Personal donations can go a long way in ensuring economic opportunities for women and girls abroad. By donating to Women Thrive Worldwide, you will be actively supporting our work in ensuring women are given equal economic opportunities.

Stay up to date on all the work we’re doing here to empower women economically and be the first to learn of opportunities to take action.

"Women Who Light the Dark" is a breath-taking journey into the lives of women around the world who use their imaginations to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to solve their communities most complex and intractable problems.

"Half the Sky" is a book close to our hearts here at Women Thrive Worldwide. An inspiring and brilliantly written piece of non-fiction, this book clearly makes the case for women to be equal citizens all over the world.

On March 19, 2010, Women Thrive’s Ritu Sharma and Nora O’Connell blogged for the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) on the role of gender in effective development.

Despite the best efforts of the Women Thrive community and the GROWTH coalition, the clock ran out on the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act during the 111th Congress.  We remain committed to finding the best strategy to ensure economic opportunities for women around the world and are in talks right now about how best to build on our tremendous strides for 2011.

Women Thrive takes an in-depth look at President Obama's proposed budget for 2013 and how it could affect programs that help women and girls in poverty throughout the world.

Women Thrive Worldwide's February 2012 Gender Roundtable focused on technology and gender, and the disparities between how women and men use, engage with, and find careers in technology throughout the world.

What is the GROWTH Act?  Why is it important?  How does it work?  Who supports it?

Shade Bembatoum-Young has dedicated her life to help women in Nigeria escape poverty by starting and growing their own businesses. Learn why she supports the GROWTH Act.

This 2009 fact sheet from Women Thrive Worldwide outlines the relationship between violence against women and economic opportunity.

An interview with Suraya Pakzad, one of TIME's 100 most influential people in 2009 and the founder of Voice of Women Organization (VWO). VWO provides direct protection to women and girls at risk in Afghanistan and focuses on education, womens rights awareness and advocacy.

On March 4, 2010, Women Thrive Worldwide and UNIFEM hosted the Second Annual International Women's Day Breakfast in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Click to see all of our amazing speakers and hear their words of hope and inspiration.

On March 18, 2009,  Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive's President and Co-founder, and Catalina Rojas, Women Thrive's Director of Global Partnerships discussed the Obama Administration's priorities for women in developing countries.  They also spoke about their recent trip to Honduras, where they spent time Women Thrive's partner, COMUCAP.

On March 16, 2007, to celebrate International Women's Day and Women's History Month, Women Thrive Worldwide, in cooperation with The Democratic Women's Working Group of the Congressional Women's Caucus, held a Congressional briefing on global women's issues.  The purpose of the briefing, entitled "The 110th Congress: An Agenda on Global Women’s Issues" was to outline what concrete actions this Congress, with the first woman speaker and more elected women representatives than ever before, could take as part of U.S. foreign policy for women worldwide.

As a microfinance manager in the Philippines, Julie Econtró brings hope to hundreds of women living in poverty.

Women Thrive outlines the pros and cons of President Obama's budget.

The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH) was endorsed by the following organizations.

Imara Martínez of Consejo de Mujeres de Occidente, Nicaragua
Acceptance Speech for the Partnership for Women to Thrive Award, September 10, 2008

On March 6th, the Washington Post reported on a shift in the U.S. Agency for International Development's strategy towards gender issues in Afghanistan. The article features Ritu Sharma's argument that the new approach threatens to leave Afghan women behind. 

On November 15, Washington Women's Weekly published an interview with Women Thrive President, Ritu Sharma, in which she speaks about how Women Thrive Worldwide was established, the organization's coalition work, as well as her role as a lobbyist, president, and a mother.

On March 3, 2010, Ritu Sharma was on Fox News Strategy Room talking about International Violence Against Women Act as well as International Womens Day.

This is a video of Ritu Sharma's, Women Thrive Worldwide's President and Co-founder, interview on Voice of America.

Check out the October 2009 issue Body + Soul Magazine on newsstands now! On page 34, Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive's President and Co-founder, discusses the "big idea": founding Women Thrive Worldwide to help women around the world escape poverty!

