Opportunity International is an organization that provides small business loans, savings, insurance and training to more than two million people working their way out of poverty in the developing world. It serves clients in more than 20 countries and works with fundraising partners in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Opportunity is a Christian organization whose work is motivated by "Jesus Christ’s call to love and serve the poor," while serving all its clients regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity or gender. Opportunity was founded in 1971 by Al Whittaker, former president of Bristol Myers International Corporation in America, and Australian entrepreneur David Bussau. They established the organization, seeking a solution to extreme poverty that would transform people’s lives while empowering them to financial independence and sustainability. Opportunity was one of the first nonprofit organizations to recognize the benefits of providing small business loans as capital to those working their way out of poverty, initially distributing these loans via the Trust Group model.
Read more about Opportunity International: Trust Groups, Local Staffing, Technology, History, Annual Report, Opportunity International Network, Operating Partners, Efficacy of Microfinancing
Famous quotes containing the word opportunity:
“Never miss an opportunity to allow a child to do something she can and wants to on her own. Sometimes we’re in too much of a rush—and she might spill something, or do it wrong. But whenever possible she needs to learn, error by error, lesson by lesson, to do better. And the more she is able to learn by herself the more she gets the message that she’s a kid who can.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)