As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm constantly reminded by all of Kiva's inspiring borrowers in Vietnam of what it means, and why it is essential to be...
Continue Reading >>Lisa was born and raised in Southern California. She studied abroad in Hong Kong during her junior year at UCLA, where she graduated with honors and a Political Science B.A. She began working at Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. (Film, TV, and Sports) upon graduating, where she was promoted three times within a five and a half year time span. She has given back to the community through Fox’s corporate social responsibility programs by partnering with myriad non-profits such as After-School All-Stars, Downtown Women’s Center, the Regional Food Bank, Challengers Boys and Girls Club, Mar Vista Family Center and the I Have A Dream Foundation. She joined Fox’s Triathlon Team, through which she fundraised for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles every year through social media, marketing, silent auctions, and partnerships with local businesses. She then began representing and advocating for parents looking to adopt and obtain appropriate benefits for foster care children, also through Fox and in conjunction with Public Counsel, the largest pro bono public interest law firm in the world. She recently became a Board Member of Net Impact LA, a non-profit devoted to maximizing the impact of social enterprises. She is now serving as a Kiva Fellow in Vietnam to further Kiva's mission to alleviate poverty and empower entrepreneurs in under-developed and developing countries.
Fellows Blog Posts by Lisa DeMarco
Nov 8, 2016
Vietnam
Knowledge is not just power for the poorest of the poor in Dien Bien province; Knowledge is necessary to maintain daily life and to be able to provide...
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Oct 31, 2016
Vietnam
This is Mrs. Giang! Mrs. Giang has two children, a boy and a girl, who she has raised on her own since her husband passed away. She has been managing a successful tofu making and selling business in Thanh Hoa for eight years. Mrs. Giang recently applied for and received a Kiva loan to purchase an additional, newer, tofu making machine. Her old machine would constantly break and even when it did work, it was very slow. ... Continue Reading >>
This is Mrs. Giang! Mrs. Giang has two children, a boy and a girl, who she has raised on her own since her husband passed away. She has been managing a successful tofu making and selling business in Thanh Hoa for eight years. Mrs. Giang recently applied for and received a Kiva loan to purchase an additional, newer, tofu making machine. Her old machine would constantly break and even when it did work, it was very slow. ... Continue Reading >>
Oct 27, 2016
Vietnam
I had the opportunity to meet some inspiring fisherwomen in Thanh Hoa this week! Two of them said they were able to quadruple their incomes as a result of receiving loans from Kiva over the course of 8 years. They couldn't ever have afforded to buy the technology, tools and large fishing nets needed to expand their fishing businesses without loans from Kiva. I knew Kiva was impactful, but it's very exciting to see and hear the positive impact in the flesh! (From the left: Nhung, Thuy and Binh) Here are the nets Nhung received with her Kiva loan: ... Continue Reading >>
I had the opportunity to meet some inspiring fisherwomen in Thanh Hoa this week! Two of them said they were able to quadruple their incomes as a result of receiving loans from Kiva over the course of 8 years. They couldn't ever have afforded to buy the technology, tools and large fishing nets needed to expand their fishing businesses without loans from Kiva. I knew Kiva was impactful, but it's very exciting to see and hear the positive impact in the flesh! (From the left: Nhung, Thuy and Binh) Here are the nets Nhung received with her Kiva loan: ... Continue Reading >>
Oct 24, 2016
Vietnam
These entrepreneurial Kiva borrowers from Yên Định, a rural village in Thanh Hoa province, purchased, raised and sold animals in order to pay for...
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Oct 20, 2016
Vietnam
Humble, good-natured, reliable. These are the qualities I've encountered in the salt farmers - and Kiva microloan borrowers - I was able to visit this past week in Thanh Hoa province in Vietnam, hence my dubbing them "the salt of the earth." This phrase's ancient, biblical origins harken back to a time in which salt was considered synonymous with value, to the extent salt was sometimes used as currency. The phrase also connotes a preservation of societal values, as salt was widely used, and still is used today, as a preservative. This... Continue Reading >>
Humble, good-natured, reliable. These are the qualities I've encountered in the salt farmers - and Kiva microloan borrowers - I was able to visit this past week in Thanh Hoa province in Vietnam, hence my dubbing them "the salt of the earth." This phrase's ancient, biblical origins harken back to a time in which salt was considered synonymous with value, to the extent salt was sometimes used as currency. The phrase also connotes a preservation of societal values, as salt was widely used, and still is used today, as a preservative. This... Continue Reading >>
Oct 7, 2016
Vietnam
Kenya dominates mobile money, as there are now more than 26.7 million M-Pesa subscribers in Kenya alone, and these subscribers can now use M...
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Oct 6, 2016
Vietnam
Biodigesters meet the triple bottom line (“TBL”) of people, planet and profit, thereby resulting in maximum impact. They not only reduce energy costs,...
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