Opportunity International

Vicki Escarra. Named to The NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 for 2010 and 2011, Vicki Escarra is a highly respected leader with a distinguished career as an executive in the nonprofit and corporate sectors. From 2006-2012, Ms. Escarra was president and CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. Prior to leading Feeding America, she served as… See full bio.

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Story: In Blantyre, Malawi, dozens of women sell potatoes in the marketplace. But Grace Msowoya and her business partner Betty Louhana stand out. Frustrated by their small profit margins, they became the first women to take the bold move of becoming distributors themselves. Every two weeks, they withdraw money from their Opportunity savings to rent a truck. They hire a driver and spend several days on the road to get potatoes directly from farmers, which they then sell to other vendors.

Before Grace became an Opportunity International client in 2007, she kept her hard-earned money hidden in her home. Now, she and Betty are earning interest on nearly $2,000 in a joint savings account. With her biometric-enabled card she can safely deposit and easily access her money at the Opportunity banking kiosk, just 100 meters from her business.

Grace and Betty’s courage has paid off. They have dramatically increased profits and redefined the place of women in the local market. And Grace has already made great strides in a short time as an Opportunity client. She has earned enough money to move her family from two small rooms to a two bedroom home, and all three of her children attend school.

Evidence of Impact Summary:

Opportunity International (OI) is one of the world’s largest microfinance networks in the world. They are an efficient organization that serves many people. OI works to maximize not only the financial impact that they make with clients, but also the potential social and spiritual impact that they can help produce. Their services; for example, their work in micro-insurance, has been a great asset to the sector.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

Opportunity International (OI) is quite strong in its organizational operations. They have excellent procedures and technical support, as well as a great capacity for problem-solving. OI staff members are experienced and capable. The organization is grounded in a faith-based approach which supports their work in many ways. For example, they are able to mobilize the Christian business community.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Opportunity International (OI) may want to further examine their communication strategies. Internally, having a network of many dispersed international organizations makes timely communication difficult. Externally, OI could collaborate more widely and share lessons learned. While the organization has been working toward this goal, OI should continue to work at being more responsive to their clients. Parts of the OI identity may be muddled at times. For example, one expert was unclear about the role that OI’s faith-based orientation plays for various organizational stakeholders.
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Named to The NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 for 2010 and 2011, Vicki Escarra is a highly respected leader with a distinguished career as an executive in the nonprofit and corporate sectors. From 2006-2012, Ms. Escarra was president and CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. Prior to leading Feeding America, she served as chief marketing officer for Delta Airlines Inc. Ms. Escarra led Feeding America through the most significant period of advancement in its three-decade history, elevating it to a $1.2 billion organization. She oversaw the organization through a transition from America’s Second Harvest to Feeding America, increased fundraising by 300 percent, and almost doubled the number of people served who were living in poverty or food insecurity. Under her leadership, Feeding America also established several corporate partnerships with multimillion dollar commitments from Walmart, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Kraft, General Mills and others, growing revenue by four times. Additionally, Ms. Escarra successfully led two major pieces of national legislation providing millions of dollars to increase the amount of healthy food for lower income families. She has been profiled in numerous media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Chronicle of Philanthropy, USA Today and CBS Evening News. In her longstanding career with Delta Airlines Inc., Ms. Escarra ascended through several leadership positions and ultimately became the company’s chief marketing officer. As one of the highest-ranking women in the aviation industry, she oversaw $15 billion in revenue and led a work force of 52,000. Ms. Escarra actively participates in community and civic service. She served on the board of directors for the financial services company, AG Edwards, from 2004 to 2007, and is currently on the board of HealthNet Corporation and the board of regents for Roosevelt University. She was also chairman of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and assisted Mayor Shirley Franklin with the Brand Atlanta Campaign. Ms. Escarra received her degree from Georgia State University and completed the Columbia Executive Management Program and the Harvard Leadership Program. She resides in Chicago where she is a member of Fourth Presbyterian Church. Her two grown daughters, Emily and Kathryn, also live in Chicago.

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