Unlocking Entrepreneurial Growth with NWTF’s Frontline Loan Officers

On April 8th, we met with the leadership team at NWTF to explore how we can upskill their Entrep Loan Officers—those overseeing larger microfinance loans of $1,000 or more. With over 2,000 new staff joining the team, we’ll start by training 300 officers who each support around 100 borrowers - mentoring and impacting 30,000 business owners in 4 weeks.

Our shared mission? Equip officers to approve the right loans, inspire them to embrace entrepreneurship, and help borrowers grow their income by at least 10% every year.

We’re kicking off with a 4-week, high-impact training program delivered in Taglish. Each week, officers will join a 15–20 minute Zoom session in small groups of 30. Then, through a shared messenger group, we’ll drip engaging activities and conversation prompts they can use immediately with their borrowers. This blended model keeps learning light but practical—built for the busy, on-the-ground realities of microfinance work.

Next, every officer will create their own Messenger group with their clients, where we’ll join in to spark thought-provoking questions in Tagalog like:

“When was your biggest sales, and why?” or “How much do you charge, and why?” These conversations won’t just uncover insights—they’ll plant seeds of entrepreneurial thinking. 

Together, we’ll not only approve better loans, but co-create better futures.