Letter from Executive Director & Co-Founder, Missy Williams:

Dear friends,

When I think about what defined 2025 for Seed Effect, one phrase comes to mind: a strong foundation.

Over the past several years, God has allowed us to grow in ways we never imagined. We’ve expanded across eight districts in Northern Uganda and into South Sudan. We’ve served over 123,000 members. Our families have saved more than $14.6 million and loaned over $10 million to one another, earning an average return of 30% on their savings. These numbers still stop me in my tracks.

But in 2025, we made a deliberate choice to invest beneath the surface: strengthening the people, systems, and structures that ensure accountability and sustainability. We expanded our monitoring and evaluation capacity, added key staff roles, upgraded our financial and data systems, and invested deeply in leadership development across our teams.

While these kinds of investments may not make for dramatic headlines, they ensure a family like Betty Juan’s can move from survival to stability to multiplication. Betty fled South Sudan with almost nothing. Through her savings group, she purchased a sewing machine, started a tailoring business, and is now training other young women with skills that lead to dignity and independence. Betty’s story is one of thousands made possible because of a foundation that holds.

As I look ahead, I am filled with gratitude and expectation. In the coming year, we are working to reach 130,000 members across all sites. Over the next five years, we believe God is positioning us to serve over 180,000 members and care for an estimated 1 million children. We are not trying to be the biggest organization. Rather, we hope to be faithful by pioneering dignifying poverty alleviation in the hardest places, led by the very communities we serve.

Gratefully,

Missy Williams

Seed Effect is committed to financial accountability and transparency.