About Glimmer: Revolutionizing the way Africa receives aid

  • About Glimmer: Revolutionizing the way Africa receives aid

    A Glimmer of Hope is a non-profit organization that helps lift women and children out of extreme poverty in rural Ethiopia.

    Glimmer developed an entrepreneurial model to provide clean water + schools + health clinics + micro-finance loans, one village at a time.

    Our unique 100% Promise guarantees all donations go directly to funding projects, over 5000 to date. Every dollar donated through Glimmer reaches the people in need. Our endowment covers all operating expenses. Over the last 10 years, Glimmer has improved more than 2.5 million lives.

    Learn more in this video about Glimmer.

  • Glimmer’s Start: Igniting Donna Berber’s vision

    “We all share in this responsibility.”

    Donna’s Story:
    It started back in the mid-eighties, when I was in my twenties, living in London. And across the television screens came the images of the starvation camps fresh out of Ethiopia. At the time, Philip and I were newlyweds and not in a position to do much to help. But seeing those images gave me that moment that redefines your life.

    As years passed, Philip’s entrepreneurial career brought us to Austin, Texas. I had three beautiful sons, a lovely home and, you know, flowers in my garden. My life was happy and fulfilling. Philip was doing well with his internet brokerage company, CyBerCorp, and the more comfortably numb I became, the more I felt a need to turn my attention to that moment in the past where I saw others in deep need. When I ran into a friend that was adopting from Ethiopia, that moment from 15 years ago was re-ignited as I learned that Ethiopia was still one of the poorest countries in the world, with preventable diseases and food shortages an ever-present part of daily life.

    My research led me to the Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington D.C where I met with Tameru Abasaba, the liaison officer for all US NGOs. We had a meeting of our hearts and minds as we cried over the 80’s Great Famine in Ethiopia. He encouraged me to travel to Ethiopia, and while in Addis Ababa in September 1999, I was struck both by the suffering and the spirit, beauty and dignity of the people. When I returned to the United States, together, Philip, Tameru and I began making plans for what our new approach would be.

  • 100% Promise: All donations directly fund projects in Ethiopia

    We guarantee that 100% of your donation will be used to improve the lives of women and children in need, in rural Ethiopia.

    A Glimmer of Hope is not a traditional charity. It is run like a business. We measure our success like a business and we measure impact in terms of human impact. Glimmer is in operation to turn a profit – a Social Profit.

    In August of 2000, Philip and Donna Berber pledged $100 million in stock from the sale of CyBerCorp to Charles Schwab to create an endowment for the organization. The endowment covers all of Glimmer’s operating expenses. We also pay 100% of all credit card transaction fees. That allows us to fulfill a 100% Promise to our donors – every dollar you give goes straight to our projects in Ethiopia.

    “When we started 10 years ago, we looked at how international aid was being administered and saw how much money was being directed at impoverished nations and how little of that money was getting to the people in need.” – Philip Berber

    Because Glimmer pays all of our operating expenses, we are able to offer you a unique opportunity to help some of the poorest people in the world.

    Our 100% Promise provides a rare opportunity for donors who want their dollars to have maximum impact. Your donation will go directly to our office in Addis Ababa, staffed by experienced Ethiopian professionals who monitor the progress of our projects to ensure on time and on budget completion. That office also sees to it that your dollar is stretched as far as it will go once it reaches Ethiopia because of the familiarity they have with doing business in the country.

    Through photos, video and GPS coordinates, our donors personally experience how their contributions, large and small, are changing lives. It's an innovative and secure channel of distribution that ensures that every dollar of your contribution reaches the people in need.

  • Our Model: clean water + schools + health clinics + micro-finance loans, one village at a time

    “We created a new model, an entrepreneurial model that has been very effective and efficient." - Philip Berber

    Glimmer goes deep instead of wide. We are only in rural Ethiopia. We holistically integrate our projects to address basic needs of those living in each community. Then we move to the village next door.

    Depending on the needs of the community, our projects can provide those living there with access to clean water, education, basic healthcare, micro-irrigation, sanitation and hygiene, and microfinance. Our model helps families lift themselves out of extreme poverty and onto the first rung of the ladder towards prosperity.

    The key elements of our Model include:

    • We focus on the forgotten, rural poor of Ethiopia.

    • We start by asking the communities what they truly need and we work with them to build sustainable solutions.

    • Glimmer’s endowment covers all our operating costs, provides funding for select projects, pays all credit card transaction fees and check processing fees.

    • We use Ethiopian NGOs as implementing partners and employ Ethiopian professionals to oversee our operations in Ethiopia. Our projects are completed within 18 months.

    • We work in partnership with the Ethiopian government, but never through it.

  • Team Glimmer: Dedicated to eliminating extreme poverty in Ethiopia

    The staff in Austin is largely business professionals, while the staff in Addis (Ethiopia) is largely comprised of development professionals.

    Founders

    Donna Berber - Founder & Co-Chair Donna Philip Berber - Co-Chair Philip



    Glimmer Team: Austin and Ethiopia

    Alicyn Yarbrough - Program Director Alicyn Brian Cooper - Chief Executive Officer Brian Brody Kwiatkowski - Lead Developer Brody Carla Power - Financial Controller Carla Chali Barkessa - Financial Officer Chali Clairet Espin - Administrative Support Clairet
    Courtney Holder - Communications / Outreach Courtney
    David Porter - Executive Director of Glimmer Austin David Eric Hailu - Assistant Office Manager Eric Eric Schmidhauser - Director of Social Investment Eric Gebrehiwot Reta - Director of Operations Gebrehiwot Haile-Gebriel Endeshaw - Communications and Projects Officer Haile-Gebriel Lensa Guteta Etefa - Office Assistant Lensa
    Margery Sue Taylor - Executive Assistant Margery
    Mary Clare - Donor Communications Director Mary Clare
    Mohammed Beyan - Finance Manager Mohammed Nasser Hassen - Program Manager Nasser Norma Van Horn - Special Programs Norma Rose Abeyta - Director of Administration Rose
    Salih Sied - Project Officer Salih
    Sarah Aragona - Program Coordinator Sarah
    Shelley Edwardson - Program Manager Shelley Stephanie Fast - Chief Financial Officer Stephanie Tom Bisciglia - Director of MIS Tom Tsegaye Telila - Project Officer Tsegaye Yonas Gudeto Weyessa - Office Assistant Yonas

    100% Promise Partners

    100% promise partners are organizations committed to A Glimmer of Hope's mission. Each of these organizations has contributed in their own unique way through pro bono work, fundraising or providing discounts to Glimmer's staff.


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