Building Stronger Partnerships Together
Dear friends and partners,
Every time I have the pleasure to work alongside one of you, I am struck by your passion and your shared belief in our mission to end poverty. That’s why I’m so excited to share that together we’ve supported our partners to create a powerful impact this year.
As of June 30, 2023, we served 38% more businesses globally than we did in June 2022. We grew from 182,167 businesses to 250,576 businesses. This means our network now supports more than a quarter-million redemptive businesses in communities of high unemployment and poverty, which is an all-time high. We are moving the needle when it comes to creating redemptive poverty-ending businesses.
And the news gets better. At that same time, we increased total jobs sustained in this network by 68%. We grew from 285,138 jobs sustained to 478,471.
There are people behind each of these numbers; entrepreneurs, families, and communities empowered to lift themselves from the vulnerabilities of poverty. These entrepreneurs are backed by a global network of partners, each working to amplify their impact and serve more people in need.
During my time at the Southeast Asia summit, I was encouraged to see examples of strong and powerful partnerships. Katuwang Resource Center in the Philippines, in partnership with their strong local BAs, has served over 7,000 farmers. That is the power of a locally rooted partnership.
Our visit to Air Hidup in Indonesia proved to showcase another innovative and powerful framework. Air Hidup has equipped the community with clean, accessible water and created jobs in the process.
Whether it’s visionary for-profits or local organizations providing entrepreneurial services, our partnerships prove to be flourishing, creating impact, and ending poverty for good. And these are just two examples among our 100+ partners!
To unleash the full potential of this network, we’ve committed ourselves to fortifying our locally rooted and globally connected partnerships. We’ve identified this as one of our five strategic directions going forward, and it will be critical in creating impact in the lives of millions more.
So what does this look like? What are we doing to fortify partnerships?
The key to fortifying our partnerships is looking global. Our worldwide network enables us to "cross pollinate” across regions, listening to and learning from one another. By identifying what works about each partnership, we can discern how that success can be replicated elsewhere. For example, how can coffee farmers in Africa share best practices with coffee farmers in Central America?
We’ve assembled a new team of Accelerators who exist to identify these opportunities, seeking out ways to accelerate the work that we do. As the Partnership Accelerator, my role is to accelerate the impact of our three-way partnership model and help build healthy, sustainable partnerships. Our other Accelerators are focused on Access to Capital, Knowledge, and Markets, finding ways to help our partners support those they serve.
You play a role in this, too. Your faith-filled support, now and in the future, will help make this vision a reality. We need each other. We need you. And together, our potential for impact is limitless.
