Village Enterprise Fund

About Village Enterprise Fund

Village Enterprise Fund Inc. stands out for using subaward funding to extend poverty-alleviation work through named field projects such as DREAMS in Uganda and Ethiopia. The recent grants data show a large two-year commitment to Mercy Corps for DREAMS project work, alongside a separate grant tied to the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project in Uganda. That mix fits the foundation’s broader mission to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship, training, cash transfers, mentoring, and climate-smart, locally led programs. The foundation’s work centers on economic development in rural East Africa, but its grantmaking appears to be structured around program delivery rather than open-ended general support. Its active programs include an entrepreneurship model built around Business Savings Groups and startup grants, plus partner-funded implementation and technical assistance for initiatives in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda. Across those efforts, the foundation uses restricted, project-specific funding to support organizations carrying out field programs in poverty graduation, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, refugee livelihoods, and conservation-linked livelihoods. Dianne Calvi leads the organization.

What Village Enterprise Fund Funds

A core theme is outcomes-based poverty graduation. Through the Impact First Initiative, Village Enterprise Fund Inc supports scaling entrepreneurship-driven programs with training on outcomes-based financing, policy advocacy, technical assistance, capacity building, and support for integrated impact financing. Another clear area is partner-funded program delivery. The foundation’s implementation work includes economic development components inside broader initiatives, such as establishing Business Savings Groups and training business mentors for partner programs in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda. The entrepreneurship program itself is also central. It identifies groups of first-time entrepreneurs, typically groups of three, and provides training in business and savings, mentoring, and a small startup grant to launch income-generating businesses. The recent grants also show conservation-linked field support. Village Enterprise Fund Inc gave $90,895 to Arizona State University for the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project work in Uganda.

How Village Enterprise Fund Gives