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The Shape of Hope

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO

Shaping Hope

Dear Unbound Community,

It is with extreme gratitude that I introduce our 2025 annual report, the Shape of Hope. I am grateful to all of you who, last year, gave shape to the hope embodied in our vision of a world free of poverty — a hope made possible by all of you: our sponsors and donors, board and volunteers, global staff and the families in our program.

When I envision the shape of hope at Unbound, I see hundreds of thousands of unique drops of water coming together to form a powerful river moving toward a better world. One such drop is my sponsored friend Reagan, a teenager living outside Kisumu, Kenya, with his father, Barack. In 2023, my son, Max, and I were fortunate to travel there to meet them.

At the time, their home on the shores of Lake Victoria had been badly damaged by flooding. Its mud walls and roof had mostly collapsed, and it was full of bats. It had become uninhabitable.

As we left that visit, I asked the Unbound Kisumu program coordinator, Lucy Amollo, how I could help. She told me, “Just wait. Barack has prioritized improved housing as part of his Poverty Stoplight goals and is putting in place a budget and plan.”

This past September, I traveled back to Kenya as part of an Unbound sponsor awareness trip and met up with Reagan and Barack again. A few hours into our visit, Barack quietly pulled out his phone, leaned over to me and whispered, “Can I show you pictures of our new home?” Tears poured from my eyes as I saw their home, with its cement foundation, walls and floors, tiled roof and paned glass windows. “You did it!” I exclaimed. Indeed, over the past two years, Barack had saved from his sponsorship benefits and livelihood activities: fishing, farming and fixing bicycles. He took and repaid small loans from his Unbound small group. Little by little, brick by brick, Barack built his family a new home.

Barack’s story is one of many across Unbound of families achieving goals through their own determination and your support. In fact, through

the end of 2025, Unbound sponsored families had achieved over 359,000 of their Poverty Stoplight priority goals they set for themselves — turning many reds (extreme poverty) and yellows (poverty) into greens (no poverty) on their individual life maps.

Together you helped us make real progress toward our 2030 goals outlined in our strategic plan, Hope in Every Step. We achieved 42% growth in new sponsorships from the previous year and a record year for scholarship donations, with a 45% yearover-year increase.

We launched Mega Agents of Change for larger community initiatives, and seven were fully funded and will be implemented by the families themselves, including a $23,000 grant to build a clean water reservoir in Kampala, Uganda.

“I AM GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU WHO, LAST YEAR, GAVE SHAPE TO THE HOPE EMBODIED IN OUR VISION OF A WORLD FREE OF POVERTY.”

We also launched a project innovation fund for locally driven innovation, with proposals selected by committees of Unbound mothers. A single drop of water is beautiful; together, as a river, we move forward with growing strength and hope.

This year, as Unbound celebrates our 45th anniversary, we continue progressing toward our 2030 goals. Thank you for everything you do, and I hope you enjoy this annual report.

With gratitude,

Ashley Hufft PRESIDENT AND CEO

A Mission Shaped by Dignity, Love and Hope

Our work each day is shaped by the dignity, love and hope evident in our foundational values, motivation and promise. This guides our mission and belief that our vision of a world free from poverty can be reality.

Our Mission

Our Vision

Our Core Values

Support families and communities worldwide on their self-directed paths out of poverty.

Build a world free from poverty where all people have access to resources, community support and the ability to make decisions that improve their lives and uphold human dignity.

At Unbound, we are:

RESPECTFUL. We recognize the God-given dignity and equality of all people and foster relationships based on mutual respect and understanding.

AUTHENTIC. We work with honesty, transparency, integrity and accountability.

INNOVATIVE. We advance groundbreaking ideas and methods, humbly listening to and learning from the marginalized and vulnerable and putting their needs first.

OPTIMISTIC. We believe in the transformative power of community and that, together, we will build a world where everyone can participate in society and reach their full potential.

