Happy International Women’s Day!
We had the most amazing time celebrating women in the Kiva community and around the world. In the past week, this community has lent over $4 million to almost 40,000 women in 57 countries!
So what did our week look like?
First, we kicked off seven days of celebrations with an event in Oakland, Ca. to announce the new Kiva Oakland Hub in partnership with Centro Community Partners. As a part of our monumental celebration, we unveiled a mural encouraging event attendees from all over the Bay Area to write what “A powerful woman is...” to them.
We were thrilled to have individuals like Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Kiva U.S. regional manager Anne Lufkin and Kiva Oakland’s capital access manager Veronica Guitierrez speak at the event and write their own answers on our mural.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf took the opportunity to write on our "Powerful Women" mural after the Wednesday kick-off.
A Kiva fellow writes on the mural.Second, a huge welcome to our hundreds of new Monthly Good subscribers! We were so excited to see so many Kiva lenders signing up to make a monthly difference, year-round, for women across the world. Stories from borrowers like Peruvian bean farmer Estefania and Ghanian caretaker Abigail show us how much each contribution counts.
On Sunday, it was finally International Women’s Day! We offered matched loans to women borrowers for all of our lenders, thanks to incredible partners like Bank of America, Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE), Fossil and eBay.
And on Monday, we went for round two! Thousands more matched loans led to more women entrepreneurs, students, farmers, refugees and single mothers being funded.
Kick-off event attendees write what a powerful woman means to them on the mural.
Wrapping up this week of celebrations, we’d like to thank the Kiva community for all you’ve done to promote women’s empowerment and financial access for all. Every bit makes a difference, and we’re so excited to continue on.
Because, as you know, it’s just business as usual for Kiva.
