Hope Ignites (Boys Hope Girls Hope) – Esperanza Juvenil

$10,000 in unrestricted support

About

Esperanza Juvenil is Boys Hope Girls Hope Guatemala. Since 1992, Esperanza Juvenil has been helping scholars rise from disadvantaged backgrounds and strive for more. Esperanza Juvenil serves children and youth who want to go to college and create successful futures for themselves. These scholars have joined the organization’s program to receive the academic resources, extracurricular opportunities, and mentor relationships required for them to achieve their goal.

Request

Esperanza Juvenil plans to utilize funding to support its strategic vision for growth and sustainability from 2025 to 2029. ​This includes enhancing educational outcomes and supporting student transition to higher education and stable employment.​ Additionally, Esperanza Juvenil seeks to expand its reach to serve 306 active students by 2029, increase its fundraising budget annually, and strengthen institutional capacity.​ Holistic development programs focused on health, leadership, and recreation will also be implemented to support long-term success. ​

 

Companion Community Development Alternatives (CoCoDA)

$13,178 in unrestricted support

About

Since 1992, CoCoDA has been connecting United States citizens with grassroots cooperatives and community development organizations in El Salvador. In 2016, this same approach was brought to Nicaragua. The organization has two goals:  1) building strong relationships between the people of the United States and Central America, and 2) to help rebuild the communities and infrastructure destroyed during the Salvadoran Civil War and Nicaraguan conflict.

Request

Funding will support several of CoCoDA’s key initiatives for the 2025-26 fiscal year. These include providing scholarships for over 50 students, the rehabilitation of the Community Center in El Cacao, Mozonte (addressing structural damage caused by a 2022 storm) ​and navigating challenges posed by a new 30% tax on international donations in El Salvador. CoCoDA will work closely with local partners to adapt their support as needed. ​Additional funds have been requested in the amount of $3,178 to allow the organization to purchase a donor tracking system for its Indianapolis office. This will replace the current system of an Excel spreadsheet and save the Executive Director 50% of the time currently taken to keep the spreadsheet updated. As the sole employee of CoCoDA, who is also responsible for all fundraising efforts, this timesaving program should allow the organization to gain further financial stability.

 

Educate!

$10,000 in unrestricted support

About

Educate! tackles youth unemployment in Africa by partnering with youth, schools and governments to design and deliver solutions that equip young people in Africa with the skills to attain further education, overcome gender inequities, start businesses, obtain jobs, and drive development in their communities. Its goal is to design skills-based, post-primary education and employment solutions which impact life outcomes of youth sustainably and at scale.

Request

WF funding will allow Educate! to enact plans centering on expanding livelihood bootcamps to serve an anticipated 16,000 rural young women and girls in 2026. The project will focus on improving data quality, reducing attrition, and evaluation to refine the model for scaling in future years. ​Additionally, Educate! will amplify its impact in schools by piloting tools to track student outcomes in Uganda, strengthening government capacity in Rwanda and Tanzania to embed employment-focused learning nationwide, and institutionalizing Project-Based Assessment and gender equity measures within education systems.

 

READ Global

$10,000 in unrestricted support

About

READ Global facilitates the creation of self-sustaining, community-led library and resource centers that serve as a foundational platform for unlocking a community’s social and economic potential. READ Centers provide resources such as books and newspapers, a children’s section, a computer room with free access to the internet, a training hall and a community gathering space. Additionally, READ Centers offer a variety of programs to meet the unique needs of each community, often through partnerships with other organizations and local government agencies. These may include microcredit, women’s empowerment, technology training, literacy, livelihood skills, agricultural programs, youth development, health programs, and more.

Request

READ Global aims to expand its work to build leadership skills and agency of young women across their network and to measure its impact. The organization is developing a comprehensive manual capturing its approach to facilitating lasting community-led progress, which will be used internally to strengthen capacity and shared externally to help others adopt effective, community-driven models. In addition, READ will expand its network of Centers to reach the most marginalized communities and ensure that training and programs are accessible to those who need them most.

 

TechnoServe

$10,000 in unrestricted support

About

TechnoServe provides solutions for poverty by harnessing the power of the private sector. The organization works with people in low-income communities to ensure they gain the skills, confidence, and connections to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. The organization links people to information, capital, and markets, helping millions to create lasting prosperity for their families and communities while having a positive impact on climate change and nature. Through this work, it has helped improve the lives of 3.4 million people last year alone.