Our Motivation

Grounded in faith

Unbound was founded in 1981 by Catholic laypeople acting on Gospel values of love, compassion and justice, as well as principles of Catholic social teaching, including:

DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON — recognizing dignity and God’s presence in each person.

SOLIDARITY — inviting people of goodwill to form relationships of mutual respect that are culturally diverse, empowering, and without religious or other prejudice.

COMMON GOOD — partnering with people of all faith traditions and backgrounds to create a worldwide community of compassion and service for the well-being of everyone, especially the marginalized and vulnerable.

SUBSIDIARITY (LOCAL DECISION-MAKING) — ensuring that decisions are made by those most affected and that solutions come from those closest to a problem.

Our Promise

Unbound offers a practical way for sponsors, donors and volunteers to make a personal and direct impact as partners in our global community. Through walking with a child and family, youth, elder or community on their path out of poverty, our supporters have an opportunity to expand their worldviews and be part of creative solutions to poverty.

Shaping Hope Begins With You

For almost 45 years, Unbound’s presence, along with your support and encouragement, has helped families find hope in every step of their self-directed journeys toward brighter futures. But hope alone, though a great motivator, cannot break the cycle of poverty, and no two paths forward look the same.

With personalized support, families in Unbound’s programs discover how to shape hope into tangible, small steps that lead to practical, visible, meaningful changes in their lives. In 2025, their hope took shape in powerful, sustainable ways, aided in large part by you and your belief in them.

Children stayed in school longer. Scholarship students earned degrees and landed their first formal jobs. Mothers opened businesses, and families grew their livelihood capabilities. Living environments and communities were improved. Elders lived with dignity.

We are forever grateful for your generosity and steadfast faith in the families we serve.

With you as part of our community, our outreach shaped hope across all five of our strategic pillars of impact, bringing us one step closer to eliminating global poverty.

Impact Shaped by Hope in 2025

The year 2025 was the first full year Unbound’s 2030 strategic plan, “Hope in Every Step: A Radical Journey to End Poverty,” guided how we measured our impact under five pillars.

PILLAR 1: ELIMINATE POVERTY

• 256,530 individuals benefited from sponsorship program funding, which totaled $110.15 million.

• 98% of those received their benefits via direct cash transfers into their bank or mobile money accounts.

• 176,149 Poverty Stoplight total surveys were administered to families. The results guided them in using their sponsorship funds to attain their top goals to eliminate poverty from their lives.

• Families accomplished 185,686 top goals they set using Poverty Stoplight in 2025 alone.

PILLAR 2: EMPOWER WOMEN

• Families globally, since 2021, show the greatest improvement in income and employment-related indicators, reflecting advances in job access, savings and financial resilience.

• $773,000 from the Unbound Critical Needs Fund was disbursed to programs worldwide to support families recovering from crisis or natural disasters.

• 171 microbusiness entrepreneurs across seven Unbound programs in three regions of the world received funding to support their livelihood growth initiatives.

• 154 of the entrepreneurs were women.

• $183,107 was awarded to entrepreneurs, an average of $1,071 per person.

PILLAR 3: ADVANCE EDUCATION

• $6.2 million in combined total savings was largely held by mothers in Unbound’s small groups and cooperatives, making funds available for families to access through microloans for business capital or other needs.

• 246,507 students received formal education or vocational training with support from sponsorship.

• 8,886 students globally received scholarships as part of Unbound’s scholarship program, totaling more than $3.9 million in overall scholarship funding.

PILLAR 4: BUILD COMMUNITY

• Participants retiring from the program in 2025 averaged 10.32 years of schooling, up from 9.77 years from those who retired in 2024.

• Agents of Change grant initiatives were funded in 30 Unbound programs across 16 countries.

• 675 Agents of Change proposals were funded, totaling $608,010 and targeting community improvements for water and road infrastructure, schools, healthcare and more.

