Women's Global Empowerment Fund
Revolution, one woman at a time.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Globally, women and girls are disproportionately poor and marginalized. Due to inequality in access to resources, education, and justice, women often face poverty, violence, and insecurity due solely to their gender.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Credit Plus
Women’s Global was founded upon the belief that microcredit loans, when bundled with educational programming, can build social capital and increase the potential for women’s empowerment and success. It is this belief that created our Credit Plus program.
The Credit Plus program combines microcredit services with literacy, leadership development, health and basic business education into a single service reaching women in poor and rural areas in northern Uganda. Through the Credit Plus program, clients will receive a microcredit loan bundled with social and educational services, allowing them to create an opportunity for human sustainability, increased food security and empowerment.
Literacy
Our clients expressed a desire and excitement for a literacy program and in response, our literacy program began in July, 2008. Participants are divided into groups where they will be provided with materials, books, pens, etc. and attend classes twice a week for eight months. To date we have served over 3600 women.
Leadership Development
Our Leadership Development programs aim to advance the participation, access and voice of women in their communities in post conflict northern Uganda and other regions, districts and villages where women’s voices have been marginalized. A unique opportunity exists in post conflict regions for women to seize the moment , reshaping and rebuilding societies and traditional political order. Our goal is to create a mechanism to elevate women’s legislative participation thru training initiatives promoting advocacy, activism; creating the space for women to run for elected office, manage campaigns increasing women’s representation at all levels of government.
Drama Festival
To address the issue of inequality, gender based violence, and other issues facing women in northern Uganda, Women’s Global Empowerment Fund hosts an annual drama competition, Kikopo Pa Mon. Women in our microfinance program created original plays highlighting their stories using music, drama, and dance.
Agriculture
Women provide up to 90% of the rural poor’s food and produce, WGEF is supporting women farmers by offering agricultural loans and training.The agricultural project provides women with agricultural loans, training and support, ensuring that our clients are able to successfully plant, grow and harvest their crops.
Healthy Periods Initiative
To address the issue of menstrual health, and the challenges women face with regards to access, hygiene and stigma, Women’s Global Empowerment Fund (WGEF) launched the Healthy Periods Initiative – improving health, creating livelihoods. The goal of this initiative is to provide information, access and opportunities with regards to menstrual health. In addition, WGEF is offering social enterprise opportunities, creating a viable business producing the sanitary pad product. Through the purchase of a manufacturing unit WGEF will drive economic and socio-cultural changes through enterprise and education. The first step in this relevant, exciting endeavor will be to launch a pilot project; including workshops, business planning, production, education and assessment. With an important focus on philanthropy, WGEF distributed 1m pads in 2017 to 3 refugee camps and 16 schools across northern Uganda.
Healthy Periods Initiative
Mission: To address the issue of menstrual health, and the challenges women face with regards to access, hygiene and socio-cultural stigma, Women’s Global Empowerment Fund (WGEF) has created the Healthy Periods Initiative – improving health, creating livelihoods.
Credit Plus Program
While the cornerstone of the Credit Plus program is economic opportunities, we focus intensely on three areas of social and political development: Literacy, Leadership Development, and Health Initiatives. Within the Leadership Development program, there are initiatives that seek to build a movement to facilitate advocacy and participation for our clients within their communities. There are three main activities that are integral in transforming the lives of our clients: Peer Counseling, our Hotline, and Citizen Activism & Engagement.
Where we work
External reviews

Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal is to address systemic inequality and access to resources which enable women and girls to lead dignified and empowered lives.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
WGEF has a multifaceted program which provides resources and support which enable women to lead successful and dignified lives. These include access to economic, social and political programs which have been proven to support the empowerment process which is defined as ones ability to make choices and determine their own life outcomes.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
WGEF has an amazing and well educated staff working in the community to deliver these services and programs. We have community and organizational partner who work with us on funding and support.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
To date, WGEF has provided over 17,000 loans, 4600 women have gone thru our literacy program, delivered 3.5 m sanitary pads to schools across the region, 572 women are currently in leadership positions across the region.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Women's Global Empowerment Fund
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2023
Michael Powl
Altitude Media
Term: 2016 - 2024
Louise Martorano
RedLine
Leah Rausch
University of Oregon
Julie Dugdale
5280 Magazine
Erin Flaherity
Hearst Publishing
Zadi Diaz
Producer
Erin Huiting
UCSF Public Health
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data