

An important component of celebrating International Women’s Day is being aware of and recognizing the difficulties and challenges women still face daily around the world. Opportunity International believes you can even take the common cliché “think globally, act locally” and apply it to this day. We plan on doing this for our in-office International Women’s Read more…

Posted in Events, Insight Trips, OptINnow, Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Business Loan, Clients, Education, Ending Poverty, Female entrepreneurs, Global Opportunity Quilt, Insight Trip, Insurance, International Women’s Day, Loan Officer, Savings, Training, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

The Challenge of Credit Scoring

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on January 11, 2010

A lack of a formal credit score makes risk mitigation particularly difficult and thus has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of microfinance. A lack of some type of credit information can cause microfinance institutions to make decisions that are not in the best interest of the client. In the worst case scenario, either someone Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Trust Groups
Tagged Clients, Credit Scoring, Ghana, Loan Officer, Loan repayment, Microfinance, mitigate risk, South Africa, Trust Groups

My Life Changing Experience: What I learned from a Woman Leader

By Guest Post on December 2, 2009

The following is a guest post by Darcy St. John. The events described below took place on November 23rd, 2009. Yesterday was life-changing. I could write a book about this one part of my visit to Nicaragua, so describing it in a few paragraphs is going to be a challenge. I’ll start at the beginning. The Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Trust Groups, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged Client Stories, Community, Education, How Strong Women Lead, Loan Officer, Loans, Mothers, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Opportunity Nicaragua, Poverty, Ruth-Anne, Trust Group, Women, Women Leaders, Women's Philanthropy

Spotlight from the Field: Irene Tebukoza

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on November 19, 2009

From time to time, we get the pleasure of hosting our international staff here in the US. One such staff member is Irene Tebukoza, a loan officer supervisor in Uganda. While here in our head office, Irene offered stories of her work in Uganda, from accounts of her daily routine to inspirational stories about the Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Where We Work
Tagged Client Stories, Clients, Community, Education, International Visitor, Irene Tebukoza, Loan Officer, Loans, Schools, Uganda

Honoring Those Who Increase Opportunities for Women

By Cynthia Greenwood on November 10, 2009

On a sparkling Saturday evening in Washington D.C., the Women’s Opportunity Network of Opportunity International honored a pioneering program and a special staff member in the field who are making an impact on women’s lives in the developing world. The first International Women’s Leadership Award of the night went to Teddy Ajiku, who has held Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
Tagged 10000 women initiative, 10k Women, Branch Manager, Clients, Community, Education, Financial services, Goldman Sachs, Goldmas Sachs, International Women’s Leadership Award, Loan Officer, Opportunity Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON

Board of Governors Conference Recap #BOG09

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on October 4, 2009

Whether in the telling or the hearing, stories have power. Through them the endless varieties of human experience are revealed to us and through us, inviting us to discover meaning… find compassion… and perhaps glean wisdom and hope from the dramas of our shared humanity. Stories–our clients’ and ours–was the theme of the Opportunity International Read more…

Posted in Events, Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged #BOG09, Board of Governors, Board of Governors Conference, Caterpillar Foundation, Client Stories, Conference, Education, Loan Officer, Peter Thorrington, South Africa, William Ball, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

Live: A Report from Opportunity’s Colombia Staff #BOG09

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on October 3, 2009

Jim Frantz and Olga Perez have dedicated their lives to serving the poor. Working at our bank in Opportunity Colombia, they see triumph and heartbreak. Their story today was one of transformation. Colombia is an exciting place for microfinance. With almost 50% of Colombians living below the poverty line, and with so many displaced people, Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Work, Training, Trust Groups
Tagged #BOG09, Board of Governors, Client Stories, Clients, Colombia, Jim Frantz, Loan Officer, Microfinance, Olga Perez, Opportunity Colombia, Trust Groups

Live: Daryl Skoog and his Motorbike #BOG09

By Sonja Egeland Kelly on October 3, 2009

Opportunity is introducing electric bikes as transportation for loan officers who have to travel a long distance to see their clients each day. When the conference moderator announced the break-out sessions this morning, the doors swung wide open and Vice President of MIS Daryl Skoog revved his engine and rode in on a motorbike. It was a Read more…

Posted in Our Work, Rural Outreach, Technology, Trust Groups
Tagged #BOG09, ATMs, biometrics, Conference, container banks, Daryl Skoog, Loan Officer, Microfinance, MIS, mobile branches, Opportunity International, Rural banking, satellite communications, Savings, Technology, Transportation, Trust Groups

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