Community Development

Education • Enterprise Development • Financial Inclusion

Education Enterprise Development Financial Inclusion

Education

The Challenge

Education is a great driver of social, economic and political progress. As people learn to read, count and reason critically, their prospects for health, income mobility, and holistic prosperity expand exponentially. But advances in education have not benefited everyone equally—and primary school enrollment rates tell only part of the regrettable story. Millions of children who start primary school are unable to finish and an even greater number miss out on secondary school. Today, some 69 million adolescents—in low-income countries—are receiving no post-primary education. ​Globally, some 123 million youth between the age of 15 to 24 lack basic reading and writing skills, a majority of which (61%) are young women. In addition, as reported by the United Nations, in 2015 roughly 57 million children of primary school age were out of school. Even as countries with the toughest challenges report to have made large strides, progress on primary school enrollment has slowed. Between 2011 and 2015, the number of out-of-school children of primary age fell by only 3 million. As such, this trend​ ​continues​ ​to​ ​multiply​ ​on​ ​a​ ​downward​ ​slope.

The Strategy

The Foundation’s Community Development-  EDUCATION Strategy is to ensure that by 2025 every child has access to and is able to complete Primary Schooling. BMA seeks to support and fund projects that have a strong and sustainable focus on Early Childhood Education, Primary Schooling, and After-School programmatic regimentation that extends educational tracks into the arts, STEM, and sports.

Enterprise Development

The Challenge

Enterprise serves as the economic engine and lifeblood empowering many families and communities in low-income countries to transition out of extreme poverty. The Bible clearly identifies work as God’s plan for a person’s provision. When a capable individual lacks the opportunity to work, this departure from God’s plan creates dependence and despair, distorting that person’s view of himself or herself and impairs the overall fabric and resiliency of a community.

The Strategy

The Foundation’s Community Development- ENTERPRISE Development Strategy is to fund Enterprise Programs that enable people living in disadvantaged communities the opportunity to start, develop, and bring to market their own businesses. BMA seeks to fund Enterprise Programs that facilitate ongoing Training, Saving Programs, Micro-Loans, Entrepreneurship Incubators, and Working Capital for Small Business Owners, and that implement economic scalability and economic mobility tracks.

Financial Inclusion

The Challenge

The Poor do not live in a static state of poverty. Every year, millions of people transition out of poverty by successfully adopting new farming technologies, investing in new business opportunities, or finding new jobs. At the same time, large numbers of people fall back into poverty due to health problems, financial setbacks, and other shocks. If available at critical moments, effective tools for savings, payment, credit, and insurance can help households capture an opportunity to climb out of poverty or weather a crisis or emergency without falling deeper and/or back into poverty.

The Strategy

The Foundation’s Community Development FINANCIAL INCLUSION strategy aims to fund organizations that play a catalytic role in broadening the reach of digital payment systems and financial literacy education programs particularly in poor and rural areas, and expand the range of services available on these platforms. Until the infrastructure and customer base are well established, this will involve a combination of mobile banking services that are accessible via cell phones and brick-and-mortar stores​ ​where​ ​subscribers​ ​can​ ​convert​ ​cash​ ​they​ ​earn​ ​into​ ​digital​ ​money.