Fellows Blog

Stories from the field

Carlos is a Manager for Kiva's Strategic Initiatives. He is helping push the Kiva's model to go beyond micro-finance institutions to work with universities, agricultural coops, solar power distributors, fair trade companies and other types of social enterprises that can benefit from the use of credit. He covers all the regions except Africa. Born and raised among the blatant inequalities of Mexico City, Carlos graduated from Brown University with a degree focus on development. He has studied in China, Mexico and Japan. For eight years he worked in Tokyo, London and New York as derivatives trader specializing in Emerging Markets at Deutsche Bank and Citi. Carlos also worked as a Kiva Fellow in El Salvador. He is determined to push social change via market mechanisms and wants to help bridge the financing gaps faced by social enterprises.

Fellows Blog Posts by Carlos Pierre

May 23, 2010 SV El Salvador

The children who lived to tell these stories, have now grown and can tell them with a laugh. These are the kind personal histories a Kiva Fellow can hear as one begins his work with PADECOMSM Credito, Kiva’s newest field partner in El Salvador. PADECOMSM’s strength has come from supporting areas most affected by the civil war.

On a good day, the baker’s children could sell their sweet bread to the army in the morning, and in the afternoon they would be selling the bread to the guerrillas. It was not unusual to ask the young bakers how things were on the other side. Both sides...

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May 20, 2010 SV El Salvador

An introduction to Kiva’s newest field partner in El Salvador.

PADECOMSM Credito has its roots in an organization that filled the public service vacuum that was created during the civil war as the guerrilla uprising pushed out the government forces.

During the twelve year civil war (1980-1992), the guerrilla’s first successful campaign was defeating the army in the state of Morazan, in the eastern part of the country. Morazan was and remains one of the poorest states in El Salvador.  The Salvadorian governments response, supported by USD7 billion from the US during...

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