August 18, 2009 - In an article on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's increased focus on women's rights, The Washington Post quotes Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive Worldwide's President and Co-founder.

On December 17, 2008, Women's eNews published an op-ed by Women Thrive founder and president Ritu Sharma, in which she looks forward to the inauguration and hopes that the presence of girls of color in the White House will provide inspiration for girls worldwide.

On October 21, 2008, Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive's President and Co-founder, spoke alongside the President and leaders from Washington and around the world at the White House Summit on International Development.

On June 23, 2008,  Nora O'Connell of Women Thrive Worldwide appearend on NPR's Morning Edition to discuss the Senate's proposed cuts to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

From Sacramento to Boston, from Dallas to Duluth, Edge Co-Founder and President Ritu Sharma Fox was featured on radio news shows nationwide on Thursday, March 8 and Friday, March 9 2007.  The shows reached a total audience of four million people.

World Pulse Magazine: Commentary by Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President (2006) on ending world poverty through the empowerment of women.

June 20, 2006 - The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (GROWTH Act of 2006), which offers a visionary blueprint for economic empowerment of women worldwide, will be introduced into the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). 

On June 1, 2006, the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (GROWTH Act, Bill number S. 1425), a bipartisan bill which promotes economic empowerment of women living in poverty worldwide, was introduced in the U.S. Senate with the support of 10 lead sponsors.

March 6, 2006 - ABC Radio, USA Radio Network, Pacifica Radio

World Ark -- a publication of Heifer International: Article by Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President, (January/February 2006 issue) on the impact of empowering women on their communities.

Topeka Capital Journal, and Worthington Daily Journal: Letter to the editor by Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President, (October 2, 2005).

Stevens Point Journal: Article by Heather Clark, (October 17, 2005)

WASHINGTON, The Women’s Edge Coalition welcomes the appointment of John Danilovich, ambassador of the United States to Brazil, as the new CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

On September 17, 2005 Abid Aslam wrote the following article for OneWorld US on the recent U.N. Summit. 

World Pulse Magazine newsletter: Article by Jensine Larsen, (July 13, 2005)

Sojourners Magazine: Article by Elizabeth Palmberg, (June 1, 2005)

Global Future Magazine: Article by Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and President, (Second Quarter 2005)

Overall humanitarian and development assistance was increased by approximately $1.84 billion over 2006 levels to more than $10 billion in the President’s 2007 Budget request to Congress which was made public on February 6, 2006 . However, international development programs crucial to poor women around the world will see significant cuts in U.S. funding next year if President Bush’s budget for 2007, is adopted by Congress.

An editorial by Women Thrive President and Co-Founder Ritu Sharma Fox on how women are especially hurt by natural disasters, and what Peru can learn from past disasters.

On May 14, 2010, Lifetime Television honored Ritu Sharma, President and Co-Founder of Women Thrive Worldwide, as part of their series, Lifetime Celebrates Remarkable Women.

On May 4, 2010, on BusinessWeek.com, Ritu Sharma discussed how and why we need to go beyond microfinance to help women escape poverty.

On April 29, 2009, Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive's President and Co-founder, appeared on Fox News' Strategy Room to discuss how empowering women ends poverty. Watch the video!

On May 29, 2008, Business Wire published this article on the new Pax World Women's Advisory Council, of which Women Thrive's co-founder and president Ritu Sharma Fox is a member.

April 11, 2008. A high-powered alliance of women from government, faith-based organizations, advocacy groups and Hollywood will launch a major drive Sunday to help impoverished women and girls around the world. Backed by Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Queen Noor of Jordan, and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the Women, Faith and Development Alliance will raise funds to benefit one billion poor women around the world.

On April 14, 2008 an alliance of women from government, advocacy groups, faith-based organizations and Hollywood launched a major anti-poverty campaign to help poor women and girls around the world.

On May 9, 2008 Ritu Sharma Fox, Women Thrive's President and Co-Founder appeared on the Jim Bohannon Show where she discussed women and world poverty.

On May 21, 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published this article on students who raised $12,554 to help Women Thrive build a well in Nicaragua. 

