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One Hen Inspires Second Graders to Microfinance
When Katie Smith Milway, author of One Hen, visited Lincoln Elementary School in River Forest, Ill. last Tuesday, she was confronted with the extraordinary work of the school’s second-graders. Up on a screen in the classroom was Opportunity International’s donation website, OptINnow.org, displaying that the children had raised $425 to help end global poverty. “Do you Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agriculture, Children, Education, Ghana, Katie Smith Milway, Kojo, Kwabena Darko, Microfinance, One Hen, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, Students
One Hen Takes Microfinance to School
On Tuesday, I got the chance to visit local elementary schools in Oak Park and River Forest, Ill., attending wonderful presentations by children’s author Katie Smith Milway. She wrote One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference, a book about a Ghanaian boy named Kojo who receives a small loan to buy a Read more…
Tagged Africa, Children, Education, Entreprenuership, Ghana, Katie Smith Milway, Kojo, Kwabena Darko, Loans, Microfinance, One Hen, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, Students, Women's Opportunity Network, WON, Youth
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…
Tagged Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Children, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, Education, Global Opportunity Quilt, Half the Sky, Insight Trip, Kenya, Microfinance, Mother's Day, Nike Foundation, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Ruth-Anne, Savings, Trust Groups, Women, Women Investment Professionals, Women Leaders, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
Young Ambassador Reporting from Tanzania
On Sunday, Feb. 21, I flew from Chicago, Ill., to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. After almost two days of travel, I stepped out of the Julius Nyerere International Airport into humid, 90 degree weather. I knew I was in Tanzania. Thankfully, my luggage arrived with me and I went on to the Opportunity Tanzania head office. Over Read more…
Opportunity LiveBlog: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Champions Rural Outreach
When Bill and Melinda Gates decide to take on a project, they do it with gusto. They call themselves “impatient optimists,” and firmly believe that they are changing the world, one person at a time. Associate program officer in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative, Clara Veniard is no Read more…
Gaining Insight into Women Worldwide
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…
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
Gates and Mastercard Foundations Partner with Opportunity International
In an effort to reach people living in poverty in rural areas, Opportunity International has researched and implemented new products and platforms such as mobile banking, savings services, agricultural finance, cell phone banking, education finance and much more. Because they believe in Opportunity International’s innovative model, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The MasterCard Foundation Read more…
Melinda Gates Highlights Opportunity International
Earlier this week, Opportunity International was honored to host Melinda Gates as she visited some of our clients and experienced our banking services in Malawi. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Opportunity is expanding access to savings accounts, loans, training and insurance to people struggling to work their way out of Read more…
