Blog Archives

Women of the Congo: Bringing Hope through Microfinance

“It is a war that men have provoked, but women have paid the highest price.” These are the words of a UN peacekeeper in Lisa Jackson’s award-winning documentary, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, a film about the violence and violation faced by women living in the war-torn eastern region of the Democratic Republic Read more…

Posted in Our Leadership, Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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Ambassador Melanne Verveer Discusses the Global Roles of Women

Welcome to the 21st-century reality: empowering women in the developing world alleviates poverty and grows economies. Gender equality equals smart economic progress. On Tuesday, May 4, Ambassador Melanne Verveer addressed the Chicago Council on Global Affairs about the importance of women’s roles in global economic growth. In the discussion entitled “Investing in Women, Enriching the World,” Read more…

Posted in Loans, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Savings, Training, Women's Opportunity Network
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Women Helping Women: Panel Discussion Inspires Women’s Investment Group

It is a unique situation: a roomful of professional U.S. women gathered together to learn how to help expand the professional prospects of poor women in other countries. At the lunchtime talk, “Beyond the Basics of Microfinance: Empowering women through scalable, sustainable, multi-faceted financial solutions,” hosted by Women Investment Professionals (WIP), Chicago women from the Read more…

Posted in OptINnow, Our Work, Strategic Partners, Women's Opportunity Network
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Yes, We Care, Kenya

Capturing the stories of our field staff and clients during our time in Uganda and Kenya inspired us, and we hope it inspires you. While we were having dinner on our final night in Kenya, Ruth-Anne Renaud gave me the idea of starting up a fundraising group at OptINnow.org. It was easy to do, and Read more…

Posted in Loans, OptINnow, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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My Life Changing Experience: What I learned from a Woman Leader

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
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#Mifimon Preview: Women and Microfinance

Next week we have the privilege of discussing how microfinance is changing the lives of women around the world. We’ve got a pretty dynamic panel coming to this as well. Below, you’ll find their bios and thus, have the chance to learn more about them as we prepare for next week. We look forward to Read more…

Posted in Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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