Strong Families
We strengthen the health, knowledge, agency and economic security of women and caregivers so they can support their families and build stronger futures across generations.
A path forward for women strengthens the whole family
Women and caregivers hold families and communities together, but unpaid care responsibilities often leave them without the time, training or support needed to enter employment or build an enterprise.
Providing safe care and early education for children is therefore both a child-development strategy and a women's economic-opportunity strategy.
When women have time, skills, financial access and a realistic path to income, the benefits extend throughout the family.
working-age Filipino women participate in the labor force. Household and care responsibilities keep millions of women outside paid employment.
Philippines · Published: 2026 · International Labour Organization ↗
of women outside the labor force in Asia and the Pacific identify care responsibilities as the primary reason.
Asia and the Pacific · Data: 2023 · International Labour Organization ↗
women worldwide are outside the labor force because of unpaid care responsibilities. Women with less education and women in rural communities face particularly significant barriers.
World · Data: 2023 · International Labour Organization ↗
Childcare is itself an employment opportunity
jobs could be created worldwide by meeting the demand for childcare - dignified employment for trained caregivers within their own communities.
World · Published: 2026 · World Bank ↗
APLFI supports the conditions women need to move forward: dependable care for their children, relevant training, community support and pathways into employment, enterprise and leadership. Not simply placing women into jobs - reducing the barriers that prevent participation and helping them build lasting economic security.
What APLFI supports on the ground
- Peer-led circles for maternal health, financial literacy, and mutual support.
- Small-enterprise seed capital through rotating community savings.
- Women's leadership pathways in local councils, schools, and cooperatives.
- Legal literacy on land, inheritance, and family protection.
- Training and placement pathways into the local care economy.
Current programs
All projects →Apl of My Eye
A thirteen-year effort to end preventable childhood blindness in the Philippines by putting diagnostic equipment and trained doctors where the babies actually are.
Responding to the Pandemic
Nine tons of COVID-19 test kits, moved from a California lab to the Philippines' largest public hospital.
Fund strong families, or explore a partnership.
Every conversation starts with a person, not a checkout. Tell us what you're hoping to build and we'll match you with the right lead.
We support early childhood development, maternal and child nutrition, healthcare access, caregiver education, school readiness, vision care and disability inclusion - giving every rural child the foundation to thrive.
We strengthen access to nutritious food, local production, nutrition knowledge and the community systems that help rural families remain nourished through everyday life and times of disruption.
We prepare rural people and institutions for changing economies by building the skills, leadership and local capacity needed for resilient agriculture, renewable energy and related rural livelihoods.