In a time when measures implemented to keep us safe have shuttered businesses all over the world, Endnog and Lillian have a lot to teach the world about the power of resilience, a skill that is becoming increasingly relevant for all of us.

How can entrepreneurs in emerging markets build their resilience? What tools enable them to adapt when everything around them has changed? The answers to these questions should inform the ways governments support their citizens during a pandemic. Finding these answers is a big part of the work we do at the BOMA Project and Village Enterprise.

Over the last decade, the BOMA Project has helped over 33,000 women entrepreneurs in Northern Kenya start new businesses and generate income to “graduate” themselves and their families out of poverty. Village Enterprise provides cash transfers as seed capital, along with training and ongoing mentoring for women and men across East Africa living in extreme poverty. Since the organization’s inception, Village Enterprise has started over 48,000 businesses and trained over 185,000 East Africans.