• Mega Agents of Change (large-scale, community-led development initiatives) launched in three participating programs, with seven proposals funded for a total of $111,000.

PILLAR 5: PROMOTE WELL-BEING OF ALL AGES

• 98% of elders received their sponsorship benefit via direct cash transfer into their bank or mobile money accounts.

• Community-based mental health partnerships were formed with local health departments and other organizations that offer mental health approaches and models.

• Social protection and access to healthcare increased.

• 92% of the 259 elder participants in the organization’s three-year diabetes pilot program with Chronic Care International have successfully managed their diabetes.

Hope by Numbersthe

Sponsors and donors made a positive impact in the lives of individuals and families in 2025, bringing us one step closer to our vision of a world free from poverty.

413 communities across 30 program sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America

256,530 children, youth and elders sponsored

$113.2 million in direct assistance to programs around the world

US HEADQUARTERS

8,886 aspiring students awarded scholarships

$84.12 million in direct cash transfers to sponsored members’ accounts

521 community improvement initiatives completed with Agents of Change grants, impacting over 278,341 people

40 local, program-led evaluations conducted across Unbound’s 30 program sites

176,149 baseline and follow-up Poverty Stoplight surveys were evaluated, and the results revealed families made the greatest improvements in the areas of income and employment, gaining greater job access, savings and financial resilience.

692,280 messages exchanged between sponsors and sponsored friends, including 69,136 video messages sent from sponsored friends to sponsors.

90% of Unbound small business support grants were awarded to women, totaling $183,107.

700+ Unbound solidarity groups offered learning and mutual support for older adults and their caregivers

2 global-level evaluations conducted, analyzing Poverty Stoplight and Women’s Empowerment impact

370 travelers participated in Unbound Awareness Trips; 16 total trips offered sponsors and their sponsored friends the opportunity to meet face to face

2 million+ achievements toward poverty reduction logged through the Poverty Stoplight survey

11,000 active small groups empowering women and mothers to build strong support networks

2,329 women in Unbound’s programs across three regions participated in a global evaluation on the organization’s impact on women’s empowerment in their families and communities.

Africa

Unbound serves over 42,400 sponsored friends throughout five countries in Eastern Africa: Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

• 60% of sponsored women in Nairobi, Kenya, accessed credit in the past year, compared to only 34% of women with children on the Unbound waitlist.

• 360 families in Meru, Kenya, received training in how to utilize drip irrigation for more sustainable, resilient and profitable farming, with 52 (largely women) receiving drip irrigation kits to begin implementing.

• 29 students in Rwanda attended college with assistance from the Unbound Scholarship Program; one student graduated with a law degree and the highest grade-point average of his class.

• 482 individuals (largely women) in Kampala, Uganda, who were illiterate or semi-illiterate received training in numeracy and livelihood development (in such things as liquid soap-making, vegetable-growing and beekeeping), enhancing their communication skills and community participation and improving their incomes.

• 2,520 households in Meru received mental health awareness training, with 225 receiving screenings and treatment.

• 14 Agents of Change initiatives were proposed, funded and completed in communities in Madagascar, while in Uganda, two Mega Agents of Change initiatives were implemented, one of which improved clean water access for 346 households.

Spotlight On: Kisumu, Kenya — Advancing Education Through Youth Career Readiness

Unbound Kisumu provided targeted support to learners at key stages of their education. A total of 1,195 middle and high school students received help with academics, problem-solving, behavior change and career awareness, while 516 students nearing graduation received college-readiness preparation. More than 100 high school graduates received digital skills training to support online income generation, and 38 Unbound Scholarship Program recipients earned college degrees. As a result of these efforts, students showed stronger coping skills, more intentional career decision-making and greater personal responsibility.

