This post was co-written by Chad Sterbenz, Kiva's Chief Investment Officer, and Matthew Davie, Kiva's Chief Strategy Officer.

Welcome to Higher Impact, a monthly series dedicated to sharing high-level impact progress at Kiva. You’ll hear a lot of great individual borrower stories from Kiva, but this series takes you behind the scenes to catch a glimpse of the impact our Field Partners are making in their regional communities. Check out the difference we’re making and tune in every month.

Our next installment comes from our Investment Manager for the Latin America and Caribbean region, Wesley Schrock. Below he delves into Kiva’s catalytic impact in challenging contexts. 

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For decades, the internet hasn’t broadly reached the developing world. What happens now that it finally is?

On March 12, 1989, Tim Berners-Lee submitted a document called Information Management: A Proposal to his colleagues at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). This document outlined a way to connect the world’s information that was then stored in stand-alone local computers, and became the foundation of the World Wide Web.

Kiva will sunset operations of Kiva Protocol, effective June 30, 2022. To learn more, read the announcement on our blog.


Globally, over 1.7 billion adults, which is 31% of the world’s adult population,  do not have access to the formal financial sector. Kiva has operated for the past 13 years in this world, facilitating over $1.3 billion USD in microloans to unbanked and underbanked populations in over 90 countries worldwide. Our experiences on the ground have shown us firsthand the systemic challenges that prevent the unbanked from accessing the...

When 12-year-old Hewett Polliack was asked what he wanted to do for his bar mitzvah project, he knew he wanted to pursue his interests of “business, invention and helping people succeed.” With that in mind and with the help of his parents, Hewett set out to raise money for Kiva loans through a bake sale at his local temple where he was participating in the Jewish coming-of-age ritual.

For the bar mitzvah process, young people will often take on a charity or community service project. After Hewett heard his mother talk about Kiva’s mission to crowdfund microloans...

How much money do you spend on monthly subscriptions? Think about music, movies and TV, but also fitness, news and even shaving materials. A recent survey showed that American adults spend an average of $237.33 a month on subscription services.

That’s a ton! Before you think about canceling some of your subscriptions, think about how impactful it would be to lend just $25 each month to Kiva borrowers. 

With your support, Kiva has built one of the most impactful investment portfolios on the planet! To date we have deployed $1.3 billion in loans to 2.6 million people globally. This funding has changed the lives of individuals, their families and the communities in which they live in ways they never thought possible. It has enabled single parents to build their businesses, women to achieve higher education, refugees to rebuild their lives in new communities, smallholder farmers to invest in their crops, and so much more. 

Facilitating finance in communities that need...

We’re constantly working hard to improve the Kiva experience for lenders, borrowers and Field Partners. One improvement we’ve been working on relates to the way Kiva loans are affected by foreign currency fluctuations. Foreign currency fluctuation against the US dollar has a significant impact on our Field Partners and we’re excited that we’ve created a solution we think will be effective in addressing this problem. Field Partners in some regions now have the option to pass on all currency exchange risk to lenders, enabling them to better manage their cash flow and serve more borrowers...

Last week, we welcomed our newest class of interns, international fellows and Atlas Corps fellows at Kiva’s headquarters. They participated in five intense days filled with trainings, workshops, fun and delicious food. All of our trainees were selected from an impressive pool of applicants from around the world.



This training week differed from the traditional ways of past training weeks. For the first time, Kiva combined what would usually be held as separate trainings for our interns and fellows.  We are excited to introduce the 24th class of...

Kiva employees are passionate, bold and curious - and so are our lenders like you! If you're looking for some great book recommendations, you've come to the right place. We've asked Kiva employees from all different departments to share their favorite reads. Bring any or all of these great reads to the beach or pool with you this summer! Happy reading!

 

Ian Davis, Corporate Counsel: "Well-known for his research on innovation, Christensen applies his...

It feels like everyone went to Bali, Indonesia last year, right? Well, so did Kyle, but he’s a little different. He first went to Bali in 2004 and his experience there changed his life. 

Kyle Parsons grew up in New Hampshire in the United States. Throughout college, he developed both a keen eye for fashion and an interest in recycling and environmental issues. After school, he spent 5 years working in fashion, athletic and apparel sales. 

That’s where his Bali trip comes in. While he was there, Kyle bought a pair of locally-crafted sandals made...