About Us — Via Artesani

Our Mission

“Via Artesani fosters economic independence in under-resourced rural communities worldwide through social entrepreneurship, sustainable business education, and microfinance lending — equipping individuals with the knowledge, skills, and capital to build lasting financial independence for themselves and their communities.”

Our Approach

How we work

Business Education

We provide business education, mentorship, and entrepreneurship training to individuals in subsistence-based and under-resourced communities, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to establish and operate their own enterprises.

Microfinance & Recoverable Grants

We administer community-based microfinance and recoverable grant programs that provide access to capital for entrepreneurs who lack access to conventional financing, enabling them to start or expand locally-owned businesses. This program is funded entirely through donations. Entrepreneurs apply through a competitive process, working with our team to define what the funds will be used for and how they'll be repaid. From there, each entrepreneur commits to a path built around education, hands-on training, and weekly check-ins — the support we've found gives them the best chance to succeed. As loans are repaid, 100% of those funds are redeployed to help a new cohort of entrepreneurs.

Local Partnership

We work through trusted, on-the-ground partners like Angaza Nuru so that programs are run by and for the communities they serve, with local accountability and long-term presence.

Where We Work

Established in Bodoi, Kenya. Expanding our reach.

Established

Bodoi, Kenya

Our home base — where the Community Harvest Program and Rising Entrepreneurs Program were initially piloted and are now self-sufficient, run in partnership with Angaza Nuru. Our goal is always independent, thriving programs, with on-going support there whenever they need it.

Growing

Malawi

Now supporting entrepreneurs in Malawi through the Community Support Fund and other hands-on programs, with hopes to partner with more organizations there in the future.

Exploring

Haiti

We've worked here in the past and are exploring how Via Artesani's model could further support entrepreneurs and communities in Haiti. No programs have launched there yet, but we're laying the groundwork for what a future partnership could look like.

About Via Artesani