Economic empowerment

Transforming communities through skill development,
long-term career opportunities, entrepreneurship,
and access to financial products and services.

• 25M+ people participated in skills training and
employment programs delivered by our
non-profit partners

• 20M+ people gained access to financial products,
services, and capacity building resources

Impact story:

Promoting pathways out of poverty around the world

_{For people in extreme poverty, coaching is essential to their personal transformation and economic success, enabling skills building and changes in attitudes and social norms.}

Trickle Up partners with women in extreme poverty to build economic opportunity and drive inclusion globally.

Problem: Three billion people globally survive on less than $2.50/day and do not have access to the financial tools and basic services that enable equitable progress toward better lives.

Solution and Cisco support: Trickle Up works with partners to equip women in remote, rural areas with tools and support as they forge resilient pathways out of extreme poverty. Through savings, market access, and solidarity groups, women collectively build their skills, livelihoods, savings, and confidence to invest in the future—supported by personalized coaching. Cisco Foundation has funded the development of Trickle Up’s coaching app, enabling them to scale their work while maintaining contextual sensitivity.

Impact: Updates to Trickle Up’s coaching app lowered costs, improved productivity and efficiency, increased quality, and standardized content, allowing the organization to reach thousands of additional individuals. Our support also unlocked additional funding from other donors.

50+ Trickle Up partners engaged globally
32K individuals engaged in the past 12 months
86 percent of participants saved enough to cover household expenses for three months
82 percent of participants play a newly active role in household decision making

Impact story:

Helping entrepreneurs thrive

_{Graduates of Centro’s entrepreneurship training program; 93 percent of all Centro graduates are BIPOC.}

Centro Community Partners build thriving communities by providing existing and aspiring small business owners with business planning support, one-on-one business coaching, mentorship, and access to capital.

Problem: Thirty million small businesses in the United States generate $5 trillion in revenue annually—but there is a lack of equitable access to tailored, customized entrepreneurship education and capital for low income and underserved individuals.

Solution and Cisco support: Cisco Foundation support enabled Centro to create and test their CEO application, an AI-driven entrepreneurial resource platform.

Impact: Centro has supported more than 8500 small businesses, provided 13.6K hours of business coaching, and facilitated $7M in small business loans across the United States. They are also supporting entrepreneurs across Central and South America.

59 percent of aspiring entrepreneurs successfully launched businesses within one year
$11M in entrepreneur graduates’ average annual revenue
94 percent of entrepreneurs expressed increased confidence in their knowledge and their businesses
20 percent hired staff in the first year

Impact story:

Creating equitable access to digital financial products and services

_{Opportunity serves families, students, farmers, and entrepreneurs in 31 countries around the world.}

Opportunity International empowers people living in poverty to transform their lives, their children’s futures, and their communities.

Problem: 1.7 billion people globally are unbanked, yet two-thirds own a mobile phone that could help them access financial services. Digital finance has the potential to add $3.7 trillion to the GDP of developing countries.

Solution and Cisco support: Opportunity International helps people in every region of the world living in poverty build sustainable incomes, educate their children, improve their farms, and build brighter futures for their families. Cisco Foundation has provided multi-year support to design, test, and scale digital financial products and services for financial inclusion, as well as funding for in-house digital ideation and product development solutions.

Impact: Improvements in poverty status, new job creation, increased girls’ literacy, higher income for women, and better health.

20M unique clients in 2023, accessing financial products, services, and capacity building resources
2K women in India trained as banking agents
93 percent of clients reported improvements in quality of life, 86 percent increased income, 80 percent increased savings, and 90 percent were better able to manage their finances
Women’s income increased by 73 percent, wellbeing by 70 percent, and 88 percent experienced greater decision-making power in their household

Impact story:

Supporting aspiring women entrepreneurs

_{Nairobi-based hairdresser, Nbumberi, learns entrepreneurial skills to help her afford better housing, healthcare and education for her family.}

Hand in Hand equips underserved women with skills and resources to earn money and ignite local economies, lifting families and nations out of poverty.

Problem: Worldwide, 400 million women live trapped below the poverty line of just $2.15 a day. For these women, entrepreneurship is the only route out of poverty.

Solution and Cisco support: Cisco Foundation provided support for Hand in Hand to develop and test a targeted, inclusive-learning platform in Kenya to complement its in-person business training. The new e-learning system will support Hand in Hand to meet its goal of reaching 265,000 Kenyan entrepreneurs by 2027.

Impact:

Hand in Hand’s entrepreneurship training delivers an average ROI of 475 percent. For every $1 invested, member entrepreneurs earn $4.75 in additional income (money that they would not have earned without the training)
82 percent of the women we work with now have equal decision making in the home
93 percent of the micro enterprises our members establish are still operational after one year

“Thanks to our partnership with Cisco, we will be able to unlock the power of technology to equip even more women entrepreneurs with the skills and resources they need to launch thriving businesses, lifting more families out of poverty.”

— Amalia Johnsson, Deputy CEO, Hand in Hand International