Request

TechnoServe will use WF support to scale proven solutions and foster innovation in areas such as women’s economic empowerment, youth employment and food systems. ​Funding will also enable TechnoServe to address emerging challenges such as shifts in U.S. foreign assistance. Overall, a grant from WF will assist the organization in the forging of new partnerships and continued delivery of impactful programs that help individuals increase their incomes, create better jobs, and lift families out of poverty. ​

 

Village Enterprise

$10,000 in unrestricted support

About

Village Enterprise believes in the power of the entrepreneurial spirit to transform lives and build resilience to climate change. Community-based and locally led, the organization’s poverty graduation program equips people living in extreme poverty in rural Africa to create climate-smart, sustainable businesses and savings groups, permanently breaking the cycle of poverty for themselves and their families. Digital technology and a group-based approach make its model scalable and cost-effective. More than 83% of Village Enterprise entrepreneurs are female, ensuring greater gender equity and increased opportunities for women and families.

Request

Village Enterprise will use funds to scale its poverty graduation model by training entrepreneurs and transforming lives through strategic partnerships and government-led initiatives. ​Funds will also support innovation and cost-effectiveness through digital tools and financial services, ensuring greater impact per dollar spent.​ Additionally, Village Enterprise will secure financial resources to recover from the loss of USAID funding and achieve its vision of lifting 20 million people out of extreme poverty by 2030. ​ Finally, it will invest in prioritizing employee well-being, diversity, and continuous development to deliver on its mission effectively. ​

Building Tomorrow

$10,000 unrestricted

About: Building Tomorrow is a community-powered organization that harnesses the potential of local change-makers to connect learners across rural East Africa with transformational education programs. Building Tomorrow builds primary schools and implements at-home and community-based literacy and numeracy initiatives, improving student learning outcomes, strengthening the education system and engaging Community Education Volunteers.

Request: Building Tomorrow seeks to address the fact that foundational learning remains elusive for 7.3 million Ugandan learners who cannot read, write, or do basic math. Support from the West Foundation can help ensure that Building Tomorrow is able to reach up to 350,000 learners this year, keeping on track toward a new organizational target to reach 1 million learners by 2028, as committed through the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2024.

 

GoodWeave

$10,000 unrestricted

About: GoodWeave is the leading global institution with a mission to stop child labor in global supply chains through a market-based, holistic and authentic system. GoodWeave brings visibility to global supply chains, gives voice to informal and marginalized workers, provides assurance that certified products are free of child labor, and restores childhood to vulnerable children so they can laugh, learn, and play.

Request: Support from the West Foundation would enable GoodWeave to multiply impact at this urgent time in which child labor cases in South Asia are rising by about 49 percent, exacerbated by the impact of climate change. This will be accomplished through on-the-ground work that is community-led and business-supported, local-to-global advocacy, and capacity building for grassroots partners and GoodWeave’s international teams. Priorities include survivor-led advocacy, girls’ rights, and protection for children and workers from child and forced labor.

 

Hesperian Health Guides

$15,000 unrestricted

About: Hesperian develops and publishes health education materials to empower people to control their health and organize to change the social causes of poor health. Materials address pressing global health issues and their underlying root causes without shying away from political or social factors that contribute to ill health. Hesperian resources make it possible for communities to navigate and address health issues themselves, providing information in a wide variety of languages and formats.

Request: Hesperian requests renewed general support funding from the West Foundation to advance work in building the capacity of community health workers, promoting women’s health and expanding free global access to vital health information. Some specific objectives include promoting community mental health, expanding access to reproductive health apps, and making sure that up-to-date health information is available in as many languages and formats as possible.

 

Nurturing Minds/SEGA School

$10,000 unrestricted

About: Nurturing Mind’s mission is to support quality education, life skills, and entrepreneurship to help vulnerable girls in Tanzania become leaders in their communities. The Secondary Education for Girls’ Advancement (SEGA) School is a private secondary girls’ boarding school for bright, motivated Tanzanian girls who otherwise would be unable to attend school due to extreme poverty or hardship. SEGA uses a holistic approach to education and also provides outreach services to the local community.

Request: Funding will ensure that SEGA Girls’ Secondary School’s four main programs continue to grow, thrive, and reach more girls and young women each year (currently 2,500) with the education, skills development, and training that they need to live healthy lives and achieve their academic and professional goals. At the same time, new initiatives are being implemented, such as organizational partnerships, graduate internship placements, and scholarship application assistance for students interested in pursuing higher education in the United States.

