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Finding The Light
Posted on 02/25/2025
I closed my laptop as the plane began its descent into Bangkok. Leaving Denver Saturday night and arriving in Thailand Sunday morning had me a bit discombobulated. I passed the time on the long flight by working on a keynote speech that I would be presenting on Monday morning.
At the gracious invitation of the team at AFI FORUM, I was preparing to share a message about risky investments to the largest global network of financial institutions and their investors in Asia. I knew I wanted to flip the narrative on what we perceive as risky investments and, for me, and the work we do at Grameen Foundation, the biggest risk we are taking is by not investing more in women. I went to sleep Sunday night eager to connect with people who are also seeking a more equitable world.
Despite my jetlag, I woke up Monday morning energized. Not only because of the upcoming forum but because I felt hopeful about the year ahead and the goals Grameen plans to achieve. After reaching a milestone of impacting 29 million people since 2016, we knew our strategy of investing in women was enabling real change and I couldn’t wait to share my call to action.
The event launched with a speech from Sophie Sirtaine, CEO of CGAP, who spoke passionately about the profound impact financial inclusion can have towards climate change harm reduction. A solution I agree with completely. When it was my turn to take the stage, I delivered my message enthusiastically and was honoured to find it resonated with the audience.
It was around this time that everything changed. Executive Orders suddenly began declaring that trying to achieve equality was no longer a priority and that US humanitarian aid funding, including through USAID, the State Department, and more, would be immediately halted. The wind had been knocked out of me. Grameen Foundation and thousands of other NGOs globally, rely on humanitarian aid funding. For us, we use that money to provide women in refugee settlements with access to finance for the first time, enabling them to establish crucial needs like a credit score. We support women entrepreneurs in the Philippines who are starting and growing the small businesses needed to move their families out of poverty. While Grameen does not rely on grants from the US Government to the degree of many other organizations, I still asked myself, how would we make up for this loss? What do we say to these women whose lives changed overnight? How do we discuss our work without the ultimate goal being equality for all?
The rest of the event was fantastic despite the sudden upheaval. I met some incredible and memorable people but I have to confess, the next few days were a blur amidst the necessity to connect with Grameen teams around the world, trying to navigate the impact and next steps.
I couldn’t stop though and next headed to Manilla, Philippines. Our team has been doing some amazing work to educate women farmers on smarter farming practices and connecting entrepreneurs to sustainable market systems. I even had the privilege of meeting with Joy Belmonte, the Mayor of Quezon City and spoke at the The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines as part of the U.S. Speaker Program. The Quezon City Government gathered entrepreneurs from various sectors for a rousing roundtable discussion on innovation, scaling up businesses, and micro financing. The opportunity restored some of my optimism while we struggled to continue managing our financial loss but I remained devastated at the harm inflicted on thousands of people.
The next few days found me visiting with partners, colleagues, and most importantly, some of the women we directly support. Meeting one woman in particular, Nanay Nelia, brought me back to myself. Nanay Nelia is an 81 year old woman living far outside Davao. She is a coconut farmer who has maintained strict farming practices for decades. Over the last two years, Nanay has been working with Grameen to increase her crop yields. One change Grameen suggested was to utilize coconut husks as fertilizer. The results have been tremendous. Even though Nanay was hesitant at first, she said she trusted Grameen enough to make the change and she’s so glad she did.
This conversation sparked my hope again and I knew that the work we are doing is more important now than ever. Women like Nanay Nelia are our northstar at Grameen Foundation. They are the reason we get up in the morning and persist in creating a better world. We see the faces of Nanay, Comfort, Yahaya and Yamba where other people see dollar signs. We are determined to end poverty and hunger in our lifetime. Not because it sounds good or makes us feel like better people. We are determined because we are all connected and when one person is hungry, we are all hungry. When one person has to choose between food and medicine, then we all suffer.
A better future requires us to think beyond ourselves and see the potential in us all. While we may face hurdles and setbacks, we will not stop seeking a more equitable world. At Grameen, we remain committed to investing in women and their families. Despite losing some revenue during this pause, with the support of our individual donors, family foundations, and foundational and corporate partners, we are positioned to grow our new strategy and scale impact over the next five years.
I have always stood up for the rights of women and girls, and now, I do so through the work at Grameen Foundation. This moment reminds me of Leonard Cohen lyrics: ‘Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.’ We must never forget that light can always be found when we commit to a better world.
Now is the time to act. If you’ve never supported us, start today. If you already have, consider deepening your impact. Together, we can bring the light of change to women and their families around the world.
Empower smallholder farmers to lift themselves out of poverty.
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