Blog Archives

Conference Breakout: Investing in Half the Sky

The panelists at the breakout session, Investing in Half the Sky. From left to right: Diana Negroponte, Alice Gasatura, Julie Hindmarsh and Ruth-Anne Renaud. The following post by YAO member and Opportunity supporter Sonja Egeland Kelly is one of the many blog posts we published from the 2010 Fall Microfinance Conference. Click here to read all Read more…

Posted in Board of Governors, Events, Local Staffing, Microfinance Conference, OptINnow, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Trust Groups, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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Teri Goudie, Inspired by Half the Sky, Summits Mount Kilimanjaro for Women in Poverty

One week ago, Teri Goudie, a former TV producer for Chicago’s ABC 7, traveled to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, raising donations for Opportunity International and the Janada L. Batchelor Foundation for Children (JBFC). Goudie was inspired to accomplish this incredible feat after reading the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Sheryl Read more…

Posted in Events, OptINnow, Our Leadership, Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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What We’re Reading: “Investing in Women & Girls” (MediaPlanet supplement, USA Today)

 Every Wednesday on our blog, we highlight an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We’ll feature pieces or works that are noteworthy, inspiring, educational or relevant to the work we do at Opportunity. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–tell us what you’re reading, or respond to the Read more…

Posted in Our Work, Strategic Partners, What We're Reading, Women's Opportunity Network
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What We’re Reading: The ONE Blog– “Africa’s Future is Female”

Every Wednesday on this blog, we’ll be highlighting an article, book or a blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We’ll feature pieces or works that we think are noteworthy, inspiring, educational and relevant to the work we do at Opportunity. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–tell us what you’re reading, or Read more…

Posted in Events, Local Staffing, Our Work, What We're Reading, Women's Opportunity Network
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Happy Labor Day to Our Hard-Working Clients

Labor Day in the U.S. is a century-old holiday–a tribute to trade and labor–that honors workers and their families. For Opportunity clients in the developing world, often self-employed entrepreneurs, providing for the future can be a difficult struggle. So on this Labor Day, we honor all of our clients who work hard every day to provide Read more…

Posted in Events, Loans, Our Work, Where We Work
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Faith, Hope and Love on our Journey to Kenya

 Opportunity’s John Kamperschroer, VP of Resource Development, recently returned from an Opportunity Family Week Trip to Kenya. He shares reflections from his travels.  As we traveled along the bumpy roads of Kenya, dust and exhaust coated our lungs while receiving–as one driver put it–an “African massage.” We were on our way to visit three Kenyan schools: Read more…

Posted in Faith in Action, Insight Trips, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Where We Work
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Spotlight on the Annual Report: Microfinance Helps Communities Thrive

The Opportunity Progressive Trust Group in Kampala, Uganda provides the perfect example for how Trust Groups[/intlink] can strengthen a community, helping families provide for themselves, send their children to school and build for their futures. Charity Namutebi[/intlink] is an Opportunity Uganda[/intlink] loan officer for the Progressive Trust Group[/intlink]. She says that helping others thrive is her way of serving Read more…

Posted in Faith in Action, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Trust Groups, What We're Reading, Where We Work
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Meet Betty Mutua of Opportunity Kenya

“Working in microfinance has transformed me. We use the word ‘transformation’ to describe our client training, but that word also describes how I feel,” says Betty Mutua, a regional manager at . Mutua began working for  as a in 2001, which was also the year she got married. “I’ve been married as long as I’ve been Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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Vote for OptINnow in the Paperless Choice Challenge

’s fundraising campaign, OptINnow, is entered in the Paperless Choice Challenge funded by the Overbrook Foundation. The contest is looking to reward non-profits with innovative digital fundraising techniques. The winners receive $5,000! OptINnow is an innovative, multi-functional digital fundraising campaign. Help optinnow.org win the contest, so Opportunity International can receive $5,000 to help end global poverty. Faster. How Read more…

Posted in Events, OptINnow, Our Work, Technology
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Rwandan Women are Crucial to Economy — A Story on CNN.com

Check out CNN.com where Lisa Desai wrote a piece, accompanied by a video, that highlights the integral role that women play in the growing economy of Rwanda since the genocide in 1994. Today, women outnumber men in and, according to the piece, “there are more women in Rwanda’s parliament than any other country in the world. Read more…

Posted in Loans, Local Staffing, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Savings, Strategic Partners, Training, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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