Alfredo is the owner of El Sereno Shoe Repair, a small business that has been family owned and operated in East LA for over 30 years and two generations. He’s a hardworking, old-fashioned shoe cobbler that’s dedicated to serving his community with exceptional quality and customer service. Eighteen years ago, 11-year-old Ezequiel Olvera approached Alfredo with an ask. Ezequiel explained that he had invested in an old 10-cent gumball machine with the hope of making enough money to attend college. He asked Alfredo if he’d be willing to place the gumball machine in his... Continue Reading >>
Matt is extremely excited to join the Kiva family. He is fascinated by the sustainable manner in which microfinance is used to alleviate poverty and how Kiva has used technology as a conduit for reaching people across the world. Matt is in pursuit of a career in microfinance and believes it suits him well given his professional background, Christian faith, and passion for leveraging innovation to help others. Matt was born and raised in Southern California and graduated summa cum laude with a business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is a CPA and began the first three years of his career with Deloitte serving clients in a wide variety of industries and gaining valuable experience in technical accounting, internal control theory, and project management. Since his time at Deloitte, Matt has gained finance experience through roles involving budgeting, forecasting, modeling, strategic planning, and process improvement implementation. Matt loves to travel and has most notably backpacked through Europe and spent an extended period of time in South America learning Spanish. He enjoys being active and particularly loves playing soccer, golfing, surfing, and snowboarding. Matt is humbled by the opportunity to take an active role in furthering Kiva’s impact.
Fellows Blog Posts by Matt Bastone
Feb 2, 2014
United States
Alfredo is the owner of El Sereno Shoe Repair, a small business that has been family owned and operated in East LA for over 30 years and two generations. He’s a hardworking, old-fashioned shoe cobbler that’s dedicated to serving his community with exceptional quality and customer service. Eighteen years ago, 11-year-old Ezequiel Olvera approached Alfredo with an ask. Ezequiel explained that he had invested in an old 10-cent gumball machine with the hope of making enough money to attend college. He asked Alfredo if he’d be willing to place the gumball machine in his... Continue Reading >>
Alfredo is the owner of El Sereno Shoe Repair, a small business that has been family owned and operated in East LA for over 30 years and two generations. He’s a hardworking, old-fashioned shoe cobbler that’s dedicated to serving his community with exceptional quality and customer service. Eighteen years ago, 11-year-old Ezequiel Olvera approached Alfredo with an ask. Ezequiel explained that he had invested in an old 10-cent gumball machine with the hope of making enough money to attend college. He asked Alfredo if he’d be willing to place the gumball machine in his... Continue Reading >>
Jan 8, 2014
United States
Kiva Zip is an innovative pilot program created by Kiva that uses mobile and electronic payment technology to enable direct, 0% interest loans to financially excluded and socially impactful entrepreneurs. The loans are crowd-funded on Kiva Zip’s website, where anyone with an Internet connection can lend as little as $5 to a borrower of their choice. One of the principal aims of the program is to expand access to capital. Everyday,... Continue Reading >>
Kiva Zip is an innovative pilot program created by Kiva that uses mobile and electronic payment technology to enable direct, 0% interest loans to financially excluded and socially impactful entrepreneurs. The loans are crowd-funded on Kiva Zip’s website, where anyone with an Internet connection can lend as little as $5 to a borrower of their choice. One of the principal aims of the program is to expand access to capital. Everyday,... Continue Reading >>
Aug 15, 2013
Nicaragua
During my fellowship in Nicaragua I had the pleasure of working with an exciting new Kiva partner named Tecnosol. Tecnosol is the Central American leader in the sale and installation of decentralized renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, hydro, and biogas. Mural outside Tecnosol's office in Managua, Nicaragua There is a high demand for renewable energy products in Nicaragua, especially among remote populations that are unreached by the country’s electric infrastructure. Despite the need, however, Nicaragua’s vast low-income population simply cannot... Continue Reading >>
During my fellowship in Nicaragua I had the pleasure of working with an exciting new Kiva partner named Tecnosol. Tecnosol is the Central American leader in the sale and installation of decentralized renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, hydro, and biogas. Mural outside Tecnosol's office in Managua, Nicaragua There is a high demand for renewable energy products in Nicaragua, especially among remote populations that are unreached by the country’s electric infrastructure. Despite the need, however, Nicaragua’s vast low-income population simply cannot... Continue Reading >>
