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Hi, I did a rewrite of this article because it was outdated and missing sourcing. It had also been flagged for possible conflict of interest. Please note, I am employed by Village Enterprise as I've disclosed in my user profile. I have rewritten this article trying to be as impartial as possible and linking to the relevant sourcing throughout. I'm happy to answer any questions about the rewrite and greatly appreciate your review.
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{{about|the nonprofit organization|the educational program known as Enterprise Village|Stavros Institute}}
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'''Village Enterprise''' is a [[501(c)(3)]] [[nonprofit organization]] that equips women, refugees, and youth living in extreme poverty to launch climate-smart businesses and saving groups in Africa. Locally-led and community-based, it equips these populations to adapt to the shocks of drought, climate change, displacement, and conflict. Its mission is to “end [[extreme poverty]] in rural Africa through entrepreneurship, innovation, and collective action.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=2023 Annual Report {{!}} Village Enterprise |url=https://2023annualreport.villageenterprise.org/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=2023annualreport.villageenterprise.org |language=en}}</ref>
'''Village Enterprise''' (formerly known as '''Village Enterprise Fund{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}''') is an American [[501(c)(3)]] [[nonprofit organization]] that works to end extreme poverty. The organization employs local leaders who then implement a community-based poverty graduation program that has been adapted for different contexts in Africa.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}


As of December 2023, Village Enterprise has started over 80,000 businesses, trained over 274,000 first-time entrepreneurs, and positively impacted the lives of over 1,656,000 people in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Mozambique, and Tanzania.<ref>{{Cite web |first= |date=2023-12-12 |title=Refugees fleeing Somali civil war receive grants, training, and market access to become entrepreneurs |url=https://villageenterprise.org/blog/dreams-ethiopia/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Village Enterprise |language=en-US}}</ref>
Over 95% of Village Enterprise's staff are East African and include in-country leadership in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}


==History==
==How it works==
The Village Enterprise poverty graduation model is a one-year [[Targeting Ultra Poor Program - The Graduation Approach|graduation approach]] that targets households living below the [[Poverty threshold#Absolute poverty and the International Poverty Line|international poverty line]] and provides: access to a savings group, business training, a seed capital grant, and business mentoring. Each seed capital grant is a US$180 cash transfer given to groups of three entrepreneurs who launch a business together.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Model |url=https://villageenterprise.org/what-we-do/our-model/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Village Enterprise |language=en-US}}</ref> The positive impacts of the graduation approach and the rigorous evidence that supports it were highlighted by [[Nicholas Kristof]] in his 2015 [[The New York Times|''New York Times'']] article “The Power of Hope is Real.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kristof |first=Nicholas |date=2015-05-21 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Power of Hope Is Real |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/opinion/nicholas-kristof-the-power-of-hope-is-real.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
⚫
Village Enterprise was co-founded in 1987 by Brian Lehnen and Joan Hestenes to show how "entrepreneurship can help the very poor create businesses and experience the dignity of long-lasting jobs."<ref>Maslow on Management, Abraham Maslow, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. 138</ref> For the first several years, Village Enterprise remained a small, volunteer-run organization that was operated from their home.<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/about-us/history/ Village Enterprise - History]</ref>


