Last week, Google Doodle introduced billions of people to an incredible woman: Esther Nkulenu Ocloo, a Ghanaian entrepreneur, advocate for women, pioneer of microfinance and co-founder of Women’s World Banking. This Doodle sparked a landslide of articles highlighting Esther’s life and work. And while they mention her as our co-founder, how her story is so inextricable from ours remains untold. Not anymore. Esther was already a self-made businesswoman by the time the invitation to represent Ghana at the first UN World Conference on Women came around in 1975. Prior to leaving for the conference, Esther met with other Ghanaian women market entrepreneurs to brainstorm on the main issue they wanted to convey at the conference. Their response was singular and unequivocal. Above all else, the women identified lack of access to credit for their small businesses as the most important input that they needed to succeed. They believed that once they had credit, they could use the capital to generate enough funds from their businesses to meet all other needs.

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