Earth Day is this Monday! What will you be doing to celebrate and protect the earth? Did you know you can use Kiva to do your part for the planet? By lending to help people afford clean energy, switch to organic farming practices and more, you can make the world a better place in several ways at once! Developing countries are industrializing fast -- but we don’t have to choose between creating opportunity and preserving the environment. By financing the right technology for the people who need it most, we can do both. On Monday, 192 countries will demonstrate their... Continue Reading >
Apr 19, 2013
Kiva HQ
Earth Day is this Monday! What will you be doing to celebrate and protect the earth? Did you know you can use Kiva to do your part for the planet? By lending to help people afford clean energy, switch to organic farming practices and more, you can make the world a better place in several ways at once! Developing countries are industrializing fast -- but we don’t have to choose between creating opportunity and preserving the environment. By financing the right technology for the people who need it most, we can do both. On Monday, 192 countries will demonstrate their... Continue Reading >
Earth Day is this Monday! What will you be doing to celebrate and protect the earth? Did you know you can use Kiva to do your part for the planet? By lending to help people afford clean energy, switch to organic farming practices and more, you can make the world a better place in several ways at once! Developing countries are industrializing fast -- but we don’t have to choose between creating opportunity and preserving the environment. By financing the right technology for the people who need it most, we can do both. On Monday, 192 countries will demonstrate their... Continue Reading >
Apr 18, 2013
Kiva HQ
We're thrilled to announce that we launched our new office in Nairobi, Kenya last night! So thrilled that we are literally jumping for joy! Kiva staff members celebrating outside the new office. Why Nairobi? We're so glad you asked! It was an obvious choice because we currently have 16 field partners in Kenya -- the most we have in one country! On top of that, the United States and Kenya are currently the only countries where we're growing the Kiva Zip pilot program. What's even cooler, the office is located on the campus of one of our... Continue Reading >
We're thrilled to announce that we launched our new office in Nairobi, Kenya last night! So thrilled that we are literally jumping for joy! Kiva staff members celebrating outside the new office. Why Nairobi? We're so glad you asked! It was an obvious choice because we currently have 16 field partners in Kenya -- the most we have in one country! On top of that, the United States and Kenya are currently the only countries where we're growing the Kiva Zip pilot program. What's even cooler, the office is located on the campus of one of our... Continue Reading >
Apr 17, 2013
Kiva HQ
We launched our partnership with Yellow Leaf Hammocks just over 3 months ago, and already progress is being made. Yellow Leaf provides high-wage weaving jobs to artisans in the hill tribe communities of rural northern Thailand. By creating an international sales channel for high-margin eco-luxe hammocks, Yellow Leaf empowers these marginalized people to alleviate poverty, advocate for social justice, and combat environmental degradation. Traditional hunting and gathering in this region of Thailand has been significantly disrupted by rapid deforestation and economic development. This has left... Continue Reading >
We launched our partnership with Yellow Leaf Hammocks just over 3 months ago, and already progress is being made. Yellow Leaf provides high-wage weaving jobs to artisans in the hill tribe communities of rural northern Thailand. By creating an international sales channel for high-margin eco-luxe hammocks, Yellow Leaf empowers these marginalized people to alleviate poverty, advocate for social justice, and combat environmental degradation. Traditional hunting and gathering in this region of Thailand has been significantly disrupted by rapid deforestation and economic development. This has left... Continue Reading >
Apr 16, 2013
Kiva HQ
Continue Reading >
With yesterday's release of new changes to the Kiva website, we’re excited to introduce a new dashboard to your Kiva Portfolio page. Our hope is that this new dashboard will be an easy way to visualize the impact you’re making on Kiva -- through loans, donations, invitations, lending teams, global reach, etc. Before:
After:
As Manager of Kiva’s Community Support team, I talk to lenders all the...
