Press Releases

New Grameen Foundation program to improve livelihoods of 25,000 Filipino coconut farmers, positively impacting climate change

Grameen Foundation in partnership with Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, has launched a five-year program in the Davao region of the Philippines that is designed to improve 25,000 smallholder farmers’ copra production and incomes and connect them to markets, while ensuring positive social and environmental impacts. The Sustainable Coconut Project is funded by Barry Callebaut, in support of its Sustainable Coconut Oil Strategy and the Sustainable Coconut Oil Charter.

Grameen Foundation names Zubaida Bai President and CEO

CEO and board members to lead Grameen Foundation into its second quarter-century
Grameen Foundation, a leader in providing access to information and resources with a mission to create a world without poverty and hunger, today announced Zubaida Bai as its next President and CEO. She is the first woman and the first Indian American to lead the organization.

Grameen Foundation launches program to promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty among women and youth in four Pacific Island nations

Innovation Fund competition will award grants for women’s economic empowerment projects

Manila, October 6, 2022 - Grameen Foundation has launched BELUU, a three-year program to enhance women’s capacity to shape and thrive in a more connected business environment, demonstrating the benefits of inclusive development, women’s economic empowerment (WEE), and democratic values that foster participation from all key stakeholders. The program will focus on the power of the blue and green economies to increase the market participation of women entrepreneurs in the island nations of Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu, and the Marshall Islands. Under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), BELUU is co-funded by the United States and Taiwan. The program is expected to reach more than 56,000 women and youth entrepreneurs and community members.

Millicom | Tigo to launch new digital “Conectadas” platform for the digital skilling and inclusion of women and girls in Latin America

Original press release

Millicom | Tigo first launched Conectadas in 2017 and since then, more than 560,000 women and girls have been trained through the program. The new platform, set to launch on April 28^th, represents the evolution of the program, as its benefits will now reach women from the entire region. Women with work and/or familial responsibilities, or who live in remote or rural locations, often lack the time or means to attend the Conectadas workshops in the nine countries where Millicom operates and implements its ESG-based education programs aiming at improving lives through connectivity; the digital platform will make access to the Conectadas educational tools much easier for these women.

The free modules, developed with Grameen Foundation and accessible through the Conectadas platform, educate women on topics such as basic internet usage, management of personal finances, and the effective use of digital tools and social media for business. Millicom’s objective is for the platform to reach thousands of additional women in 2022 and beyond. Education stands at the core of Millicom | Tigo’s commitment to its communities and their digital empowerment.

Grameen Announces Leadership Transition

It is with profound gratitude for his achievements that we announce the departure of Steve Hollingworth as CEO and President of the Grameen Foundation.

Grameen Foundation launches blockchain-enabled cash support and training program to help 800 Filipino workers hit hardest by COVID-19

From rabbit farming to breadmaking, new enterprises promise hope for unemployed migrant workers

Digital advisory services for smallholder families in Africa and Asia

A research and innovation project at the the Centre of Development and Environment and the Institute of Sociology, University of Bern, aims to strengthen sustainable farming methods among smallholder families in Africa and Asia using digitally supported agricultural extension services. Its overall goal is to improve the families’ productivity, incomes, and climate resilience. The project is being conducted together with international partners and is supported by the TRANSFORM programme of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) with five million Swiss francs.

More than 3,400 entrepreneurs in the Philippines receive relief and recovery support through Grameen Foundation ‘COVID-19 RELIEF.'

Manila, April 15, 2020 - Grameen Foundation today announced the results of its COVID-19 RELIEF (Response to Enhance Livelihoods of Individual Entrepreneurs and Families) initiative in the Philippines. Supported by J.P. Morgan, the two-phase program targeted individual microentrepreneurs or daily wage earners, especially women, who were severely affected by community lockdowns imposed in Metro Manila and Cebu.

Grameen Foundation plays important role in development of Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies’ newly approved Ebola vaccine

As part of the EBODAC (Ebola Vaccine Deployment, Acceptance and Compliance) consortium, Grameen used MOTECH, its innovative mobile health platform, to help accelerate the vaccine through multiple clinical trials across three continents.

Grameen Foundation, J. P. Morgan Deliver COVID-19 RELIEF in the Philippines

Program will provide immediate relief and longer-term recovery support to 3,500 women entrepreneurs running microenterprises.

