Blog Archives

What We’re Reading: Council on Foreign Relations, “Five Development Innovations to Watch in 2013″

By Emily Riemer on January 14, 2013

MicroEnsure, the microinsurance subsidiary founded by Opportunity International, was recently recognized by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) as a “development innovation to watch in 2013.” In a blog post last month, CFR reported that MicroEnsure has “sign[ed] up a million [life insurance] customers [in Ghana] over 14 months, 85% of them new to insurance” by linking Read more…

Posted in Cell phone banking, Microinsurance, Our Work, Technology, What We're Reading, Where We Work
Tagged accra, Africa, Cell Phones, chronic poverty, Clients, Council on Foreign Relations, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Health insurance, life insurance, Microensure, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Risks, Rwanda, Tanzania, Technology, Tigo, Weather-index crop insurance

Six New Year’s Goals for Us All

By Emily Riemer on January 1, 2013

At Opportunity, we are putting the finishing touches on our personal resolutions and our big organizational goals for 2013. Here are six goals — both small and big — that will inspire us all. Feed more hungry people. Be nice to your mom. Learn a new skill. Educate the next generation. Be a good friend. Read more…

Posted in Agricultural Finance, Client Stories, Education, Events, Hunger, Loans, Our Work, Where We Work, Women
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, artisan, Asia, Beatrice Boaten, Chennai, Children, Clients, cocoa farmer, Education, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Ghana, Honduras, India, Loans, Mercy Senyegah, Mexico, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, New Year, New year's resolutions, Opportunity International, photo blog, photos, Poverty, rice, rice farmer, Richmercy School, Rwanda, south america

Greater Food Security Moves Small-Scale Farmers from Subsistence to Success

By Opportunity International on December 27, 2012

Millions of sub-Saharan Africans lack access to sufficient high-quality food. Even where natural resources are ample, people suffer from chronic malnourishment due to lack of access to financing, quality seed, fertilizer and distribution channels. That’s why Opportunity International is working to increase regional food security by equipping small-scale farmers with the resources they need to Read more…

Posted in Agricultural Finance, Client Stories, Hunger, Loans, Local Staffing, Our Work, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Savings
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, fertilizer, Food security, Hunger, input suppliers, kiosks, Loans, malnourishment, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rwanda, satellite branches, Savings, seed, Smallholder farmer, subsistence farming, Uganda, value chain

Serving the Whole Person with Opportunity’s Transformation Program

By Opportunity International on December 7, 2012

“It’s the dignity of it” was how one African loan client expressed herself to an off-duty staff member standing in line at an Opportunity International bank. She knew she had achieved success through the work of her own hands. Four million such stories play out each day all over the world as Opportunity strives to Read more…

Posted in Loan officer, Local Staffing, Our Method, Our Mission and Vision, Transformation, Trust Groups, What We're Reading
Tagged Africa, Asia, chief transformation officer, Client Stories, Clients, Community, Daniel Ryumugabe, Ending Poverty, Financial services, gypsies, holistic transformation, Impact, Impact newsletter, India, Loan Officer, local staff, Microfinance, Opportunity India, Opportunity International, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, spiritual transformation, Transformation, Trust Groups, Valamarthi

Show Your Support for Women on Giving Tuesday

By Opportunity International on November 27, 2012

Happy Giving Tuesday to our generous Opportunity International community! Coming right after Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday is a unique chance for nonprofits, families and businesses to come together to encourage the spirit of generosity and good will, to start the holiday giving season off right. Learn more about the movement at Read more…

Posted in Events, Fundraisers, Loans, Online Giving, Our Work, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Women
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Clients, Ending Poverty, Eugenie Nyirabagenzi, Financial services, fundraisers, Giving Tuesday, Global Poverty, Loans, Microfinance, One Woman Holiday Challenge, Opportunity International, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwamagana, Rwanda, Women, women entrepreneurs

On Thanksgiving and Every Day, We’re Grateful for Clients like Eugenie

By Opportunity International on November 22, 2012

As you gather around the Thanksgiving table, enjoying your time with family and friends, we know you’re grateful for all your blessings. At Opportunity International, we’re grateful for the opportunity to be part of work that empowers clients like Eugenie Nyirabagenzi to feed their families and secure a more hopeful future for themselves and their communities. Eugenie Read more…

Posted in Agricultural Finance, Client Stories, Events, Loan officer, Loans, Microinsurance, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Savings, Training, Where We Work, Women
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Client Stories, Clients, Ending Poverty, Eugenie Nyirabagenzi, Farmer, financial literacy training, Financial services, Jean de Dieu Kampayana, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, rice, Rwamagana, Rwanda, Savings, Thanksgiving, Training, Weather-index crop insurance, Women, women clients

What We’re Pinning: Cities Around the World

By Emily Terrell on September 7, 2012

Opportunity works in more than 20 countries around the world, and many of our clients live in urban areas. So this week, we pinned some of our favorite urban landscapes from countries that we work in. What’s your favorite city in the world?

Posted in What We're Pinning, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Asia, Colombia, Community, Ending Poverty, Kampala, Kenya, Kigali, Mexico, Nairobi, Opportunity International, photos, Pinterest, Rwanda, slums, Social Media, south america, The Philippines, Uganda, urban, what we're pinning

Meet Our Staff: How World Travel Brought Me Home to YAO

By Allison Kooser on September 1, 2012

For the past month, when people have asked me how I am doing, I have answered, “I’m living the dream!” As the new manager of Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, I spend my days interacting with smart, motivated, and fascinating individuals, travelling around the country strengthening communities of like-minded people in YAO chapters, and developing plans Read more…

Posted in Events, Insight Trips, Meet Our Staff, Our Mission and Vision, Our Work, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
Tagged Africa, chapters, Clients, Community, donor, El Salvador, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Insight Trip, Insurance, Loans, Meet Our Staff, Mexico, Microfinance, Nicaragua, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rwanda, Savings, south america, Tanzania, Training, Travel, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity

Meet Our Staff: Join the Online Conversation

By Emily Terrell on August 13, 2012

My first real experience with microfinance was in a Rwandan hospital. It was a little over a year ago, and I was on a three-week educational trip to Rwanda. One of our first days there, my group and I were introduced to a Trust Group of about eight women, all of whom had been widowed, Read more…

Posted in Meet Our Staff, Our Mission and Vision, Social Media, Trust Groups, Where We Work
Tagged Africa, Community, Ending Poverty, Facebook, Financial services, Global Poverty, Loans, Meet Our Staff, Microfinance, Online Community Specialist, Opportunity International, Pinterest, Poverty, Rwanda, Social Media, Trust Groups, Twitter, widows, Women

Meet Our Staff: Our New Head of Education Finance, Nathan Byrd

By Opportunity International on June 21, 2012

This May, we welcomed Nathan Byrd as our new head of education finance. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, and reporting to Colin McCormack, managing director, Africa, Nathan will provide strategic direction and leadership for our education finance program, developing specialized financial tools for schools and families and forming strategic partnerships in the education sector. Nathan is currently Read more…

Posted in Loans, Meet Our Staff, Our Leadership, Our Work, Where We Work
Tagged afghanistan, Africa, Banking on Education, Children, Colin McCormack, Education, Education finance, Financial services, Ghana, Global Microfinance Operations, India, Kenya, Loans, Malawi, Meet Our Staff, Microfinance, Nathan Byrd, Opportunity International, Rwanda, School fee loans, school tuition loans, Schools, Students, Uganda

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