Our philosophy

Investing Hope currently focuses on Colombia, and its model takes into account the country’s economy as a whole. Although Colombia is considered a middle-income country, more than a third of its population continues to live in poverty. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Colombia has the third worst level of disparity between the wealthy and the poor in Latin America (only Haiti and Honduras are worse) and is in the bottom 10 countries globally. According to UN Agency for Human Settlements, when disparity levels are extremely high, there is a considerable job deficit and a large labor informality affecting mainly youth and women. Recent studies confirm that youth between the ages of 14 and 28 represent 27.6% of the Colombian population and of these youth, 41.5% of the men and 45.7% of the women live below the poverty line. In rural areas the numbers are even worse with 61.2% of the rural youth live below the poverty level.

Investing Hope was founded to be able to help take away the barriers that prohibit the poor from advancing economically through church-based financial education, hands-on income generation and creative lending and savings products. The foundation understands that traditional financial tools need to be appropriately designed and executed for poorer women and youth. Organizations that will truly bring lasting change to the poor need to be flexible and innovative, willing to take risks in order to find the combination of assistance that will propel the low-income youth and families forward.

Investing Hope’s assistance begins around Biblically based money management training and savings. Both adults and youth are taught the importance of savings and then given the opportunity to put their learning into action through the Adult Savings Group and the YES (Youth Entrepreneurship and Savings Clubs.

Our work allows a safe and fun environment where kids can explore their talents, learn responsable money management techniques and start their own microbusiness.