Spotlight On: Kampala, Uganda — Eliminating Poverty with Poverty Stoplight Insights

Follow-up Poverty Stoplight surveys of more than 10,800 households in Kampala showed a need to better prioritize livelihoods. In response, Unbound Kampala supported households in launching viableat-scale income-generating activities. Over 4,700 households received agricultural training, and more than 2,000 invested parts of their sponsorship

benefits in crops such as coffee, vanilla and bananas to improve income and food security. At the end of 2025, 20 households had surpassed the global poverty line.

Spotlight On: Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda — Evaluating Women’s Empowerment Impact

Over 400 women in Unbound’s programs across Nairobi and Kampala participated in surveys, interviews and focus groups as part of a 2025 global evaluation on Unbound’s impact in women’s empowerment. The results indicated women participating in Unbound experience stronger leadership, increased access to financial tools and growing confidence in decision-making. Most notably, 60% of sponsored women in Nairobi indicated they had accessed credit in the past year, compared to only 34% of women with children on the Unbound waitlist. In Kampala, women in Unbound were over 21 percentage points more likely to hold leadership positions in groups compared to those who were not. After two to five years in Unbound’s programs, all women participants across Africa reported their family and community had safer sanitation access.

Forging a Future Through Education

Chelsey’s journey into higher education wasn’t guaranteed. In fact, without the support of the Unbound Scholarship Program, the 24-year-old thinks she might never have found the opportunity.

Chelsey is the second oldest of four children. Her father and mother worked informal jobs and, though their income was always uncertain, they were dedicated to ensuring their children received education.

But as Chelsey entered high school, the family was faced with having to choose between paying her school fees or that of her older brother’s. Chelsey applied for and was awarded an Unbound scholarship, and the funds helped her stay in high school, graduate and attend college.

Now a fourth-year student studying statistics at the University of Nairobi, Chelsey has built routines and partnerships that have helped her realize her dream of education.

As part of the scholarship program, she’s participated in team-building sessions, mentorship programs and community service, while tutoring other students in math.

Chelsey looks forward to graduating and hopes to build a career in data and analytics.

“THE [SCHOLARSHIP] OPPORTUNITY CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE AND EDUCATION. IT’S LIKE PLANTING AND WATERING A SEED — THE MORE YOU WATER, THE MORE IT SPROUTS. THE RESULTS WILL BE SEEN LATER.”

– Chelsey, scholar, Nairobi

Unbound serves over 55,700 sponsored friends across India and the Philippines.

• A combined total of 225 sponsored elders received livelihood development assistance across the Manila and Quezon programs in the Philippines.

• 365 students in Manila who were sponsored graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in 2025; in Zamboanga, Philippines, 210 — including 25 Unbound scholarship recipients — graduated college.

• 2,393 families in Quezon received assistance, either locally or from the Unbound Critical Needs Fund, to recover from a natural disaster.

• 147 mothers across Antipolo and Zamboanga received livelihood development training and/or capital to boost their small businesses.

• 430 families in Bhagalpur, India, benefited from Agents of Change initiatives that improved access to clean water.

• 8,831 trees were planted by families and staff with Unbound’s programs across Antipolo and Quezon to improve the environment.

• Of 167 Unbound scholarship recipients in Zamboanga in 2025, 129 were students attending seminarybased schools or programs.

Spotlight On: Tamil Nadu and Telangana, India — Building Community by Strengthening Education Infrastructure

Education has long been a key area of focus for families in Unbound’s programs in India, as a tool for breaking social and economic barriers. Across Tamil Nadu and Telangana over 90 Agents of Change initiatives were either funded or completed in 2025, largely improving education infrastructure. These initiatives will benefit over 75,400 families at completion, one of the largest combined totals of families benefitting from Agents of Change across all regions where Unbound has a presence.

Spotlight On: the Philippines — Promoting Health and Well-being With Older Adult Inclusion

Across all five Unbound programs in the Philippines, heightened care and focus was on sponsored elders. In Legazpi and Manila, a combined total of 1,503 older adults obtained a healthcare plan. In Quezon and Zamboanga, 308 elders attended mental health seminars or received psychosocial support to foster holistic well-being by addressing their emotional, social, mental and spiritual needs. In Antipolo, 336 older adults received support from Unbound in recovering from a health-related crisis.

