aidha’s website: www.aidha.org

aidha was formally registered as a Singapore society in July 2006. aidha is a not for profit, educational organization dedicated to ‘enriching lives through financial education’. Inspiration for aidha’s work was drawn from the UNIFEM, National Committee, Singapore ‘Migrant Worker Project’ – a three-year pilot program providing financial education to Filipina migrants. aidha is committed to building upon this groundbreaking effort by providing expanded financial and small business management education to migrant women of all nationalities living and working in Singapore. They are a grassroots organization, fully staffed by volunteers who are committed to helping migrant women build brighter futures.

In its 19 months of operations, aidha has a current student registration file of over 300 students and has had 44 graduates complete the demanding 6 month entrepreneurship course. To date, only a handful of aidha students have returned to their home countries but the organization is anticipating the return of several women over the coming months. aidha looks forward to tracking and celebrating their pioneering efforts. The student testimonials, collected informally and through formal impact surveys, all suggest that students strongly value the aidha experience.

Over the coming year, aidha will build upon its outreach efforts to educational institutions and corporations, pursue additional strategic alliances with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and launch new merchandising programs.

For her accomplishments in establishing the foundation for aidha, Sarah Mavrinac, aidha’s President, was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.