Empower Entrepreneurs Throughout Colombia

Opportunity International has expanded economic opportunities for disadvantaged female entrepreneurs living in rural, violence-affected communities in Colombia. Through your support, we expanded financial inclusion for women, helped more children from impoverished families go to school, and expanded client trainings and financial services to increase their incomes and create more jobs. We achieved this through:

1. Expanding outreach to women entrepreneurs living in violence-affected areas. While still engaging impoverished working families in Colombia, we have reached further down the economic ladder to engage women living in impoverished, violence-affected communities, introducing them to the most basic concepts of financial literacy and income-generating businesses.
2. Empowering women entrepreneurs as job creators in marginalized communities. You have provided moms with the tools and skills they need to reach their potential to support their families and become leaders and job creators within their communities.
3. Expanding access to education for girls. Together, we built the capacity of entrepreneurs who have launched or expanded quality schools that can change the future for children, especially girls, along with their families and entire communities.

Expanding access to economic and educational opportunities has proven vitally important for low-income Colombian women entrepreneurs and their children. The positive impact of this project has rippled beyond entrepreneurs and school proprietors to build stronger communities across the country. Through your generosity, Opportunity has provided critical support, training, and economic opportunities to hardworking Colombian entrepreneurs and school proprietors.

 During the first six months of 2018:

• We opened two new branches in rural, violence-affected Colombian communities and began serving women with the financial resources and support they need to succeed.
• Opportunity Colombia number of entrepreneurs with loans grew by 19% from 6,180 to 7,348. The increased outreach is attributed in part to the two new branches.
• We trained 658 entrepreneur clients. Including family members, 3,290 people have been positively impacted as clients grow thriving businesses that increase household income and create jobs for neighbors.
• We updated our 7-module training series for both savings groups and Trust Groups based on their expressed needs from data collected through our Social Performance Management tool and client surveys.
• 416 Colombian schools are investing Opportunity School Improvement loans, enhancing education quality for about 104,000 children through improved infrastructure like better classrooms and gender-separated bathrooms.
• Colombian parents are using 428 Opportunity School Fee loans to cover the education costs of about 1,300 kids.
• Ten youth were accessing College/Vocational loans to pay for continuing education.
• Opportunity Colombia dramatically increased their outreach by developing and launching an education product that funds community moms who start preschools in their homes. The pre-schools are growing and creating jobs for other moms in the neighborhood.

Links:

• Visit our Website
• Where We Work: Colombia