Our accolades

“At Applied Value Group, we recognize the transformative power of economic empowerment and social inclusion. Hand in Hand’s dedication to lifting individuals out of poverty through entrepreneurship perfectly aligns with our mission to create sustainable change. By supporting Hand in Hand, we are not only investing in individual entrepreneurs but also fostering resilient communities and thriving local economies.

That is why, for the past 14 years, we have supported Hand in Hand with substantial financial resources to help the organization expand its reach. Additionally, we have dedicated our knowledge and expertise through skills-based volunteering, reinforcing our commitment to a cause close to our hearts.”

Bruce Grant, Executive Chairman, Applied Value Group

Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) has been a longstanding supporter of Hand in Hand, raising funds through their annual gala dinner.

“The work Hand in Hand International does is so important, with strong fundamental imperatives to create sustainable change. Our own values align firmly with Hand in Hand, particularly their ethos of using impact financing to help women create not just their own businesses but working towards a longer-term shift in struggling economies.”

Janet Legge, Deputy Chief Executive, Director of Awarding Body & Learning, Association of Corporate Treasurers

Boeing has partnered with Hand in Hand to transform the lives of women and young people in rural Tanzania, with the aim of creating 4,000 jobs for women and young people by 2025.

“Boeing’s partnership with Hand in Hand is just one of the ways we are working to tackle gender inequality and help women in Africa reach their full potential. Across Africa, Boeing supports NGOs and universities to empower women to develop their skills and abilities, to help them build dynamic careers in aviation or open their own business. Such programs are a strong enabler to economic transformation in Tanzania and beyond”.

Roula Droubi, Boeing community, industry and government engagement director in the Middle East and Africa

Hand in Hand partnered with Cartier Philanthropy and International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) to test whether engaging with men and communities to challenge attitudes that prevent women from working outside the home could boost women’s savings and incomes. The project reached 600 women and their families in rural Arusha, Tanzania.

In 2022 the Coca Cola Foundation joined forces with Hand in Hand in, training Kenyan women to start their own recycling businesses, fighting plastic waste and raising incomes.

“We are proud to use our resources to fund these types of programs. Since 1984, The Coca-Cola Foundation has committed itself to supporting sustainable community programs. With this particular program, 80% of the beneficiaries of this grant will be women, who will have a better chance at improving their livelihoods. As such, we will not only have a cleaner Nairobi, but we will also have a more economically empowered one, with more women actively making a positive difference in their settlements and communities.”

Through our partnership with Chem Chem Association, we have been able to give women and men the business skills they need to map their own path out of poverty, strengthening and uplifting communities in the Manyara region at the same time as protecting one of Tanzania’s most important wildlife habitats.

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Danida) under the Danida Market Development Partnerships Programme has partnered with Hand in Hand to develop Afghanistan’s first organic saffron value chain. The Organic Growth project aims to improve the incomes of 3,000 farm workers and processors in the rural Herat province by making saffron growing more profitable.

Hand in Hand, in partnership with Fund for Innovation in Development (FID), is launching a three-and-a-half year project to find out whether it’s enough to train women in business skills to increase their income, or whether engaging with the community to challenge the idea of what a ‘woman’s role’ can be will boost women’s incomes even further than with business skills training alone. In one of the largest randomized control trials (RCT) of its kind in East Africa, the project will develop and expand the body of evidence that shows shifting restrictive gender norms in communities can increase women’s incomes and savings.

“Boeing’s partnership with Hand in Hand is just one of the ways we are working to tackle gender inequality and help women in Africa reach their full potential. Across Africa, Boeing supports NGOs and universities to empower women to develop their skills and abilities, to help them build dynamic careers in aviation or open their own business. Such programs are a strong enabler to economic transformation in Tanzania and beyond”.

Juliette Seban, FID Executive Director

“Throughout our partnership, Hand in Hand has demonstrated excellent programme design and implementation, low cost per member trained and rigorous financial controls.”

Robert Glass, Project Director at the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).

The Hilti Foundation is a philanthropic non-profit organisation and joint-venture of the Hilti Family and Hilti Group based in Liechtenstein. The Foundation is funding a major project reaching 40,000 members in Kenya and Tanzania.

“Our goal as a Foundation is to enable people in need to become economically independent. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to develop skills, find sustainable jobs, start businesses and earn a living. With a sustainable and growing income, families can afford a better living standard and contribute to a socially inclusive and economically thriving local community. Through our initiatives with Hand in Hand, many people in East Africa get a chance to escape poverty and to become part of an up-and-coming middle class.”

Werner Wallner, CEO, Hilti Foundation

The IKEA Foundation’s vision is to create a better everyday life for people across the globe. To that end, they have partnered with Hand in Hand twice: first to help thousands of women and young people create jobs that can stand up to climate change, and on a major project to boost regenerative agriculture in Kenya, reaching 1,900 smallholder farmers and their families.

Since 2019, the Linda Norgrove Foundation has helped us support people in Afghanistan with the skills and resources they need to launch profitable businesses and put food on the table for their families.

We partnered with Visa Inc. on a three-year project providing advanced business skills, e-commerce training, mentoring, support to access finance and connections to larger markets to 1,600 existing business owners in Nairobi’s poorest areas, as well as offering our standard business training to 8,200 first time entrepreneurs.

“This scheme turns one-woman start-ups into job-creating local businesses”

Carl Manlan, Vice President, Social Impact for Visa Central and Eastern Europe Middle East and Africa