Forty-six years ago visionary entrepreneurs, Al Whittaker and David Bussau, founded Opportunity International around a revolutionary idea: making small loans to people who were too poor to access funding from financial institutions. Opportunity was a leading pioneer in developing microfinance as a sustainable method of alleviating poverty. Opportunity International is now a global non-profit organization that continues to help people in developing countries work their way out of poverty. Since 1971, the organization has provided more than $12 billion in loans to help 24 million clients launch and expand businesses, feed and educate their children and create jobs in their communities. Today, more than 10 million clients in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, are using an Opportunity International loan, savings account, insurance policy or training to improve their lives. Through microfinance and complementary products and services in education, agriculture and health, the organization has helped clients create or sustain 17.3 million jobs on the way to achieving its goal of 20 million jobs by 2020. More than 92 percent of Opportunity’s loan clients are women who would otherwise likely not have access to financial services because of legal and cultural gender inequities. The global organization has key offices in United States, Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. The organization serves clients through a network of more than 23,000 people worldwide. Discover more at opportunity.org or join the conversation on facebook.com/opportunityintl and twitter.com/opportunityintl.
