They are a trans-disciplinary collective at work on research, development and outreach to amplify and unite Self Help Groups and connected organizations around the world.

Their mission is to support and strengthen the Self Help Group ecosystem around the world.

They believe...

When they invest in the agency of women to create change, they exponentially and cost effectively dismantle poverty from the inside out.
 
There needs to be a fundamental shift in the way we tackle poverty reduction, moving towards investing in the promise of collective action.
 
While there are variations in approaches to SHGs, a fundamental focus on women's empowerment and collective action drives transformative change.

Their Story

Courtenay Cabot Venton is an international development economist. She works with large institutional donors and foundations, as well as non-profits, to figure out what is working, and what isn’t, when it comes to poverty reduction.

Five years ago, Courtenay was asked to evaluate a Self Help Group program in Ethiopia. She was blown away by the changes that these women were making in their communities – setting up schools, starting small businesses, advocating for access to services, and stopping childhood marriage. She spearheaded a partnership to develop a digital platform to support SHG facilitators, and that project is now being delivered in 9 languages with an ever growing base of partner organizations across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. She founded The Share Trust in 2018 because she saw a mounting interest in the ability of SHGs to create transformational change in their communities, and she wanted to support the ecosystem of organizations working in this space, by building the evidence base and facilitating collaborations between like-minded organizations.