A [[randomized controlled trial]] published in 2022 by IDinsight found the Village Enterprise program had a positive and statistically significant impact on both indicators it measured: monthly consumption and net assets.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond Evaluation Findings |url=https://www.idinsight.org/publication/village-enterprise-development-impact-bond-evaluation-findings/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=IDinsight |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Saldinger |first=Adva |date=2022-03-08 |title=Development impact bond in Uganda, Kenya hits targets despite COVID-19 |url=https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/development-impact-bond-in-uganda-kenya-hits-targets-despite-covid-19-102670 |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Devex |language=en}}</ref> It also estimated the Village Enterprise program to have a 534% lifetime benefit-cost ratio, meaning for every $1 invested into the program, $5.34 of income is generated by their entrepreneurs.<ref>McManus et al. “Can poverty graduation programs make poor households more resilient during shocks? Evidence from Kenya and Uganda during COVID-19”. p. 23</ref> A previous randomized controlled trial by [[Innovations for Poverty Action]] that was published in 2018 and written about in [[Vox (website)|''Vox'']] found that the Village Enterprise program led to increases in consumption, assets, income, as well as improvements in nutrition and subjective wellbeing of business owners and their families.<ref>"[https://poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/IPA-Village-Enterprise-Final-Results-Brief-May-2020.pdf The Impact of Variations of Ultra-Poor Graduation Programming in Uganda]". ''Innovations for Poverty Action''. Retrieved 2024-02-16.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |date=2018-10-15 |title=Giving out cash is a great way to fight poverty. This approach might be even better. |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/15/17938112/cash-graduation-extreme-poverty-uganda-south-sudan |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref>
After working as a Village Enterprise intern in East Africa, Jessica Jackley co-founded Kiva, the world's first peer-to-peer online microlending platform, in 2005.<ref>Clay Water Brick, Jessica Jackley, Spiegel & Grau, p. 32</ref>


⚫
== History ==
In 2008, Village Enterprise trained [[The BOMA Project]] on its microenterprise model.<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/about-us/history/ Village Enterprise trains BOMA Project’s Co-Founder]</ref>
⚫
Village Enterprise was co-founded in 1987 by Brian Lehnen and Joan Hestenes to show how "entrepreneurship can help the very poor create businesses and experience the dignity of long-lasting jobs."<ref>Maslow on Management, Abraham Maslow, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. 138</ref> For the first several years, Village Enterprise remained a small, volunteer-run organization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Story |url=https://villageenterprise.org/about-us/our-story/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Village Enterprise |language=en-US}}</ref>


Village Enterprise hired its first outside CEO, Dianne Calvi, in 2010. Because of her impact at Village Enterprise, Calvi was honored with the President’s Award for the Advancement of the Common Good from [[Stanford University]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adami |first=Chelcey |date=2023-06-05 |title=Stanford alumni honored for work advancing the common good |url=https://news.stanford.edu/report/2023/06/05/stanford-alumni-honored-work-advancing-common-good/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Stanford Report |language=en}}</ref>
Village Enterprise hired its first outside CEO, Dianne Calvi, in 2010.


In 2017, Village Enterprise launched a [[Development impact bond|Development Impact Bond]] (DIB), the first for poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. When the results were released in 2022, the Village Enterprise DIB was shown to have succeeded, despite being implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic. The randomized controlled trial conducted by IDinsight estimated the program would generate lifetime impacts of more than $21 million for communities, around four times the overall cost of the project.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saldinger |first=Adva |date=2022-03-08 |title=Development impact bond in Uganda, Kenya hits targets despite COVID-19 |url=https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/development-impact-bond-in-uganda-kenya-hits-targets-despite-covid-19-102670 |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Devex |language=en}}</ref>
In 2017, Village Enterprise launched the first Development Impact Bond (DIB) for poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa.


==Recognition==
Innovations for Poverty Action completed a multi-year, independent Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of the Village Enterprise program in 2018. The RCT studied 6,378 of the poorest households in 138 villages in rural Uganda and found that the Village Enterprise program led to increases in consumption, assets, income, and savings, as well as improvements in nutrition, food security, and subjective wellbeing of business owners and their families.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}
In 2021, Village Enterprise was named a winner of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award for Refugees for its DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) model.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award |url=https://www.larsenlamiconiqimpactaward.org/news/www.larsenlamiconiqimpactaward.org |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award}}</ref> DREAMS combines Village Enterprise's poverty graduation program and [[Mercy Corps]]' market systems development approach.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DREAMS: A bold, new model for lasting change |url=https://www.mercycorps.org/what-we-do/delivering-resilient-enterprises-and-market-systems |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Mercy Corps |language=en}}</ref> In 2023, Village Enterprise and Mercy Corps were awarded [[Fast Company|''Fast Company's'']] World Changing Ideas Award for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for DREAMS.<ref>Hernandez, Andrea Paola. "[https://www.fastcompany.com/90878646/mercy-corps-dreams-refugees-entrepreneurs This program is helping hundreds of refugees start their own businesses]". ''Fast Company''. Retrieved 2024-02-02.</ref>