On June 16, 2008, The Hill published an article on cuts to the MCC and Burkina Faso (Click here for more information), quoting Nora O'Connell of Women Thrive on the importance of foreign aid to Burkina.

On October 24, 2008, Shop the Cause appeared in Grit, a bimonthly magazine on rural America.

On October 19, 2008, Michelle Kelemen at NPR examined the effect of the financial crisis on developing countries. Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive founder and president, comments that women will now be hurt both by rising food prices and by job losses in the low-wage sectors where they are often employed.

Throughout the month of March and early April 2008, in honor of International Women's Day (March 8), Ritu Sharma Fox, Women Thrive's President and Co-Founder appeared on a variety radio programs to talk about her trip to Nicaragua where she tried to experience what life was like living on less than a dollar a day. Learn more about Ritu's trip at www.WomenThrive.org/dollaraday.

April 12, 2007 - The AFP reports on the WFDA and its efforts to empower women across the globe.

On July 29, 2009, Senators introduced the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524) the bipartisan bill that will begin the process of reforming foreign assistance.

The bipartisan GROWTH Bill that promotes women’s economic opportunity worldwide was introduced in the House today.

The National Security Council (NSC) new vision for development was unveiled yesterday under the title "A New Way Forward on Global Development." This document represents a big step forward in reforming U.S. Foreign Assistance.

Health and Development Groups Applaud Clinton Speech; Call for Action

December 18, 2009 - Women Thrive Worldwide applauds the FY10 SFOPS Bill for its focus on the economic and social empowerment of women all around the world.

Women Thrive welcomes the nomination of Daniel W. Yohannes as the new CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Today, members of the InterAction alliance called on G-20 leaders to rapidly implement their previous pledge of $50 billion for the world’s poorest countries at next week’s Pittsburgh Summit.

Bill to tackle child marriage’s root causes, expand girls’ opportunities.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will take part in a press conference on GROWTH Act and Women's Fund Annual Luncheon.

Women Thrive Worldwide urges Congress to reverse a decision that would cut long-term foreign assistance to poor countries.

Women Thrive Worldwide, co-founder of the new WFDA alliance, will take the stage along with their new partners in the first collaborative alliance dedicated to putting women at the forefront of efforts to end global poverty.

The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (GROWTH Act, bill number S 2069), a bipartisan bill which promotes economic empowerment of women living in poverty worldwide, has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) this fall.  This week’s worldwide observance of U.N. World Poverty Day (October 17) especially highlights the need to foster greater economic opportunity for women in developing nations.

The Women’s Edge Coalition (Edge) applauds the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for adopting a comprehensive and far-reaching gender policy that will be incorporated into billions of dollars in U.S. international assistance to the developing world. The new policy, released in December 2006, will be required for all countries seeking MCC support.

November 16, 2006 - The post-election Congress could support a greater and more progressive U.S. role on global women’s rights issues, potentially upending some of the recent policies promoted by the Bush administration, according to the Women’s Edge Coalition.  However, such gains could be limited if there is a constant political standoff between President Bush and Congress, and if Iraq continues fuel deep budget deficits.

Women’s Edge Coalition launched its new website today by asking all its members and friends to use the website to urge members of Congress to be leaders in supporting greater economic opportunity for poor women worldwide.  “As the largest economy in the world, biggest trading power, and largest provider of international assistance, the United States has the power to make a real difference to the majority of poor people worldwide who live on less than a dollar a day: women.” the letter to Congress says.  “The United States must be a leader in investing in women to reduce global poverty.”

A group of Chicago-area women leaders met with Senator Richard J. Durbin yesterday to commend him on his leadership in Congress on international women’s issues, especially economic empowerment and self-sufficiency for poor women worldwide.  They presented him with a poster-sized letter of appreciation signed by over 150 constituents thanking Durbin for being ‘a champion for women’.

September 8, 2005 - Women will be the biggest losers if the UN World Summit in New York does not focus on its original purpose: reducing poverty worldwide and attaining the Millennium Development Goals.  The vast majority of the one billion people living on less than one dollar a day are women. Attempting to water down commitments the US has already made to reducing poverty and to change the agenda of the summit to include issues like terrorism and UN reform is a disservice to the world’s most vulnerable citizens.