PHILIPPINES

Creating a Livelihood Initiative Through Teamwork

In Quezon in the Philippines, Gerlie, a mother of four, spearheaded a livelihood initiative through her Unbound mothers group.

Using skills she learned from a government training program, Gerlie and 19 other mothers began producing and packaging dishwashing liquid to sell in their community.

Mothers groups are central to how families participate in Unbound, offering opportunities for learning, support and financial independence.

For starting capital, the mothers secured a loan with their local Unbound cooperative, which is managed by the parents of sponsored children.

Once a month, the mothers gather to make and package their product, and each mother sells a set amount to neighbors or other small businesses. Now in its third year, the initiative provides each mother with a modest income while strengthening their sense of community.

“This support not only helps the mothers in our group, but also benefits the wider community, as they no longer have to purchase these products at a [higher] price and still get the same quality,” Gerlie said.

The success of the business has inspired the group to expand, and they plan to add other products and rent a commercial space for a full store.

“WE UNDERSTAND THAT OUR JOURNEY WITH UNBOUND WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. BECAUSE OF THIS, WE SEE OUR LIVELIHOOD AS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY.”

– Gerlie, mother, Quezon

Latin America

Unbound serves over 149,500 sponsored friends across nine countries in Latin America, the organization’s most extensive outreach.

• 11,740 families in Honduras overcame more than 4,500 critical poverty indicators prioritized with Poverty Stoplight, improving their well-being in such areas as food insecurity, education, health and housing.

• 30 mothers in Ecuador were able to resume their secondary education studies virtually as part of the “Sewing Opportunities Program,” which was supported by a grant from the Unbound Innovation Fund. The program celebrated five graduates in 2025.

• 2,400+ community workshops for mothers and caregivers were offered in Antioquia, Colombia, with topics promoting women’s empowerment, gender equity, and leadership within family and community.

• 77 youth in Santa Ana, El Salvador, received technical training under a new phased sponsorship model prior to retiring from the Unbound program, which strengthened their preparation for adult life.

• 60 women in Lima, Peru, received entrepreneurship training, with 30 receiving seed capital for their businesses as part of Unbound’s Livelihood Growth Program, a total investment of $30,000 in womenled enterprises that will expand economic impact across generations.

• Over 55% of Unbound scholarships in Costa Rica were awarded to students in grades where the highest risk of school dropout typically occurs due to economic situations.

Spotlight On: El Salvador — Empowering Women with Decision-Making

A group of mothers in Unbound’s programs across Africa, Asia and Latin America are leading efforts to shape sustainable solutions to poverty. Last year, they reviewed and selected proposals for a new $500,000 Unbound Innovation Fund and awarded grants to 10-12 community-led improvement initiatives. One initiative in El Salvador will support an agricultural school serving 100 subsistence farmers across five rural communities, using hands-on learning to teach agroecology, climate resilience and popular education.

Spotlight On: Guatemala — Building Community Through Social Transformation

The leadership of women and mothers was a key driver of community impact in 2025. In Guatemala, women leaders implemented 134 Agents of Change initiatives to improve community services such as water access, infrastructure and education — a total community investment of $72,500.

Spotlight On: Kuxtal, Mexico, and Bolivia — Promoting Health and Well-being of Elders

Unbound strengthened its benefits to sponsored older adults across the region this year to improve their health and well-being and combat social isolation. In Kuxtal, Poverty Stoplight tools geared toward elders were implemented, incorporating survey dimensions analyzing emotional health, social participation and living conditions. In Bolivia, over 1,500 older adults actively participated in program activities, with 60% of all caregivers attending alongside them.

