Esperanza, in partnership with MoveUp, has today announced the deployment of EdApp to transform the way their not-for-profit organisation workforce engages in business training and social support.
Founded in 1995, Esperanza is a not-for-profit organisation providing support to the most vulnerable in the Dominican Republic. Esperanza offers an extensive solution to poverty alleviation by providing individually tailored services that address financial, physical, emotional needs and acknowledges the unlimited potential for growth and self-worth in doing so. The organisation extends services centred around a microfinance program not only through economic support but also through education and health. Small loans are distributed to the most vulnerable and marginalised individuals. Esperanza intends to break the cycle of poverty by providing access to capital to those excluded from the formal financial sector, specifically to small business owners to facilitate their economic development.
With EdApp’s mobile-first microlearning platform, Esperanza will be able to assist thousands of entrepreneurs receiving microfinancing through delivering effective business training. EdApp’s offline mode feature is particularly beneficial to Esperanza due to the limited amount of Internet access throughout the affected countries. In light of this, the organisation facilitates workshops where individuals can access WiFi to download EdApp lessons for later completion.
CEO of EdApp, Darren Winterford said, “EdApp is thrilled to be facilitating Esperanza’s training to small organisations in the Dominican Republic. The Hispanola island experiences the least developed telecommunications infrastructure in Latin America, so we are proud that our mobile-first platform enables Esperanza’s team to successfully educate these businesses. We are overjoyed that some of EdApp’s features like offline mode are being utilised for such a great cause and EdApp is proud to be partnered with an organisation that’s committed to fighting poverty.”
Marlena May, Program Director at MoveUp said, “EdApp’s platform is the ideal tool to educate the entrepreneurs in Esperanza’s microfinance program. We are committed to empowering individuals to move from economic vulnerability to resiliency and EdApp facilitates this. We were especially impressed with the platform’s offline capabilities, which provide the necessary tools to educate in regions that lack Internet access.”
With the implementation of EdApp’s mobile-based microlearning platform, Dominicans and Haitians undertaking the Esperanza program now have access to top-tier training, providing extraordinary opportunities to thousands.
Working in the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, Esperanza has ten branch offices in the regions of Santo Domingo, Hato Mayor, Samana, El Seibo, Los Alcarrizos, San Pedro, La Romana, and Puerto Plata. Their mission is to free families from poverty and share the hope of Christ. Esperanza is headquartered in Santo Domingo, has over 10,000 associates in the Dominican Republic, and has distributed 264,253 loans, supported 288 schools, and provided access to clean water through 75 water projects. With over 40% of the population living below the poverty line of $4/day, Esperanza “works where the most vulnerable live.” Esperanza works primarily in rural communities where the associates work, live, and raise their families.
MoveUp provides actionable, accessible, education to empower people. Utilizing mobile technologies and in-country relationships, they bring knowledge to those who need it. They work directly with Esperanza in the Dominican Republic to digitalize their existing content and provide innovative new content using EdApp’s microlearning platform for improved learning. MoveUp classes focus on providing learners with applicable, life-changing education, which for Esperanza’s entrepreneurs, includes classes on basic business principles, values, preventative healthcare, and more.
EdApp is an award-winning microlearning-based and mobile-first Learning Management System (LMS). Designed to provide engaging, mobile-first user experiences, the EdApp platform provides Enterprise with the ability to deliver training directly to their workforces’ smartphones, resulting in record engagement rates. EdApp delivers around 45,000 lessons per day across more than 30 countries and counting.
