Nine Outstanding Field Officers Recognized in 2020 Latin American Field Officer Awards

Stephanie ManciagliCOVID-19, Field Officer Awards, Field Team Blogs, Latin America and the Caribbean, Microfinance Partners

Whole Planet Foundation’s annual Field Officer Awards for the Latin American region were distributed in August 2020. This special honor is designed to go to a Field Officer who has gone above and beyond his/her role to provide financial services to low income entrepreneurs . Often, award nominations are submitted …

Webinars Share Best Practices and Innovations Concerning COVID-19 in Latin America

Stephanie ManciagliCOVID-19, Latin America and the Caribbean, Microfinance Partners

Prompted by interest from our network of microfinance partners, WPF organized two webinars to bring together our Latin American and Caribbean network of microfinance partners. The first call, in June 2020, gathered ten microfinance institutions to discuss how each was managing the COVID-19 crisis; if and how they were disbursing …

Human Resilience, Microfinance, and the Evolution of Potatoes

JP KloningerField Team Blogs, Latin America and the Caribbean, Microcredit, Microfinance Partners

J.P. Kloninger is the Programs Manager for Whole Foods Market Team Member Giving and Whole Planet Foundation’s North America microfinance portfolio. He previously served as Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and as Administrator of Finance and Business Analysis.  A native Californian who grew up in Costa Rica, J.P. …

Support for Savings: How Microfinance Partners add Value to their Clients

Whole Planet FoundationAsia and the Pacific, Field Team Blogs, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa

Whole Planet Foundation’s funds are provided to our partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) to be distributed to borrowers as microloans or in-kind productive assets (like cows, sewing machines, or solar lamps). For most of our partners, the loan is given in a “credit-plus” context. This means that the MFI would provide …

People Power Microcredit: Behind the Scenes in Latin America

Whole Planet FoundationField Officer Awards, Latin America and the Caribbean, Microfinance Partners

This year, we are bringing you People Power Microcredit, a newsletter series that goes behind the scenes to show you the incredible people driving our mission forward. You’ll meet volunteers, Field Credit Officers, Whole Planet Foundation Team Members, and others dedicated to eradicating poverty and empowering entrepreneurs. This month, meet …

aflore microfinance

Aflore and WPF Help Small Businesses Blossom in Colombia

JP KloningerField Team Blogs, Foundation News, Latin America and the Caribbean, Microcredit, Microfinance Partners

Whole Planet Foundation was created to support communities worldwide where Whole Foods Market sources products.  Flowers for Whole Foods Market stores across the US, Canada, and the UK, along with many other products, are sourced in large quantities from Colombia — so while it’s perhaps a bit of a happy …

honduras farmers

Farming + Finance for a Path out of Poverty

JP KloningerField Team Blogs, Foundation News, Latin America and the Caribbean, Microcredit, Microfinance Partners

At Whole Planet Foundation, we hold that microfinance is not a “silver bullet,” but an important component in a series of factors which can permanently lift people, families, and communities out of poverty.  Additionally, because people near the base of the economic pyramid often rely on subsistence farming or basic …

matt of vital farms weaving

Vital Farms: Making Lasting Change by Supporting Small Businesses

Whole Planet Foundation10K Supplier Partners, Latin America and the Caribbean, Supplier Partnerships

Back in 2007, when Matt and Catherine O’Hayer started pasture-raising hens, their thoughts were never just on the birds in their care, but in using whatever means at their disposal to effect lasting change. Directly, that meant challenging long-held assumptions in the food business – that sustainable could not mean …

alomgir and sophie

The Spark of Entrepreneurship + Whole Planet Foundation: Part I

Whole Planet FoundationLatin America and the Caribbean, Microcredit, Teysha

This two part guest blog series comes to us from Sophie Eckrich, a former Whole Planet Foundation intern and founder of Teysha. Ten years ago, I embarked for a life-changing journey as an intern for Whole Planet Foundation with their microfinance partner, Grameen Bank, in Panajachel, Guatemala. I was 19 …