Celo Foundation Announces Alliance for Prosperity to Build Financial Tools for 5.6B Smartphone Owners

Grameen Foundation, Mercy Corps, and Andreessen Horowitz among 50 initial member organizations of decentralized, global ecosystem

Grameen to lead India Women's Economic Empowerment program

Grameen is expanding our programming in India to train 400 new Community Agents, called Mittras. Once trained, the Mittras equipped with a smartphone and biometric identification device provide their neighbors, predominantly low-income women, with digital access to financial resources to improve their lives.

Grameen Foundation to design mobile financial and business curriculum to empower women entrepreneurs in Latin America

The gender gap that exists in access to mobile technology creates significant barriers to eradicating poverty among Latin American women and their families.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of BRAC, passes away

It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder of BRAC and a true humanitarian visionary.

In midst of rural poverty, 1.3 million people gain access to financial services through women's networks

Low-income women equipped with new technology are driving change in financial access and gender roles in India and the Philippines. Women-based networks of community finance workers, organized by Grameen Foundation, have brought financial services to nearly 1.3 million people through hundreds of newly trained community finance workers.

Grameen Foundation Launches Farmer-to-Farmer in Kenya

Grameen Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the five-year Farmer-to-Farmer Program for Financial Services in Kenya.

Grameen Foundation Launches Farmer-to-Farmer Program in Colombia

Grameen Foundation is proud to announce the launch of the five-year USAID-funded Partners of the Americas’ John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program in Colombia. Farmer-to-Farmer will support the development of rural enterprises and farmers’ associations across poverty-stricken areas.

Youth Champions for Digital Finance launches in rural India

Less than 10 percent of India’s 650,000 rural villages have a bank branch, and millions of the rural poor have yet to access formal financial services. To help bridge this gap, Youth Champions for Digital Finance will train people in poor, rural areas in digital financial literacy, increasing their knowledge, confidence and ability to successfully use financial services.

Digital and Satellite Technology Program Launches to Support Ghana’s Smallholder Cocoa Farmers

ACCRA, GHANA, July 10, 2018—SAT4Farming, an initiative to reach thousands of small-scale cocoa producers with information and services to improve their productivity and sustainability, was announced today.

Female shop owners catalyzing financial inclusion in the Philippines

Grameen Foundation’s digitally powered Community Agent Network (CAN) has equipped and empowered a largely female field force to break through barriers to financial services for the country’s low-income communities.

Grameen Foundation to Launch Workplace Protection Project for Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiatives

Washington D.C., April 5, 2018 – Grameen Foundation is proud to announce a new project, funded by the United States Department of Labor, to integrate the issues of child labor alleviation and safe working conditions into women’s economic empowerment initiatives.

Grameen Foundation Delivering Family Planning Education in Bénin

Grameen Foundation has launched a campaign to provide families in Bénin with the information, services and financing they need to make informed decisions about family planning.

Accenture Labs and Grameen Foundation India Use Emerging Technologies to Help Increase Adoption of Financial Services Among Low-Income Women

New applications leverage the power of artificial intelligence and augmented reality to improve financial capacity and decision-making for and by the poor.

Grameen Foundation and Partners Launch Global Initiative: Women and Girls Empowered

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2018, we are in the midst of a major cultural shift in how society thinks and talks around issues of gender equality.

Grameen Foundation and Partners bringing satellite technology to benefit smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana

Grameen Foundation is pleased to announce its engagement in a newly funded consortium, SAT4farming, which will help 240,000 smallholder cocoa farmers across Ghana increase their yields by up to 300 percent, improve their incomes, and build stronger businesses.

Grameen Foundation to launch WomenLink II in India and the Philippines

Grameen Foundation is proud to announce WomenLink II, a renewed partnership with Wells Fargo to catalyze economic empowerment through the breakthrough use of digital financial services among poor and low-income women.

As India transforms financial services for low-income communities, new report tackles pervasive problem of low account usage

Survey of 25,000 low-income individuals highlights the role of gender and jobs in transforming India into a digitally empowered and financially included economy.

Women in rural India register dramatic gains in nutrition, food security

Research by Grameen Foundation and Freedom from Hunger India Trust reveals promising approaches to combat anemia, improve maternal and infant health.

Digital Toolkit to Give Tanzania Smallholder Farmers Access to Finance, Farm Supplies and Training

ARUSHA, Tanzania, May 29 2017—Smallholder farmers in Tanzania will soon have access to a unique digital saving plan for inputs, coupled with timely, tailored farming advice, that will help to solve several major problems confronting farmers in poor areas: access to finance, to inputs, and to agricultural training.

Grameen Foundation and Freedom from Hunger Join Forces to Form a Unified Global Organization

New organization to combine power of digital technology to end poverty with robust networks of women’s self-help groups in Africa, Asia and Latin America