Also in 2023, Village Enterprise received a $7 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Browley |first=Jasmine |date=2023-04-03 |title=A $7M Donation From MacKenzie Scott Is Poised To Help End Hunger For 20 Million People In Africa |url=https://www.essence.com/news/money-career/mackenzie-scott-end-hunger-africa/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Essence |language=en-US}}</ref> That same year, the Kenyan newspaper [[Daily Nation|''Daily Nation'']] published an article about the impacts of Village Enterprise's work on an entrepreneur named Salome Lodis.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Esipisu |first=Isaiah |date=2023-08-14 |title=Building climate resilience through village-based banks |url=https://nation.africa/kenya/health/building-climate-resilience-through-village-based-banks-4335096 |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Nation |language=en}}</ref>
==Program==
According to the World Bank, 767 million people in the world live in extreme poverty (less than $1.90 a day), with nearly 400 million residing in Sub-Saharan Africa.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}


As of February 16, 2024, Village Enterprise has a four-star, 100% rating by [[Charity Navigator]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charity Navigator - Rating for Village Enterprise |url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/222852248 |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=www.charitynavigator.org}}</ref> and a platinum seal of transparency from [[Candid (organization)|Candid]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Village Enterprise Fund, Inc. - GuideStar Profile |url=https://www.guidestar.org/profile/22-2852248 |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=www.guidestar.org}}</ref>
Village Enterprise works in remote, rural areas of East Africa where over 60% of the population live in extreme poverty.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150912043923/http://www.ifad.org/rpr2011/media/kit/factsheet_e.pdf/ Rural Poverty in the Developing World - IFAD Archived September 12, 2015, at the Wayback Machine]</ref>

Village Enterprise's graduation program consists of a set of sequenced interventions which are recognized by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) as "key components to put very poor people on a sustainable pathway out of extreme poverty." According to Nicholas Kristof in ''The New York Times'', "the graduation program gives very poor families a significant boost that continues after the program ends."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/opinion/nicholas-kristof-the-power-of-hope-is-real.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=1/ The Power of Hope Is Real - The New York Times]</ref> Common elements of graduation programs include business training and mentoring, start-up grants or an asset transfer, and access to savings. Other organizations{{which|date=April 2023}} that follow a graduation model also provide limited consumption support, though Village Enterprise does not.

The Village Enterprise poverty graduation model has five major stages:

# '''Targeting''': Village Enterprise finds individuals who live under $1.90 a day using Innovations for Poverty Action's Poverty Probability Index (PPI)<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1.1-USAID-Village-Enterprise-FGI360-CC-Youth-Study_2014.pdf Working with Rural Youth]</ref> combined with a village-based Participatory Wealth Ranking and invites them to join the program.<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/what-we-do/ Village Enterprise - Our approach]</ref>
# '''Training''': Local business mentors assist the participants to form three-person business groups. They then train participants in business, financial skills, family support, and conflict resolution.
# '''Business Savings Groups (BSGs)''': Participants join BSGs, a group of approximately 10 businesses (30 entrepreneurs), which become a self-generated, self-managed form of microfinance. BSGs serve as a safety net and a Village Enterprise exit strategy as a BSG typically continues to meet after the program ends.
# '''Cash Transfer''': Each three-person business group receives seed capital in the form of a cash grant. Village Enterprise business mentors guide new business owners through selecting an enterprise that is best suited to flourish, taking into account the team's skill set, risk factors, profitability, and local market conditions and value chains.<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/5-career-lessons-i-learne_b_5940166 Career Lessons I Learned From African Entrepreneurs - Huffington Post]</ref>
# '''Mentoring''': Through a network of local business mentors, Village Enterprise provides business mentoring.