Women, who form the vast majority of the 1.2 billion poorest people who live on less than $1 a day, could be the biggest winners if the Group of 8 Nations (G8) come through with their commitment to cancel $40 billion worth of debt owed by 18 of the world’s poorest nations at their upcoming summit next week, according to the Women’s Edge Coalition, a Washington DC-based nonprofit group that advocates for improving economic opportunity for poor women worldwide. 

WASHINGTON - A coalition of leading international nongovernmental organizations kicked off a national campaign to challenge American women to push U.S. elected officials and candidates in the upcoming election to create a better, safer world by investing in poor women around the globe.

May 27, 2004 - In the rush to seal a new free trade deal with five Central American countries, the United States’ failure to consider a congressional-mandated study on how the trade agreement will impact the poor, especially women, is short-sighted, charged a coalition of leading nongovernmental organizations.

WASHINGTON - Women’s Edge, a nonpartisan coalition that advocates with the U.S. government for the poorest women in the world, announced that Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), in a bi-partisan effort, introduced the Access for Afghan Women Act today into Congress. The bill will ensure that U.S. funding for the rebuilding of Afghanistan will reach women in the country.  

Alicia del Socorro Meneses went from sweeping the streets of Colombia to owning her own thriving business. How? A small micro-credit loan that changed her life.

Imara Martínez of Consejo de Mujeres de Occidente, Nicaragua
Acceptance Speech for the Partnership for Women to Thrive Award, September 10, 2008

In May 2010, Ritu Sharma, president and co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide embarked on her third "Dollar a Day" experience. She traveled to the small village of Doulougou in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where she walked in the shoes of a local woman and farmer. See Ritu in action here.

All videos credit: Jessica Kizorek/Two Parrot Productions for Women Thrive Worldwide

In May 2010, Ritu Sharma, president and co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide embarked on her third "Dollar a Day" experience. She traveled to the small village of Doulougou in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where she walked in the shoes of a local woman and farmer. Browse our photo gallery of the Burkinabe people here.

All photos credit: Jessica Kizorek/Two Parrot Productions for Women Thrive Worldwide

In May 2010, Ritu Sharma, president and co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide embarked on her third "Dollar a Day" experience. She traveled to the small village of Doulougou in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where she walked in the shoes of a local woman and farmer. Read her first-hand account here.

I decided to try living on a dollar a day last year when I was in Nicaragua.  There are about 1.4 billion people worldwide, most of whom are moms and kids, in extreme poverty, defined as living on approximately one dollar per day or less.  Often, that dollar has to pay not just one person’s needs, but for a whole family.

View the picture album here.

Around the world, a billion people - one out of every six human beings - live in extreme poverty, struggling to survive on about $1 a day and the majority, 829 million, are women. This Fall, Ritu Sharma, Women Thrive's President and Co-founder, traveled to rural Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Ritu spent time with local women - and attempted to experience what they must do everyday - live on less than $1, or 8.3 Quetzales (Guatemala's currency).

This February, Ritu Sharma Fox, Women Thrive Worldwide's President and Co-founder traveled to Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, where approximately 831,000 people struggle to survive on less than a dollar a day. In Terrabona, a rural region in Nicaragua, Ritu met two extraordinary mothers, Leticia and Betilde, both of whom live on far less than a dollar a day. Leticia, one of FEMUPROCAN's several founders, and Betilde are members of FEMUPROCAN, a women's agricultural cooperative working to economically empower women to escape poverty.

In February of 2008, Ritu Sharma Fox, President and Co-founder of Women Thrive Worldwide (Women Thrive), traveled to Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with Catalina Rojas, Director of Global Partnerships, and Nora O’Connell, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs, to assess how U.S. assistance programs are (or are not) impacting women.

In honor of International Women's Day (March 8) and Women's History Month (March), Ritu Sharma Fox, Women Thrive's President and Co-founder, left her home in Annapolis and traveled to Nicaragua where approximately 831,000 people live on less 20 Cordovas a day, the equivalent of one U.S. dollar. Her goal? To try to experience, if only a little, what is like for those 831,000.