NOW Invest: Investing in Rural Women's Journeys to Economic Freedom
NOW Invest is a new, time-bound pilot that introduces group-managed seed funding for women who have completed earlier phases of the Nurturing Opportunities for Women program. Over an 18-month period, three women’s groups will each receive $5,000 in seed funding, paired with structured business incubation. Women will receive training in business planning, cost tracking, pricing, and basic profit analysis, and develop simple, picture-based or oral business plans suited to low-literacy contexts. Groups collectively determine investment priorities, fund use, leadership roles, and accountability and dispute-resolution processes.
About a year ago, I joined One Village Partners (OVP) as the Country Director. As I stepped into the role, I had many questions. I wanted to understand our work firsthand, celebrate the successes we had achieved together, and identify opportunities to strengthen our impact and sustain our wins.
Across many of our community visits and conversations with staff, one initiative stood out repeatedly: the Nurturing Opportunities for Women (NOW) program.
I spent time listening to the team and meeting women across several communities. What stuck with me the most was the pride in their voices as they shared their learnings and experiences with the NOW 1 & 2 programs. They spoke about understanding the power of their leadership within their communities and households. They described how the program had helped them grasp concepts that once felt out of reach: business planning, investment, profit and loss, savings, and financial decision-making.
Many women proudly shared that they now know how to assess investments, calculate profits, save, and avoid taking on harmful debt during difficult times. These are not just financial skills; they are tools that help women navigate everyday challenges with greater confidence and independence.
Yet, despite celebrating these achievements, the women consistently shared one clear request.
Many of them already operated petty trading businesses or small enterprises. They wanted access to financial resources, not only to help women who had not yet started income-generating activities, but also to enable existing entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and put their new knowledge into practice.
This message was echoed consistently by our team. It became clear that access to flexible capital was one of the missing pieces needed to build on the remarkable success of the NOW program.
As many of you know, One Village Partners is a learning organization that believes deeply in community leadership. Even while operating with limited resources, we wanted to explore an important question:
What changes when rural women receive not only accessible, picture-based learning on leadership, business development, financial management, and climate-smart agriculture, but also have access to flexible financial support to apply those lessons in real time?
This question led to the launch of the NOW Invest pilot.
Working with graduates from NOW 1 and 2 Cohorts, we introduced the NOW Invest pilot across three communities in Kenema District, reaching 113 women.
Our objectives were simple. We wanted to learn alongside the women, how access to capital influences their leadership, decisions, confidence, and livelihoods, and explore how financial support can strengthen the impact of the knowledge and skills they have already gained on business skills, leadership, smart agriculture, and more across the NOW 1 & 2 trainings.
Although the pilot is still in its early stages, the first three months have already revealed encouraging signs and shifts.
We are seeing women put their leadership into practice by making thoughtful decisions, taking greater ownership of their businesses, and reflecting more critically on how they invest their time and resources. We saw these women design and present business and investment plans on how they will invest the financial resources into income generating activities.
We are also witnessing stronger solidarity among participants. They continually ask how they can support one another while also holding each other accountable for their commitments and progress.
One of the most powerful insights has been their desire to save collectively.
The women explained that saving together is more than just keeping money. It is about strengthening relationships, maintaining accountability, and ensuring that their shared commitment to one another continues long after the project ends. As one participant expressed, "Where our money is, our hearts and our commitment will be there too."
This reminds us that financial inclusion is not simply about access to capital. It is about trust, confidence, collective action, and creating opportunities for women to shape their own paths.
At One Village Partners, we are excited to continue learning from the NOW Invest pilot. We hope it will deepen our understanding of what’s possible when rural women combine knowledge, practical skills, and access to flexible financial resources as they navigate daily realities and pursue greater financial independence.
This is only the beginning of the journey.
We invite you to journey with us as we continue learning, adapting, and investing in the leadership, resilience, and potential of rural women.