Jul 23, 2013
Nicaragua
For the past three months I’ve had the pleasure of working with an exciting new Kiva partner. PAC (Association for People in Community Action) is an agriculturally focused economic development organization in Nicaragua. They specialize in rural productive value chain integration by offering their clients three primary services: loans, technical assistance, and access to markets. Loans PAC offers microcredit to meet a variety of agricultural needs. ... Continue Reading >>
For the past three months I’ve had the pleasure of working with an exciting new Kiva partner. PAC (Association for People in Community Action) is an agriculturally focused economic development organization in Nicaragua. They specialize in rural productive value chain integration by offering their clients three primary services: loans, technical assistance, and access to markets. Loans PAC offers microcredit to meet a variety of agricultural needs. ... Continue Reading >>
May 21, 2013
Nicaragua
Riding a motorcycle in a developing country is, well, eventful to say the least. The term “road hazard” takes on a whole new meaning. Horse drawn carts, herds of cattle, stray chickens – the possibilities are endless. The first time I had the pleasure of experiencing a motorcycle ride in Nicaragua was the day I met Claudia. The purpose of my adventure was to meet with multiple Kiva borrowers in order... Continue Reading >>
Riding a motorcycle in a developing country is, well, eventful to say the least. The term “road hazard” takes on a whole new meaning. Horse drawn carts, herds of cattle, stray chickens – the possibilities are endless. The first time I had the pleasure of experiencing a motorcycle ride in Nicaragua was the day I met Claudia. The purpose of my adventure was to meet with multiple Kiva borrowers in order... Continue Reading >>
Apr 13, 2013
Guatemala, Nicaragua
This blog post was co-authored by Jeff Nelson, KF20 Guatemala and Matt Bastone, KF20 Nicaragua. We recently met-up on Jeff’s home turf in Guatemala to witness one of the most important religious holidays throughout all of Latin America: Semana Santa. We were inspired to write this post because, well, it was an amazing experience and an important tradition in many people’s lives. Continue Reading >>
This blog post was co-authored by Jeff Nelson, KF20 Guatemala and Matt Bastone, KF20 Nicaragua. We recently met-up on Jeff’s home turf in Guatemala to witness one of the most important religious holidays throughout all of Latin America: Semana Santa. We were inspired to write this post because, well, it was an amazing experience and an important tradition in many people’s lives. Continue Reading >>
Mar 12, 2013
Nicaragua
When I started my fellowship in Managua I was advised by many people to find a trusted taxi driver. Although much of the crime in the city is non-violent, petty-theft and street crime is frequent – especially when getting from point A to point B. So, I asked around, and after trying about 15 numbers without any luck I finally came across a driver by the name of Jesús. For the past four weeks Jesús has taken me to and from work, and it’s been a blast getting to know him. He always has a smile on his face, has a great sense of humor, and... Continue Reading >>
When I started my fellowship in Managua I was advised by many people to find a trusted taxi driver. Although much of the crime in the city is non-violent, petty-theft and street crime is frequent – especially when getting from point A to point B. So, I asked around, and after trying about 15 numbers without any luck I finally came across a driver by the name of Jesús. For the past four weeks Jesús has taken me to and from work, and it’s been a blast getting to know him. He always has a smile on his face, has a great sense of humor, and... Continue Reading >>
Feb 21, 2013
Nicaragua
For a moment, think about what you do in a normal, everyday, 24-hour time period. Take a second; no rush. Got it? Now imagine it without electricity. I’m guessing a significant portion of your everyday activities would suddenly become impossible, extremely less efficient, or flat-out uncomfortable. Sure, you could probably go without some of the not-so-necessary first world luxuries, but what would the impact... Continue Reading >>
For a moment, think about what you do in a normal, everyday, 24-hour time period. Take a second; no rush. Got it? Now imagine it without electricity. I’m guessing a significant portion of your everyday activities would suddenly become impossible, extremely less efficient, or flat-out uncomfortable. Sure, you could probably go without some of the not-so-necessary first world luxuries, but what would the impact... Continue Reading >>