Village Enterprise gives grants rather than loans, as people living in areas that Village Enterprise serves typically don't have access to banks or are not ready to take on a loan. A study{{by whom|date=April 2023}} concluded{{when|date=April 2023}} that microloans have not shown to be successful in leading the ultra-poor out of extreme poverty.<ref>In their Own Hands, How Savings Groups are Revolutionizing Development. Pps 6, 10</ref>

Typical Village Enterprise businesses include farming, livestock, tailoring, and small retail businesses.<ref>[https://ssir.org/articles/entry/diversifying_ngo_leadership#/Diversifying NGO Leadership- Stanford Social Innovation Review]</ref> Each business has three business owners, to diversify risk and pool skill sets,<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/USAID-Community-Connector-Technical-Notes-Series-No.-2.pdf Working with Rural Youth - USAID]</ref> and one business supports an average of 20 people based on the average family size in the area.<ref>[https://www.worldpulse.com/community/users/susan-skog/posts/34204/ Successful Ugandan Tailor Helps Mend the Fabric of Her Torn Country - A Path Appears]</ref> Approximately 75% of Village Enterprise business owners are women.<ref>[http://villageenterprise.org/our-impact/performance-dashboard/ Village Enterprise Performance Dashboard]</ref>

Village Enterprise uses TaroWorks<ref>[https://taroworks.org/poverty-graduation-model/ TaroWorks Archived January 12, 2016, at the Wayback Machine]</ref> to collect data via smartphones and to then analyze and report on the impact of its program.

==Areas of work and impact==

===Youth===

Over 75% of Africa's population is younger than 35.<ref>[https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Policy-Documents/FINAL%20Briefing%20Note%204%20Africas%20Demographic%20Trends.pdf Africa's Demographic Trends - African Development Bank Groups Archived September 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine]</ref> Most rural youth are unemployed with very few economic opportunities.

In Northern Uganda, Village Enterprise works with Mercy Corps on the Mastercard Foundation-funded DYNAMIC program (Driving Youth-led New Agribusiness and Microenterprise) to train youth to start agriculture-based businesses. The focus on youth was inspired by the results of a Youth Study<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1.1-USAID-Village-Enterprise-FGI360-CC-Youth-Study_2014.pdf Working with Rural Youth - USAID]</ref> conducted in Spring 2014 in partnership with FHI 360 and USAID to identify retention, training, and business selection strategies for the Village Enterprise program. This study was a November 2015 finalist of a USAID Collaborative, Learning, and Adaptation Case Competition.<ref>[https://usaidlearninglab.org/library/village-enterprise-youth-cla-and-usaids-community-connector-uganda/ Village Enterprise Youth CLA and USAID's Community Connector in Uganda - Learning Lab]</ref>

===Women ===

As of 2019, 75% of Village Enterprise's business owners are women.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

According to the UN World Food Program findings, women and girls are most affected by neglect in rural, poverty-stricken areas. 7 out of 10 of the world's hungry are women and girls. In East Africa, women are more likely to be illiterate, perform unpaid work, and eat less in lean times than men.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Founders Pledge, a charity through which company founders and investors commit to donating a percentage of their personal proceeds to a charity of their choice following a successful exit, endorsed Village Enterprise in 2018 as a top charity for women's empowerment.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

In 2014, Village Enterprise participated in a Boston Consulting Group study<ref>[https://www.bcg.com/publications/2014/bridging-entrepreneurship-gender-gap.aspx Bridging the Entrepreneurship Gender Gap: The Power of Networks - Boston Consulting Group]</ref> on empowering women entrepreneurs, and specifically, the importance of social capital and networks for their success.

