Opes Impact Fund

Equa is a social cooperative that offers a wide range of services for individuals, families, and communities. Equa is thus the result of Genera and Tuttinsieme joining forces to offer even more comprehensive and quality services to the community. The cooperative is active in the Milan metropolitan area, with a particular historical presence in municipalities 7, 8, and 9, as well as in the municipalities of Assago, Buccinasco, Cesano Boscone, Cormano, Paderno Dugnano, Tradate, Bareggio, Muggiano, and Vigano.

CavaRei is a social innovation project that provides services for people with disabilities and social distress. CavaRei operates five facilities, offering numerous services, including two occupational therapy centers, an accredited day and residential rehabilitation center, a mental health center, a group of independent living apartments, a group home, and a center for growing and processing aromatic herbs. Today, CavaRei cares for more than 130 people and prides itself on predominantly female governance.

ArticoloUno promotes the employment of disadvantaged people in restaurant-related fields of work. The scope of the work was increased after the first year to include two more areas: industrial and civil cleaning, as well as municipal hall surveillance. The pandemic led to an increase in demand for cleaning jobs at the cooperative as well. Nearly half of the cooperative's workers are currently employed in the cleaning industry, which has developed into a key area for the employment of elderly people and a significant number of women.

Area Società Cooperativa is a social enterprise specializing in the design and management of services aimed at people. The cooperative was established relatively recently, in December 2001, but its history is much more rooted in time. Already in the 1990s, the nearby Co. Ge. SS Cooperative, which has always managed services for disabled people, began to create services for minors, making use of new and specialized educators.

Il Ponte deals with social inclusion and job placement for disadvantaged people, including individuals with disabilities or social fragility. Il Ponte is a type B cooperative that aims to enable these people to acquire manual skills and abilities through experience and vocational training, in order to enable their inclusion in local businesses and make them feel like an active part of society. The cooperative’s activities include assembly, packaging, and other processing of products for third parties.

Alborea is a cooperative society of social solidarity able to offer excellent service in the catering sector. With a team of professionals in the sector, it operates in the market, carrying out consultancy, catering, banqueting, and important projects for collective catering. Through the management of catering services, Alborea deals with the re-employment of male and female inmates from Brescia’s two prison systems, to whom it wants to offer – just as the Cooperative’s name says – a new “dawn” (“Alba” in Italian) and an opportunity to start again.

Gea is a social cooperative that manages apartment groups and micro-residential activities for adults with psycho-intellectual disabilities. The GEA cooperative operates with a view to networking and collaboration with the realities of the territory, both with those that deal purely with disabilities and with those that operate in other areas, always related to social contexts. GEA has distinguished itself in the panorama of its territory by carrying out intense awareness-raising activities aimed at breaking down the social stigma that has always been held against mental disability and psychiatric suffering.

La Differenza is a social cooperative that deals with job placement for people with disabilities or socially fragile people. The cooperative also deals with accessible tourism for people with disabilities and social communication through the “Rotellando” project. Priority goals of the cooperative include promoting accessible tourism, catering, and communication, as well as the employment of underprivileged individuals through recruitment, training internships, and social inclusion pathways, as well as the promotion of independent living and mobility for people with disabilities.

ZeroPerCento is a cooperative that focuses on the employment of people with intellectual disabilities. It offers frail people a real job and teaches a trade, helps them grow and become independent, gives responsibility and demands commitment and perseverance, creates ad hoc pathways, supports active job search, and prepares for interviews.

Mygrants operates an online educational platform used by refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Italy and Europe. The platform delivers microlearning-based training with thematic quiz modules in three languages, providing fundamental information, guidance, and legal assistance to help users navigate the asylum process.

KadAfrica Estate Limited, established in 2011 and headquartered in Fort Portal, Uganda, specializes in the cultivation, procurement, packaging, and distribution of fresh fruits. The company primarily operates as a wholesaler, serving both local buyers and international export companies. Additionally, KadAfrica offers a comprehensive agricultural support program, providing training, resources, and market access to local farmers, with a particular focus on empowering young women to drive economic growth in their communities.

Devergy is a social energy utility based in Ghana that focuses on delivering reliable and affordable electricity services to low-income communities in developing countries, particularly in off-grid rural areas like Tanzania. The company operates village-sized energy micro-grids powered by solar energy, enabling households and businesses to access electricity. These micro-grids are designed with adaptive capacity and are regularly monitored to ensure efficient service delivery. By providing solar power, Devergy aims to improve the quality of life for underserved populations while promoting sustainable energy solutions.

Sudiksha Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a social entrepreneurship initiative focused on improving educational standards in India, particularly for underprivileged children. The company operates a network of affordable preschools that provide a holistic curriculum designed to foster cognitive, social, and linguistic development during the crucial formative years of early childhood. By leveraging innovative teaching methods and a research-driven approach, Sudiksha serves as a social laboratory, continually refining its educational practices to enhance learning outcomes. The initiative aims to revolutionize the educational landscape, ensuring that quality education is accessible to all children, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Founded in Uganda in 2010, AFRIpads is a social business dedicated to manufacturing and supplying reusable sanitary pads worldwide. Its mission is to empower women and girls by providing cost-effective, eco-friendly menstrual hygiene solutions.

Based in California, The Pachamama Coffee Cooperative of Small-Scale Coffee Producers is a unique global cooperative that is wholly-owned and controlled by small-scale coffee farmers around the world. Pachamama’s member-cooperatives represent tens of thousands of families in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Ethiopia. Buying organic coffee directly from farmers means better coffee for you, a better life for the farm family and a healthier environment for us all. Pachamama distributes freshly roasted coffee web-direct and wholesale to select retailers. 100% of profit are paid to our farmer-owners, whose best organic coffee is roasted in small batches in California. If you would like to learn more about Pachamama, please email info(at)pacha.coop, or give us a call at (530) 204-7554. Gracias. Visit our new coffee gallery & factory store at 919 20th Street in Sacramento, California.

Sustaintech India designs, manufactures, and markets fuel-efficient, smokeless commercial cookstoves for street food vendors, roadside kitchens, hotels, tea shops, and schools. Its product range includes tava stoves, multipurpose stoves, tea stoves, powdery biofuel stoves, and mini stoves, suitable for diverse cooking tasks and fuels. The company sells directly to customers in Tamil Nadu and coastal Karnataka, aiming to improve workplace health and deliver cost savings through reduced fuel use and emissions. Founded in 2009 and based in Madurai, Sustaintech India focuses on scalable cookstove solutions that help limit deforestation and carbon emissions while supporting small- and medium-size food businesses.

Iwokrama is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of an endangered biodiverse forest in Guyana. Governed by an International Board of Trustees, it operates with a professional team of approximately seventy permanent staff based in Georgetown and at the Iwokrama River Lodge and Research Centre located in Kurupukari. The organization focuses on protecting the forest while providing eco-tourism activities, including lodging, meals, and guided tours of the rainforest. Additionally, Iwokrama conducts scientific research and evaluates the forest's economic contributions, offering forest management training to promote ecological, economic, and social benefits for both the local communities and the global environment.