Katrina and Keely first met in the summer of 2013 while working on open space greening projects in Brooklyn, N.Y., and bonded instantly over urban farming and pop culture. After many discussions on the frustrations of finding financially sustainable jobs in urban agriculture, they decided the best solution was to start a project for themselves.

In 2015, the two joined forces to start Tinyfield Roofhop Farm on a small rooftop in Brooklyn, with the Manhattan skyline in the distance. Their goal was to provide high quality, hyper-local produce to consumers, restaurants, and... Continue Reading >>

This is the final story in our series spotlighting U.S. businesses in celebration of Independence Day.

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The direct to social enterprise program is a pilot program that aims to raise capital for social enterprises in a new and more efficient way. Social enterprises have the potential to strengthen their communities and reduce poverty by expanding formal employment, scaling innovative social solutions and driving sustainable economic growth. However, they often fall in the “missing middle,” meaning they are too small for traditional banks, but too big for microfinance.

In the past, Kiva has used 2 different models to support small social enterprises:... Continue Reading >>

I’ve only seen the film Hotel Rwanda twice.

The first time, I was alone on my parents’ couch in small-town Oklahoma. I tend to want to be emotionally prepared for heavy films with difficult subject matter, but when do you ever feel prepared enough to bear witness to such a magnitude of senseless violence and tragedy as what happened in Rwanda?

The answer is never, so I finally just took a deep breath and hit play.... Continue Reading >>

Jembere. In Amharic — the native language of Ethiopia — it means, “my sunset.” When Abaynesh, a designer in New York, fulfilled her dream of creating her own eyewear brand, she named it Jembere in honor of her roots.

Her collections are now sold by vendors from New York to Chicago, but the inspiration for her designs remains rooted in her early life and East Africa.

Abaynesh was born in a Sudanese refugee camp to Ethiopian parents. Her father, part of the medical staff...

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This is part of our World Refugee Day series honoring Kiva borrowers who made the incredible journey from refugee to entrepreneur.

Story by Kiva Fellow Nina Patel and Diana Silva, Kiva marketing intern. Photos by Nina Patel.

For Kone, a designer and tailor, achieving his dream of owning his own business in Nairobi has been a long journey, both mentally and physically.

In 2002, he was the proud owner of a stable and prosperous tailoring business in his native Côte d’Ivoire, when his life was turned upside...

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This is what 10 years of people believing in each other's dreams looks like! More than 1.8 million people around the world have made a loan on Kiva to help someone start or grow a business, go to school or support their family.

By working together, each of us can be the spark that changes the world!

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Today, we’re proud to introduce a new look and feel for Kiva, and a new, mobile-responsive website that makes supporting small businesses around the world easier than ever.

When Kiva began in 2005, we had a simple goal: to connect borrowers who need small amounts of capital to improve their lives, with lenders who want to help. Ten years later, we’ve seen the incredible power and impact of this model brought to life thanks to millions of dedicated contributors like you.

Kiva’s grown into a true global community, where people come together to support and... Continue Reading >>

Often when we think of education loans on Kiva, we  think of helping a student finish school and join the workforce. But Artur's story represents the other side of this coin. Artur is a university professor, and his Kiva loan was also an education loan - but one that enabled this teacher to provide a better learning experience to his students and to publish a book on conflict resolution.

Currently a professor at the Yerevan State University in Armenia, Artur took out...

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At Kiva, we take privacy very seriously, for both lenders and borrowers.

Our goal is to help borrowers around the world work towards their dreams, and in the process they are often able to build a credit history that opens new doors for them.

But sometimes life events, economic changes or even weather and climate prevent borrowers from either repaying on time or repaying in full. In honoring our organizational value of respect, and in alignment with concepts found in the SMART Campaign's borrower protection principles and in U.S. credit laws that seek to protect... Continue Reading >>

Kiva relies on an enormous network of volunteers to help review and translate loans that come in from our partners in one of the five key Kiva languages (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese or Russian). Each borrower has a different story to tell, and Kiva’s Review and Translation Program (RTP) connects each story with Kiva volunteers in order to communicate to the rest of the world.

Today, our RTP volunteers edit and translate about 15,000 loans each month...

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