===Financial inclusion===

Often the poor remain or slide back into poverty due to financial setbacks from a medical illness or death of a family member. Savings Groups are increasingly recognized as a valuable vehicle for helping the "unbanked" transcend extreme poverty. Village Enterprise's Business Savings Groups (BSGs) aim to provide a safe place to save, a way to take out business loans, and access interest-free financing for family emergencies. BSGs act as both insurance against catastrophes and as banks with a source of capital for business expansion.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Village Enterprise became an early adopter in the "savings revolution" by adding this component to their model in 2011. Across Kenya and Uganda, each BSG saved an average of $1,300 in FY16.<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/our-impact/ Village Enterprise Performance Dashboard]</ref> In 2014, Village Enterprise participated in a Mastercard Foundation research study of practices and possibilities for savings<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160816113907/http://www.mastercardfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Savings-Brief2.pdf/ PRACTICES & POSSIBILITIES IN SAVINGS GROUPS - Mastercard Foundation]</ref> and provided extensive data on the needs and preferences of 139 BSG members in Uganda.

In 2013, Village Enterprise launched its Smarter Market Analysis and Risk Assessment Tool (SMART),<ref>[https://ssir.org/articles/entry/information_as_a_cash_crop/ Information as a Cash Crop - Stanford Social Innovation Review]</ref> to determine the profitability, risk, sustainability, demand, and price fluctuation of different crops at the local market level. The tool was recognized by the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Next Century Innovators (among 1,000+ applicants).<ref>[https://nextbillion.net/getting-smarter-on-crops/ SMART-er Ways to Plant Profitable Crops - Next Billion]</ref>

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== Funding ==
Village Enterprise is funded by individuals, foundations, corporations, and government and multilateral organizations, including USAID, USAID Development Innovation Ventures, and DFID.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

==External reviews==
In 2013, Village Enterprise's staffing model was recognized in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.<ref>[https://ssir.org/articles/entry/diversifying_ngo_leadership/ Diversifying NGO Leadership - Stanford Social Innovation Review]</ref>

In 2021, Village Enterprise was a winner of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award ($10.25 million) for its Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems (DREAMS) for refugees project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award |url=https://www.larsenlamiconiqimpactaward.org/results/www.larsenlamiconiqimpactaward.org |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award}}</ref>

In 2019, Village Enterprise was a finalist for the Drucker Prize for Innovation. In 2018, Village Enterprise was a semi-finalist.<ref>[https://www.drucker.institute/news-post/announcing-2019-drucker-prize-top-ten-finalists/ Drucker Prize for Innovation]</ref>

In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 Village Enterprise received [[Charity Navigator]]'s highest 4-star rating.<ref>[https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11866#.VdJxtHvLDoU/ Charity Navigator: Village Enterprise]</ref>

In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 Village Enterprise was selected by The Life You Can Save as one of their top, evidence-based charities.<ref>[http://www.aidforafrica.org/news/rockefeller-foundation-aid-for-africa-member-village-enterprise-highlighted-as-one-of-100-next-century-innovators/ Aid for Africa Member Village Enterprise Recognized as One of 100 Next Century Innovators - Rockefeller Foundation]</ref>

In 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 Village Enterprise was endorsed by Founder's Pledge as a top charity for women's empowerment.<ref>[https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/founders-pledge-endorses-village-enterprise-as-a-top-charity-for-womens-empowerment-300768842.html Founder's Pledge]</ref>

2010-2015 Village Enterprise received Guidestar's gold rating for five consecutive years.<ref>[http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2010/ Top-rated charities - 2010 archived version - Give Well]</ref> In 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 Village Enterprise received Guidestar's highest Platinum rating.

