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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.