Home
About Us
Matt Damon and Gary White are putting their money where their mouth is.
The two are co-founder and CEO of WaterEquity, a nonprofit that aims to improve access to safe water and sanitation around the world, USA Today reports.
"Access to safe water and sanitation is a fundamental human right under binding international law," White says in a press release.
"Yet today, a global water crisis still persists."
According to the UN, more than 3.5 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed sanitation and more than 2.2 billion people lack access to safe water.
WaterEquity estimates that if 600 million low-income people could get financing for water and sanitation services over the next decade, the market would be worth $35 billion.
WaterEquity has made more than $360 million in investments in four private investment funds that have reached more than 5 million people with increased access to safe water and sanitation.
And 93% of the people taking out the micro loans are women.
"Ensuring equitable access to safe water and sanitation cannot be accomplished without giving women the power and the capital to solve for their futures," White says in the press release.
WaterEquity's investment funds lend money to financial institutions in developing countries to expand water and sanitation lending.
The loans are repaid at an average rate of 97% Read the Entire Article
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Foundation: Marguerite Casey Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Kresge Foundation
Stephen Stephens' father died of cancer when he was 53, and his message to young people has stayed with him. "Always do the right thing son," he tells Fast Company. "That message has always...more
Foundation: Indianapolis Foundation
Lynne Arriale's new album, Being Human, is all about "people who exemplify Passion, courage, love, curiosity, and other human qualities," the Florida pianist tells Rita Kohn of the Indianapolis...more
"If the class register were anything to go by, education would be one of modern civilization's greatest success stories." That's what Peter Wilson, a member of the UBS Accelerate Collective, had...more
Foundation: Gates Foundation
Melinda French Gates is stepping down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which she founded with her ex-husband Bill Gates more than 20 years ago. As part of an agreement made...more
Ahmad Al-Mallahi is a professor of agricultural engineering and sensing technologies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and he's spent the past five years developing technology that could...more
Deforestation in south-east Asia could slash the region's GDP by 35%, according to a new report from Reuters. And that's not all. The report also finds that $100 billion pledged to fight...more
"At a time of multiple crises and scarce resources for development, this is a unique value proposition for governments everywhere." So says the head of the African Development Bank in praising...more
The People's Bank of China says it will start allowing people in China to use the country's new digital currency, the Digital Yuan, to buy goods and services starting next month, the BBC...more
When it comes to corporate social responsibility, India's government and public sector companies are at the top of the list. But when it comes to companies of all sizes, they're at the bottom,...more
The world's biggest state investors are getting into the business of making positive social and environmental impact investments. Singapore's Temasek Holdings, one of the world's largest state...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver Backs Social Saturday
UK will be celebrating its first national celebration of social enterprises dubbed as Social Saturday. World famous celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who founded the Fifteen restaurant chain.