In 2016, Village Enterprise underwent an extensive impact audit by [[ImpactMatters]] and received their highest ratings for impact, monitoring and evaluation, and iteration and learning.<ref>[http://myvillage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/VE_VillageImpactReport_Vol-2_R1.9.pdf Impact Matters audits Village Enterprise]</ref> In 2016, Village Enterprise was selected finalist of the Classy Award. Those finalists are chosen based on their scale and scope of the problem, their innovative approach, ability to solve the problem, and organizational effectiveness.<ref>[https://villageenterprise.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Village-Enterprise-Named-a-Finalist-for-the-6th-Annual-Classy-Awards.pdf Village Enterprise selected as a finalist of the Classy Award]</ref>

In 2015, Village Enterprise's grants-based ultra poor program was recognized by Innovations for Poverty Action<ref>[http://www.poverty-action.org/program-area/social-protection/ultra-poor/ Ultra Poor Graduation Pilots - Innovation for Poverty Action]</ref> and featured in ''The New York Times''.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/opinion/nicholas-kristof-the-power-of-hope-is-real.html?_r=0/ The Power of Hope Is Real - The New York Times]</ref>

2015 -2021 Village Enterprise received Great Nonprofit's "top rated nonprofit" award.<ref>[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11866#.VdJxtHvLDoU/ Charity Navigator: Village Enterprise]</ref>

In 2012, the Rockefeller Foundation recognized Village Enterprise as a Next Century Innovator for developing SMART (Smarter Market Analysis Risk Tool), a mobile agricultural tool that identifies risk/reward factors for small-scale farmers to consider when deciding which crop(s) to plant.<ref>[http://www.aidforafrica.org/news/rockefeller-foundation-aid-for-africa-member-village-enterprise-highlighted-as-one-of-100-next-century-innovators/ Aid for Africa Member Village Enterprise Recognized as One of 100 Next Century Innovators - Rockefeller Foundation]</ref>

In 2010, Charity evaluator [[GiveWell]] rated Village Enterprise as one of their top charities.<ref>[http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2010/ Top-rated charities - 2010 archived version - Give Well]</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 19:32, 16 February 2024

This page is about the nonprofit organization. For the educational program known as Enterprise Village, see Stavros Institute.
Village Enterprise
Founded1987 (1987)
FocusEconomic development
Location
Area served
Africa
MethodGraduation Approach
Key people
  • Dianne Calvi (CEO)
  • Katie Boland (Chair of the Board of Directors)
  • Brian Lehnen (Co-founder)
  • Joan Hestenes (Co-founder)
Staff
440+
Websitewww.villageenterprise.org

Village Enterprise is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that equips women, refugees, and youth living in extreme poverty to launch climate-smart businesses and saving groups in Africa. Locally-led and community-based, it equips these populations to adapt to the shocks of drought, climate change, displacement, and conflict. Its mission is to “end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship, innovation, and collective action.”[1]

As of December 2023, Village Enterprise has started over 80,000 businesses, trained over 274,000 first-time entrepreneurs, and positively impacted the lives of over 1,656,000 people in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Mozambique, and Tanzania.[2]

How it works

The Village Enterprise poverty graduation model is a one-year graduation approach that targets households living below the international poverty line and provides: access to a savings group, business training, a seed capital grant, and business mentoring. Each seed capital grant is a US$180 cash transfer given to groups of three entrepreneurs who launch a business together.[3] The positive impacts of the graduation approach and the rigorous evidence that supports it were highlighted by Nicholas Kristof in his 2015 New York Times article “The Power of Hope is Real.”[4]

A randomized controlled trial published in 2022 by IDinsight found the Village Enterprise program had a positive and statistically significant impact on both indicators it measured: monthly consumption and net assets.[5][6] It also estimated the Village Enterprise program to have a 534% lifetime benefit-cost ratio, meaning for every $1 invested into the program, $5.34 of income is generated by their entrepreneurs.[7] A previous randomized controlled trial by Innovations for Poverty Action that was published in 2018 and written about in Vox found that the Village Enterprise program led to increases in consumption, assets, income, as well as improvements in nutrition and subjective wellbeing of business owners and their families.[8][9]