 

Smiles Forever

$10,000 unrestricted

About: Smiles Forever is dedicated to improving the quality of life for impoverished children in Bolivia through free preventive and restorative dentistry, serving over 52 nonprofit partners including orphanages, burn centers and shelters. This program is supported by a unique educational model for disadvantaged women and mothers, who study to become professional dental hygienists in a program financed by the Smiles Forever Foundation and delivered by the university in Bolivia’s capital, Cochabamba. The program has graduated over 42 indigenous dental hygienists. By supplying a stream of trained dentistry personnel, the organization ensures the success of its own mission as well as the livelihoods of the women employed.

Request: With support, Smiles Forever will advance their mission through various existing programs such as expanding access to care, continuing preventive programs and strengthening professional collaborations. New initiatives will also be implemented, including developing a dedicated dental unit in Marquina for comprehensive treatment and establishing a Zero Sugar education program for students.

ProLiteracy

$10,000 unrestricted

About: ProLiteracy, the largest adult literacy and basic education membership organization in the nation, believes that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts with an educated adult population. For more than 60 years, ProLiteracy has been working across the globe to change lives and communities through the power of literacy.

Request: Funds will be used to support ProLiteracy’s international projects, expanding access to literacy and learning opportunities for adults around the world. This support will allow ProLiteracy to continue to build the capacity of local organizations, provide essential funding and education resources, and implement innovative programs that empower individuals and strengthen communities. In 2025-26, ProLiteracy will especially focus efforts on supporting programs that reach indigenous and rural women and combine literacy skills with economic development opportunities.

 

Strategies for International Development

$10,000 unrestricted

About: Strategies for International Development (SID) partners with poor farmers working to graduate from poverty by helping them build successful farm businesses that increase their income. This includes conserving the natural resources upon which their agro-businesses depend and helping women play an equal role in building these businesses.

Request: During the next 12 months, SID will continue to work with the producers’ association in Guatemala to implement the Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, ensuring they maintain the quality of their coffee despite any weather changes, and connecting to markets. In Uganda, SID will continue to provide technical assistance to 1,861 Robusta coffee-producing families in 106 villages to increase productivity, value-added processing, and income while promoting personal and business growth for women. Additionally, SID will collaborate with the Ugandan Ministry of Education on lessons for secondary school students. There will also be work on a dairy project in Malawi and a new coffee project in Tanzania.

 

Trickle Up

$15,000 unrestricted

About: Trickle Up partners with people in extreme poverty to build economic opportunity and drive inclusion in their societies. Local communities assist in this process by choosing participants most in need. The community-based partners understand the local markets and help women find ways to start profitable businesses. Before participants enter the program, each receives a grant to help them meet their basic needs, enabling them to focus on the future. Trickle Up helps these beneficiaries start sustainable businesses, save earnings and support one another in these activities. This leads to graduation from ultrapoverty within approximately 18 months.

Request: With this support, Trickle Up will continue leading the industry in next-generation graduation approaches. Digital Graduation criteria focus on integrating digital technologies into both the delivery of graduation programs and participants’ livelihoods, enabling greater efficiency, accessibility, and sustainability. Climate-adapted graduation approaches integrate resilience-building strategies into traditional graduation models, equipping participants to adapt to the increasing challenges posed by climate change. Gender-transformative graduation approaches go beyond addressing the symptoms of gender inequality by actively challenging and shifting the societal norms, behaviors, and power dynamics that perpetuate it.

 

VisionSpring

$10,000 unrestricted

About: VisionSpring’s mission is to increase lifelong earning, learning, safety, and well-being through eyeglasses for people vulnerable to poverty; their “big goal” is that “Everyone who needs eyeglasses will have them by 2050.” VisionSpring works towards this goal as a social enterprise by providing affordable eyeglasses, vision screening and training so that non-profits, social entrepreneurs, government agencies, and corporate clients can bring the wonder of clear vision to their communities.

Request: In 2025, VisionSpring’s goal is to deliver 2.2 million pairs of eyeglasses, lifting the cumulative number of people with corrective vision above 16.3 million. Within that topline, VisionSpring will screen 2.5 million people through Vision Access Programs, directly targeting earners, learners, and drivers vulnerable to poverty in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This leverages the new capacity VisionSpring has built over the past 18 months, including an expanded team of 150+ new staff and enhanced digital systems like DigitEYES, rolling out across Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.