With an audacious goal to lift 20m people in Africa out of extreme poverty by 2030, Dianne Calvi, President and CEO and of Village Enterprise, joins us to share how they plan to make this happen.

Centred around their core value of ‘Ubuntu’, a South African term, which means ‘humanity’ or ‘I am because we are’, Village Enterprise seeks to transform lives through entrepreneurship, innovation and collective action.

By partnering with other nonprofits, governments, agencies, and private sector companies, Village Enterprise equips first-time entrepreneurs in Africa with the resources and skills to start climate-smart businesses and savings groups.

We talk about their Poverty Graduation Model and building up their evidence base, using Randomised Control Trials, which has helped catalyse funding for their exciting new programme: working with USAID, the French and the Rwandan governments to end extreme poverty in Rwanda for good. Dianne also shares her personal family story, revealing what really drives her to do this work, which, as one of their entrepreneurs says, is all about enabling full bellies and big dreams. Recorded March 2024.

Note: The title of this episode is a direct quote from an entrepreneur that Village Enterprise supports in Africa, describing the impact of their work.