The Transformational Tech series highlights Cisco's nonprofit partners that use technology to help transform the lives of individuals and communities. Toward Cisco's vision of an inclusive future for all, Cisco is partnering with Trickle Up to help them leverage technology to increase financial inclusion, independence, economic security, and resilience for women living in poverty.

This blog was written by Nathalie Laidler-Kylander, President of Trickle Up. She brings over 30 years of multi-sector experience, including 18 years in international development. Nathalie holds a BS in Biochemistry from Imperial College at London University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a PhD from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. 

Trickle Uppartners with women in extreme poverty to build economic opportunity and drive inclusion. Driven by their talents and dreams, equipped with new skills and assets, and supported through coaching and mentoring, women in our programs start micro-enterprises, build confidence, and save money for the future. They forge their own resilient pathways out of extreme poverty for themselves, their families, and their communities, breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

An estimated 650 million people live in extreme poverty in the world today. Many of them are women facing multiple forms of vulnerability, discrimination, and exclusion. But when women have livelihoods and resources, with the ability to make decisions over those resources, they invest in three things: nutrition, education, and health. Investing in women and their economic inclusion is one of the best ways to interrupt intergenerational poverty.

The Importance of Coaching

Our programs build on the Graduation Approach and offer participants an opportunity to join savings groups with women from their communities as well as access to training, coaching, and seed capital to build sustainable livelihoods. Individual and group coaching is one of the most important elements of our work. It enables us to accompany women as they build their confidence and resilience and create their own sustainable pathways out of poverty.

In our experience, the best coaches are women who are from the same communities that we serve. These community coaches understand the context, experience, vulnerabilities, and challenges facing our participants, They are ideally positioned to share the technical content knowledge the community can't always access.

That's where our tablet based Echb'eenink app (meaning "to accompany" in a local Mayan language) comes in. Pre-loaded with audio-visual content, including animated videos in local languages, it enables coaches to deliver important coaching modules to support participants as they build knowledge and confidence. New modules include coaching on gender-based violence, climate change, effective savings groups, and sexual and reproductive health.

Last time I was in Guatemala, I remember how everyone in the community gathered round to see the animated educational videos on the tablet. The children were so excited to watch them with their mothers. And the content from the coaching app sparked important discussion between the community coach and participants.