Kiva Fellows

Stories tagged with Kiva Fellows

May 5, 2013 Uganda

The most compelling benefit of microfinance and the reason I was drawn to the Kiva fellowship is its potential to empower the most vulnerable people around the world, particularly women. It’s no secret that women have the greatest impact on their families and their well-being, especially when they have more control over household finances. Across most of the developing world, this is not the case but organizations that work to reach women in these countries are helping to change that. Solar Sister is one such organization based in Kampala, Uganda.

Approximately... Continue Reading >

Apr 4, 2013 United States

A Kiva Zip Entrepreneur in Chicago By Abhishesh Adhikari

By: Abhishesh Adhikari

One of the best parts about my Kiva Fellowship has been the opportunity I get to meet and interact with entrepreneurs. During the 4 months that I spent in Kyrgyzstan, I helped Bai Tushum (Kiva’s partner MFI) launch a new Startup Loan Product and met a wide variety of entrepreneurs all across that country. After I got back from Kyrgyzstan in January, I have been working on a new Kiva project called Kiva Zip, trying to expand it here in Chicago.

Kiva Zip is a new initiative to make interest-free, small business loans to entrepreneurs in...

Apr 4, 2013 Global Update

In early February, I interviewed female borrowers in rural Guatemala. Fresh in the field, I was intimidated by seasoned farmers, leathered hands, and weathered grins. My pleated khakis seemed out of place. We bounced through conversation enjoying the novelty of unfamiliar company.

... Continue Reading >

Mar 3, 2013 Global Update

Solar Solutions in Western Kenya - One Woman's Quest to Change Her Community By Amy Barth

I met Eunice due to an emergency Kiva Fellows situation -- Liz, our incredibly talented media fellow needed to film a bee hive inspection at night, and we had no lights. Luckily, I noticed a ‘Solar Solutions’ shop across the street, we ran over to see what we could find. After a few...

Mar 3, 2013 Uganda

As a Kiva lender, I would often find myself looking at the slew of pictures and video on Kiva’s website and wondering about the moment the images were captured. This past week I was able to experience firsthand when Ryan, Kiva’s Video Production Manager, and Liz, Kiva’s Media Fellow, visited Kampala for several days to capture images from two of Kiva’s partner organizations I am working with in Uganda: Solar Sister & Grameen Foundation.

Kiva loans for both organizations work as business-in-a-box models whereby the... Continue Reading >

Mar 3, 2013 Guatemala

Last year, I served as a substitute teacher in my hometown of Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Now as a Kiva Fellow in Guatemala, I hope to maintain contact with the students.
This is my video journal.

... Continue Reading >

Feb 2, 2013 United States

MEET JESSIE GOLDENBERG: entrepreneur, New Yorker, and - as of today, Feb 25, 2013 - Kiva Zip’s 150th crowd-funded startup in the US.

Jessie is a smart, resourceful, double-shift working Brooklynite and NYU graduate. Her 6 month old business idea - turning a used 14-footer truck into a mobile fashion boutique that tours festivals, markets and college campuses called NOMAD - is already revenue-generating. So it begs the question: why did someone like Jessie...

Feb 2, 2013 Philippines

The Filipino Sense of Community By Keith Baillie

Keith Baillie | KF19 | Philippines

Part I: Construction of a New Community

Following the Sendong typhoon, many Cagayan de Oro residents were displaced. I visited one of the resettlement villages, Xavier Ecoville. Flood victims are still currently living in temporary wooden accommodation built by agencies like Habitat for Humanity.

Temporary housing:

But new permanent housing is being constructed, with the philosophy “We are not just building houses, we...

Jan 1, 2013 United States

Kiva Zip and Job Creation: Profile of a Kiva Zip Trustee By Rachel Davis

For the past four months, I have been serving as a Kiva Zip Fellow in Denver, Colorado. As a fellow in the US I was required to work independently without the comfort of a home office or co-workers. The Zip fellowship is in and of itself, very entrepreneurial. First came research, then networking, then meetings, then events, then more networking. I’ve met so many fascinating people and have come to know so many amazing organizations doing crucial work in my own backyard.

The work of one organization in particular has really resonated with me...

Jan 1, 2013 Guatemala

A Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow [VIDEO] By Gareth Leonard