Apr 15, 2013
Kiva HQ
Did you know that Kiva offers loans in the Palestinian Territories? Anyone who reads the news knows that this is a very challenging operating environment. Kiva is proud to be supporting creative and courageous entrepreneurs in the region. For the month of April, we will be highlighting Palestinian borrowers and our lending activities to help people build brighter futures. GEOGRAPHY The Palestinian Territories are divided into two parts -- the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is small in area -- slightly smaller than Delaware, and the Gaza Strip is even smaller... Continue Reading >
Did you know that Kiva offers loans in the Palestinian Territories? Anyone who reads the news knows that this is a very challenging operating environment. Kiva is proud to be supporting creative and courageous entrepreneurs in the region. For the month of April, we will be highlighting Palestinian borrowers and our lending activities to help people build brighter futures. GEOGRAPHY The Palestinian Territories are divided into two parts -- the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank is small in area -- slightly smaller than Delaware, and the Gaza Strip is even smaller... Continue Reading >
Apr 12, 2013
Kiva HQ
Looking to begin a career in international development or non-profits? Want to be a part of one of Oprah’s favorite things? Join the Kiva team as an intern and gain access to a huge personal and professional network of technology, non-profit, and microfinance professionals! Interns are essential to Kiva’s operations and achieving its mission of connecting people through lending to alleviate poverty. There are a wide range of positions in a variety of departments, where interns work closely with staff on important, high-impact projects in a very educational and... Continue Reading >
Looking to begin a career in international development or non-profits? Want to be a part of one of Oprah’s favorite things? Join the Kiva team as an intern and gain access to a huge personal and professional network of technology, non-profit, and microfinance professionals! Interns are essential to Kiva’s operations and achieving its mission of connecting people through lending to alleviate poverty. There are a wide range of positions in a variety of departments, where interns work closely with staff on important, high-impact projects in a very educational and... Continue Reading >
Apr 10, 2013
Kiva HQ
When Kiva first decided to branch into loans for clean energy and green technologies, we discovered a wealth of prospective partners offering products designed for the poor. We've been thrilled to partner with a handful already, including EarthSpark International in Haiti, Solar Sister, IluMexico and more. Now we're growing that portfolio even more by launching with UpEnergy, a social enterprise working to make clean energy accessible in Uganda, Rwanda and Central America. Founded in 2010, UpEnergy is focused on expanding access to clean and energy-efficient cookstoves in rural... Continue Reading >
When Kiva first decided to branch into loans for clean energy and green technologies, we discovered a wealth of prospective partners offering products designed for the poor. We've been thrilled to partner with a handful already, including EarthSpark International in Haiti, Solar Sister, IluMexico and more. Now we're growing that portfolio even more by launching with UpEnergy, a social enterprise working to make clean energy accessible in Uganda, Rwanda and Central America. Founded in 2010, UpEnergy is focused on expanding access to clean and energy-efficient cookstoves in rural... Continue Reading >
Apr 10, 2013
Kiva HQ
Jonathon Stalls learned about Kiva in a college class in 2007, and three years later, he took to the streets to spread the word about microfinance. Literally. Jonathon so deeply believes in the empowerment of Kiva loans that he walked across the United States over the course of over eight months to raise awareness and funds for the cause.
The results are as exciting as the journey: since his quest began, Jonathon and the Kiva Walk Lending Team that supports him have lent over a half million dollars to entrepreneurs around the globe! This total...
Continue Reading >
Apr 9, 2013
Kiva HQ
April -- the month of spring, flowers... and taxes. Repayments make Kiva loans not tax-deductible in the United States. However, donations to Kiva’s operational expenses are! So remember if you made a donation to Kiva last year to declare it on your returns! For every $1 you donate to Kiva, $9 more in loans is made possible. So not only will you be able to breathe a sigh of relief next April 15, but you’ll be helping people in the process! If this April 15 is going to be particularly painful for you, do yourself a favor and donate to Kiva! You... Continue Reading >
April -- the month of spring, flowers... and taxes. Repayments make Kiva loans not tax-deductible in the United States. However, donations to Kiva’s operational expenses are! So remember if you made a donation to Kiva last year to declare it on your returns! For every $1 you donate to Kiva, $9 more in loans is made possible. So not only will you be able to breathe a sigh of relief next April 15, but you’ll be helping people in the process! If this April 15 is going to be particularly painful for you, do yourself a favor and donate to Kiva! You... Continue Reading >
Apr 5, 2013
Kiva HQ
Young people everywhere are taking action to celebrate the Month of Microfinance this April, but one group of students and teachers from Overlake School in Seattle actually made the trek to spend the week with us at Kiva Headquarters in San Francisco. These impressive young students took part in a ‘Design Thinking’ exercise to help develop some of Kiva’s future projects and initiatives. Design thinking is a strategy for creative brainstorming that encourages participants to ideate, innovate, and continue looping back until a real solution is found that meets... Continue Reading >
Young people everywhere are taking action to celebrate the Month of Microfinance this April, but one group of students and teachers from Overlake School in Seattle actually made the trek to spend the week with us at Kiva Headquarters in San Francisco. These impressive young students took part in a ‘Design Thinking’ exercise to help develop some of Kiva’s future projects and initiatives. Design thinking is a strategy for creative brainstorming that encourages participants to ideate, innovate, and continue looping back until a real solution is found that meets... Continue Reading >