Featured photo: Some of our group with microcredit client Yareli and her daughter, in her bakery. Photo courtesy of Olivia Hayden. Whole Planet Foundation alleviates poverty in 17 cities in the United States and 75 additional countries that supply Whole Foods Market stores with products. In Miami, the Foundation supports …
Last month I went Cote D’Ivoire to visit WPF long-time microfinance partner PAMF, who administers group microloans to rural entrepreneurs and farmers. This visit allowed me to observe the initial roll-out of a new mobile phone-based platform that WPF provided grant funding to help build. The platform will allow anyone …
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 …
With the tremendous support of Whole Foods Market shoppers, team members and volunteers, donors, and corporate partners, the 2019 Whole Planet Foundation Annual Prosperity Campaign raised $4,249,706 during the month of March. These efforts will support more than 128,000 people with the chance to lift themselves out of poverty through microcredit. Each year, …
At a microfinance group meeting, you might see a lot of paper: piles of cash, thick record books to record attendance and meeting minutes; repayment schedules; group loan balance reports; passbooks. At the branch office, too, more paper: stacks and binders and file cabinets full of applications and loan contracts. …
Each month, we will take you behind the scenes to introduce you to the teams that are dedicated to empowering the world’s poorest people to become entrepreneurs. You will meet Field Officers, volunteers, and Whole Planet Foundation staff. Through their stories you will get a glimpse into a day on the …
“Microfinance has always been a high-touch business, with personal contact playing an indispensable role in the delivery of financial services for low-income clients. Human relationships and values like trust and empathy are crucial in determining whether a microfinance institution (MFI) will be able to grow and remain sustainable. And it …
Spotlight on WPF’s Bold, New Partnerships According to Women’s World Banking, “Women in Bangladesh have the highest-ever rates of literacy and employment, and the country’s economy is growing. Financial inclusion now stands at more than 50 percent, nearly doubling in the past few years. But the financial inclusion gender gap …
In Nigeria, where Whole Foods Market sources ginger, Whole Planet Foundation offers scale capital to the agriculture social enterprise Babban Gona. Babban Gona is working to make rural farming profitable for smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria. Their founder, Kola Masha, started the business to engage young Nigerians that have increasingly …
This guest blog comes from Craig Jones, a Team Trainer from Whole Foods Market in Andover, MA. Thank you for sharing your thoughts during this year’s Annual Prosperity Campaign, Craig! If you shop at any Whole Foods Market store during these first two weeks of March, in all likelihood you’re …
