Navigating the Road Ahead: Life After USAID Cuts
At WECO, news of the recent U.S. foreign aid freezes has been deeply troubling, and our team wanted to share a few thoughts to help explain how these decisions have the potential to erase years of progress in global development. We are angry, frustrated, and concerned about the realities facing communities of people—many of whom […]
2020 Vision: Reflections on Equity and Empowerment (Part I)
“Wisdom is about understanding big truths in a deeper way.” – Melinda Gates December is a perfect time to reflect on the past year, to deeply consider salient questions about our personal, professional, and organizational development. As WECO makes plans for new projects in 2020, we’ve stopped to review our work thus far and where […]
Women’s Empowerment in Pinagua, Peru
Pinagua Project Background Pinagua, small town near Oropesa, has an economy largely supported by agriculture and a community that maintains a basic standard of living. Unlike other nearby towns, Pinagua doesn’t have access to services for education, health, or related programs. Project manager, Luz Chapi, explained how especially women in the community live in the […]
Measuring Women’s Empowerment Part Three: Real Social Investing
*This is the final part of our three-part series dedicated to deconstructing data, measuring women’s empowerment, and understanding risk/reward when merging for-profit and nonprofit practices. For-profit meets Nonprofit To put it simply, for-profit industries are profit-driven while nonprofit ones are values-driven. For-profit industries strive for large figures and more hierarchical definitions of success (i.e. ‘the […]
Measuring Women’s Empowerment Part Two: Evaluating Stories
*This is Part Two of a three-part series dedicated to deconstructing data, measuring women’s empowerment, and understanding risk/reward when merging for-profit and nonprofit practices. Program Evaluation When monitoring and evaluating (M&E) women’s empowerment programs, it’s important to consider the processes that shape the lives of underrepresented women and girls – processes that often only […]
Measuring Women’s Empowerment Part One: Understanding Data
*This is Part One of a three-part series dedicated to deconstructing data, measuring women’s empowerment, and understanding risk/reward when merging for-profit and nonprofit practices. Landscape Metrics Metrics are tools we can use to drive accountability. They shine light in neglected corners on hidden or underrepresented issues, and can build arguments for cross-sector collaboration. In terms […]
A Conversation with the Women of Huilloc
An interview with the women of Huilloc
Volunteer Spotlight: Shanyn in Southeast Asia
A blog by Shanyn Wright on her experience with WECO’s 2018 Cambodia project trip.
Deconstructing ‘Voluntourism’
Voluntourism is a critical word to our work that is loaded with meaning. It is controversial, and varies from theory to practice.
Our Approach To Women’s Empowerment
As a registered 501c3, we find charitable organizations around the world with programs for women and girls. We first vet them and then undertake a process of discovering a project we can collaborate on that will increase their existing impact
