myAgro is a nonprofit organization that created a bank-less layaway platform that allows farmers in Mali, Senegal and Tanzania to use their mobile phones to buy seeds and fertilizer in small increments. 1 In 2022, myAgro worked with 115,000 farmers. 2
The myAgro mobile layaway plan model allows farmers in Africa who are living on less than $2 a day to put away money to buy seeds and fertilizer delivered once their payments are completed. 2
The Audacious Project and the Skoll Fund have funded myAgro projects and both organizations have a history of funding left-of-center projects.
Funding
myAgro’s total revenues were $11.4 million with expenses of $2.2 million in 2019. It had total assets of $18.3 million in 2019. 3 Shon Morrice, its vice president of people operations, was the highest paid employee with a base salary of $150,000 in 2019. 4
The Audacious Project 5 and the Skoll Fund have funded myAgro projects, and both organizations have a history of funding left-of-center projects. 6
The Audacious Project
The Audacious Project is a project of the TED Foundation which funds large-scale projects. Many of the projects The Audacious Project funds have left-of-center policy goals. 5
In April 2021, myAgro announced it had received an undisclosed amount of money from a five-year grant from The Audacious Project. The grant will be used to expand the myAgro mobile layaway payment model to serve 1 million farmers in West Africa. 7
The Skoll Fund
The Skoll Fund gave myAgro Farms a $1.25 million grant in 2018. 6 The Skoll Fund was founded by billionaire Jeff Skoll 8 who was also the founder of Participant. The 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth featuring former Vice President Al Gore was produced by Participant. 9
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
In 2022, myAgro announced it had formed a partnership with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, 10 a think tank involving 30 global organizations housed at the World Bank. 11 The partnership involves getting more women farmers in Senegal. The Consultative Group to Assist Poor works to help the poor and focuses on women 11 because “gendered social norms are an inescapable reality” that limit the ability of women to benefit from financial services. 12
Leadership
Anushka Ratnayake is the founder of myAgro. She has been the CEO of myAgro since 2011. 1 She has worked in rural Africa since 2008. Before founding myAgro, she was director of Core Program and Innovation 13 for One Acre Fund, which provides financing and training to Africans living on small farms. 14
Evan Marwell is the chair of the board of myAgro. 15 Marwell is founder and CEO of EducationSuperHighway, 16 a nonprofit with a goal to upgrade internet access to public schools in the U.S. 17
Farrah Barrios is a board member of myAgro. 18 She was a political appointee in the Obama administration and is Staff Chief in the Office of Budget and Program Analysis at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 18
Rich Leimsider is a board member of myAgro. 19 Leimsider was executive director of Safe Passage Project from 2016 to 2021. 19 The Safe Passage Project is a nonprofit that provides free lawyers for undocumented migrant children to try to get them legal immigration status. 20
Dido Harding is a board member of myAgro. 18 Harding sits as a Conservative Party peer in the U.K. House of Lords and is a member of the Economic Affairs Select Committee. 21
References
- myAgro. About Us. Accessed Feb. 5, 2023. https://www.myagro.org/about/
- Anushka Ratnayake. “How A Social Entrepreneur Launched A Savings Too For Smallholder Farms”; Forbes. June 8, 2022. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2022/06/08/how-a-social-entrepreneur-launched-a-savings-tool-for-smallholder-farmers/?sh=323132b8422e
- myAgro. Form 990. Part I Summary. 2019. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/45-5267449
- myAgro. Form 990. Part VII. 2019. Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, Highest Compensated Employees and Independent Contractors. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/45-5267449
- The Audacious Project. Grantees. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.audaciousproject.org/grantees/myagro
- The Skoll Fund. Form 990. Part II. 2018. Grants And Other Assistance To Domestic Organizations And Domestic Governments. Accessed Jan. 29, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/770528216/201903189349314205/IRS990ScheduleI
- myAgro. “myAgro Selected For Funding Catalyzed By The Audacious Project”; April 10, 2022. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.myagro.org/media-post/myagro-selected-for-funding-catalyzed-by-the-audacious-project/
- Skoll Foundation. Form 990. 2017. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/11-3659133
- Elisabeth Braw. “Ex-eBay president and activist Jeff Skoll on making movies with a message.” The Guardian. November 29, 2013. Accessed January 28, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/ebay-jeff-skoll-movies-message-sustainability
- myAgro. “Nonprofit Partnerships Can Transform Program Design And Expand Reach”; Forbes. Aug. 30, 2022. Accessed Jan. 31, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2022/08/30/nonprofit-partnerships-can-transform-program-design-and-expand-reach/?sh=2f919cb95549
- Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. About CGAP. Accessed Jan. 31, 2023. https://www.cgap.org/about
- Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. Technical Guide. Accessed Jan. 31, 2023. https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/publications/2021_10_Technical_Guide_Gender_Norms.pdf
- Anushka Ratnayake. LinkedIn. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anushka-ratnayake-28240931/
- One Acre Fund. About Us. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://oneacrefund.org/about-us
- myAgro. About Us. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.myagro.org/our-team/
- Evan Marwell. LinkedIn. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanmarwell/
- Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. EducationSuperHighway. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.drkfoundation.org/organization/educationsuperhighway/
- myAgro. Our Team. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.myagro.org/our-team/
- Rich Leimsider. LinkedIn. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/leimsider/
- Immigrant Justice Corps. Safe Passage Project. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://justicecorps.org/organization/safe-passage-project/
- Bank of England. Our People. Accessed Jan. 22, 2023. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/people/dido-harding/biography