Mission: Our mission is to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship and innovation. The Village Enterprise one-year Graduation program provides groups of three entrepreneurs with seed capital ($150), training, and ongoing mentoring by a local business mentor. We organize the business groups into Business Savings Groups of 30 entrepreneurs (10 business groups) to allow access to growth capital, provide a safe place for savings, and build social capital. Integrated conservation training ensures that new business activities promote environmental best practices. Examples of businesses include livestock, farming, small retail stores, restaurants, tailoring, and beekeeping. Village Enterprise has started over 45,000 businesses and trained over 178,000 East Africans. Village Enterprise is headquartered in San Carlos, CA, and operates in Kenya and Uganda. Village Enterprise has top ratings across all categories from ImpactMatters and is endorsed by The Life You Can Save. (Less)

Village Enterprise is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 1988, and donations are tax-deductible.