Spotlight On: Cali, Colombia — Eliminating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship

Unbound programs across the region promoted economic development as a pathway for families to realize self-sufficiency. In Cali, entrepreneurship programs combined technical training and capital through Unbound’s Livelihood Growth initiative to support 36 women who are older adult entrepreneurs.

GUATEMALA

Finding Peace in a Tiny Home

Two years ago, Débora and her son, Hamilton, were sharing a small house with relatives, unsure they’d ever be able to afford their own home.

Débora had single-handedly raised her son, embroidering and teaching at an elementary school to earn a living in her rural Guatemalan community. She dreamed of having a space for just the two of them but struggled to see a clear path forward.

Then, Hamilton was sponsored, and the family took Unbound’s Goal Orientation powered by Poverty Stoplight survey. The tool helps families reflect on their poverty situation by marking indicators in red (extreme poverty), yellow (poverty) or green (no poverty). From this, they create a personalized plan, or “life map.”

“I said to myself … ‘I must have goals and plans,’” Débora said. “So, I wrote on the [life map] that, one day, I would have a space where I could be independent.”

With support from Unbound, she learned saving strategies and launched a small business raising chickens, and the business grew quickly. Combining their earnings with part of Hamilton’s sponsorship funds, mother and son eventually built a 387-square-foot, two-room house.

Workshops and guidance from Unbound and Poverty Stoplight gave Débora the confidence to fight for the things that could introduce peace to her daily reality, like the tiny home she now calls her own.

“MANY PEOPLE SAY IT CAN’T BE DONE. [BUT], WHEN YOU SAY, ‘YES, I CAN,’ YOU ACHIEVE IT.”

– Débora, mother, Guatemala

Statement of Financial Position

Note: Each year the independent accounting firm of Forvis Mazars, LLP conducts an audit of Unbound’s financial statements and accounting practices in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. A copy of this audit report is available upon request or online at www.unbound.org

Unbound is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, federal EIN: 43-1243999. Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law unless otherwise noted.

Where Your Money Goes

Working With Integrity and Accountability

Governing Board

The Unbound Governing Board — on behalf of sponsored individuals, their families, other program beneficiaries, sponsors and donors — monitors the integrity and accountability of the organization’s operations. The board defines the expected outcomes, and Unbound management produces verifiable data proving progress toward achieving those outcomes.

Emma Miller | chair/chief governing officer

Lissa Haag | vice chair/deputy CGO

Dennis Bernardo | director

Taylor Buckley | director

Grace Casaclang-Verzosa, M.D. | director

Kirsten Evans | director

Cindy Jones | director

David Paskach | director

Lisa Phillip | director

Franklin J. Popek | director

Abby Marie J. Rohr | director

Beth Waggoner | director

Preacher representative (non-voting)

Father Cyrus Gallagher, OFM CAP.

Ex officio members (non-voting)

Scott Wasserman | CEO emeritus

Ashley Hufft | president/CEO

Martin Kraus | treasurer/CFO

Jill Nelson | secretary/financial analysis manager

Achieving Top Ratings

Our commitment to excellent financial stewardship earns

Unbound top ratings

from independent charity evaluators.

Charity Watch: Our A+ was the top rating achieved in the child sponsorship category.

Charity Navigator: Our rating of four out of four stars means that donors can give with confidence.

Candid: Our Platinum Seal of Transparency is the highest level of recognition demonstrating transparency and accountability.

Great Nonprofits: Our top rating is based on reviews and ratings shared by individuals who have experience with Unbound.

BBB Wise Giving Alliance: Unbound meets all 20 rigorous standards for charity accountability.

Stewardship that shapes lasting change

The funds you entrust to Unbound are used efficiently and effectively to benefit individuals, families and communities on their paths out of poverty. Thank you for partnering with us as families shape their hope into the brighter futures they so rightly deserve.

Copyright 2026 Unbound. All rights reserved. 6/2026