WorldWise Microfinance Celebrates Women’s History Month by Championing Women’s Economic Empowerment Across Three Continents

MADISON, WI – “Women’s History Month presents us an uncomfortable truth. Equal rights that women have achieved in this country are often absent in the Global South,” said WorldWise Microfinance founder and president Tom Eggert.

“Women are a minority of land owners, own very little real property, and lack access to savings accounts. Without these three pillars of independence and autonomy, women are often in the shadows. To help women step out of the shadows, WorldWise Microfinance supports the creation of wealth, and out of wealth comes power and ultimately rights.”

Founded in 2010, WorldWise Microfinance was created to provide very small loans delivered through a group lending model. This model organizes borrowers into lending groups and individuals within those groups support one another in repayment. This approach promotes accountability, financial discipline, and long‑term sustainability while reducing reliance on short‑term aid.

Our target audience is women. Women in low-income communities are disproportionately excluded from formal financial systems. They are less likely to hold bank accounts, less likely to qualify for traditional credit. At the same time, women are more likely to contribute to the improvement of living conditions within the family. Microfinance, when targeted toward women, becomes one of the most powerful tools available for progress out of poverty.

More than 80 percent of our microloans go directly to women entrepreneurs in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. WorldWise borrowers are market vendors, seamstresses, farmers, food processors, and small shop owners. Many are the sole or primary economic providers for their households. A loan of a few hundred dollars — unremarkable in the developed world — can mean the difference between a woman purchasing inventory in bulk at a discount versus buying day by day at a loss, between keeping a child in school and pulling her out, between building a business and barely surviving.

“Women have always been the backbone of their communities — they just haven’t always had access to the financing they deserve,” according to Eggert. “We know that a small loan, made to the right person at the right moment, can set off a chain reaction that reaches far beyond one business. It reaches children, neighbors, and the next generation of entrepreneurs. Women’s History Month reminds us why this work matters — and why it can’t wait.”