“This is not charity. This is business: business with a social objective, which is to help people

get out of poverty.” - Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank

New Assets, Inc., a U.S.-based nonprofit, believes that building social and human capital in the developing world takes more than hard and persistent work. It requires local economic opportunities, where entrepreneurial women, men, and youth create tangible assets for their families and their communities.

Building capital also requires investments in education, providing children and their schools some of the basic tools they need to learn and grow. Small strategic projects, when properly tended, can yield big results.

Our mission reflects these beliefs. For five years, New Assets has nurtured economic and educational opportunities that are simple, sustainable, and empowering.

Local projects that combine micro enterprise and solar-based lighting have been our starting point, in communities where kerosene lamps and candlelight stand in for electricity. Since 2005, we have trained more than 750 local entrepreneurs and helped them create solar lighting systems in more than 200 schools and 3,000 homes in sub-Saharan Africa.