Visions and Ventures — Andrew Page

There’s an old proverb that goes something like this: Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime. During the morning session of Wednesday’s Visions & Ventures, Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva, explained how her company is founded on this principle.

Kiva is a micr0-financing company that works to provide low-interest loans to innovators and entrepreneurs who do not otherwise have access to funds with which they can start their business. Jessica began her presentation by explaining how she spent the early stages of her life after graduation volunteering for organizations similar to the Peace Corps in Eastern Africa. Because Africa doesn’t have as many large corporations as the United States, more people there are forced to create their own sustainable form of income. Thus, Jessica began to meet people who had developed their own businesses, such as making bricks and weaving baskets.

When Jessica returned to the United States, she began to see commercials advertising for donations to people in Africa. However, Jessica understood that donations were not helpful because they did not encourage the people to expand their businesses, but rather to pay for their expansive debts. This is why Jessica founded Kiva — So that these people would have money to spend on their business and personal development while simultaneously working to improve their communities.

Although Jessica is no longer with Kiva, it is very clear that this is something she is still very passionate about. She is obviously very passionate about the cause from both a humanistic and financial standpoint. Micro-financing is becoming a very hot topic in economics these days as more and more people are seeing returns on investments. In addition to the fact that the lenders do not lose money (It is a loan), the lenders also have the emotional benefit of knowing that they helped others achieve what their goals are.

Kiva started in Africa, but it has expanded to all over the world- There are significant Kiva programs in Palestine, India, and even the United States. Micro-financing began in 3rd world countries but has started to become a practical alternative to high-interest/high-volume loans from banks. This will be something to watch in the upcoming years as people begin to use Kiva and other comparable companies to fund their small businesses abroad.

All in all, I really enjoyed attending the 3 sessions of Visions and Ventures this year. Although all three were very interesting and engaging, I felt that the presentation regarding Kiva was more relevant to this class and my studies at Nebraska Wesleyan because it focused on Business rather than Drones and Fitbits, which were the topics of the other two. I have a passion for service and helping the community, so Kiva is obviously a very intriguing topic for me, and I will definitely be looking into what impact I can make in the world as a result of this presentation.