History

Village Enterprise was co-founded in 1987 by Brian Lehnen and Joan Hestenes to show how "entrepreneurship can help the very poor create businesses and experience the dignity of long-lasting jobs."[10] For the first several years, Village Enterprise remained a small, volunteer-run organization.[11]

Village Enterprise hired its first outside CEO, Dianne Calvi, in 2010. Because of her impact at Village Enterprise, Calvi was honored with the President’s Award for the Advancement of the Common Good from Stanford University in 2023.[12]

In 2017, Village Enterprise launched a Development Impact Bond (DIB), the first for poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. When the results were released in 2022, the Village Enterprise DIB was shown to have succeeded, despite being implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic. The randomized controlled trial conducted by IDinsight estimated the program would generate lifetime impacts of more than $21 million for communities, around four times the overall cost of the project.[13]

Recognition

In 2021, Village Enterprise was named a winner of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award for Refugees for its DREAMS (Delivering Resilient Enterprises and Market Systems) model.[14] DREAMS combines Village Enterprise's poverty graduation program and Mercy Corps' market systems development approach.[15] In 2023, Village Enterprise and Mercy Corps were awarded Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Award for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for DREAMS.[16]

Also in 2023, Village Enterprise received a $7 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.[17] That same year, the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation published an article about the impacts of Village Enterprise's work on an entrepreneur named Salome Lodis.[18]

As of February 16, 2024, Village Enterprise has a four-star, 100% rating by Charity Navigator[19] and a platinum seal of transparency from Candid.[20]

References

  1. ^ "2023 Annual Report | Village Enterprise". 2023annualreport.villageenterprise.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  2. ^ "Refugees fleeing Somali civil war receive grants, training, and market access to become entrepreneurs". Village Enterprise. 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  3. ^ "Our Model". Village Enterprise. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  4. ^ Kristof, Nicholas (2015-05-21). "Opinion | The Power of Hope Is Real". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  5. ^ "Village Enterprise Development Impact Bond Evaluation Findings". IDinsight. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  6. ^ Saldinger, Adva (2022-03-08). "Development impact bond in Uganda, Kenya hits targets despite COVID-19". Devex. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  7. ^ McManus et al. “Can poverty graduation programs make poor households more resilient during shocks? Evidence from Kenya and Uganda during COVID-19”. p. 23
  8. ^ "The Impact of Variations of Ultra-Poor Graduation Programming in Uganda". Innovations for Poverty Action. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  9. ^ Matthews, Dylan (2018-10-15). "Giving out cash is a great way to fight poverty. This approach might be even better". Vox. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  10. ^ Maslow on Management, Abraham Maslow, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. 138
  11. ^ "Our Story". Village Enterprise. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  12. ^ Adami, Chelcey (2023-06-05). "Stanford alumni honored for work advancing the common good". Stanford Report. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  13. ^ Saldinger, Adva (2022-03-08). "Development impact bond in Uganda, Kenya hits targets despite COVID-19". Devex. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  14. ^ "Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award". Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  15. ^ "DREAMS: A bold, new model for lasting change". Mercy Corps. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  16. ^ Hernandez, Andrea Paola. "This program is helping hundreds of refugees start their own businesses". Fast Company. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  17. ^ Browley, Jasmine (2023-04-03). "A $7M Donation From MacKenzie Scott Is Poised To Help End Hunger For 20 Million People In Africa". Essence. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  18. ^ Esipisu, Isaiah (2023-08-14). "Building climate resilience through village-based banks". Nation. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  19. ^ "Charity Navigator - Rating for Village Enterprise". www.charitynavigator.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  20. ^ "Village Enterprise Fund, Inc. - GuideStar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.


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