Thank you so much for the inspiring and encouraging story! I definitely can relate to your early years of searching for that ‘context’. About 4 years ago, I caught the bug to make a difference in our world and left my high-tech job to work for World Vision Canada. And more recently, and more specifically, my interests turned towards supporting local entrepreneurs in developing countries with talented passionate MBAs. It’s funny how God can turn one’s world upside down for an amazing adventure…
I’m currently serving as the EVP at MBAs Without Borders… I’d love to connect with you to learn about your GSB experience and what future holds for you at Kiva.
I have been watching and congratulating Kiva and its accomplishments for the last two years and wanted to get connected with a person from Kiva. Today my son sent me this link.
It is a wonderful story you shared here, enbaling a dream/concept into a tangible work and ministry for many people from all background. We thank you for that. Plus kiva has grown not only with quantity (members, loans and MEs…in many countries) but also in issue of integrity.
I have been doing off-line MF projects at various countries since 2002, learning and implementing different models from various orgs while working full time as a sw engineer. I have been promoting this ME/MED ministry/work in my Korean/American community via newspapers and seminars.
I would like to get connect with you to share what’s next for another sets of unlimited possibilities. My son graduated Standford 2005 and my husband also went there. We all are very proud of Kiva team. It will be great to get connected for more integrated, holistic restoration of all! Please send me a reply!
Thank you so much for writing this piece. Its defintely an on time message I needed to see. And good to be encouraged that people who start social entrepreneuship projects aren’t always equipped with a trust fund and a good heart. That we can start where we are and do what we can do. I am inspired. Now trying to sustain that inspiration!
Thank you for your sharing. I wish more social entrepreneurs would do the same.
I am a retired management consultant and have been having a second, more rewarding, career promoting social entrepreneurship in HK and China. I always think that stories like these are the best inspiration for would-be social entrepreneurs.
I know that you will be speaking at the HK SE Summit this November and I look very much forward to that. What I would like to do is to leverage your visit to inspire more people in HK and China. Will let you know about my plan in due course. In the meantime, if you have any materials (videos, books, articles, etc) about the work of Kiva on the ground level, please let me know. I would love to use them to inspire my circle of friends over here.
KK Tse,
Co-convener,
Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum
Thank you all for reading, and for the kind words. I’m so glad hearing about my experience is helpful. Wishing you all the best in your respective endeavors! (And Kirk: thank you for being a support and inspiration from the very beginning!)
I am K K Tse, Co-convener of the Hong Kong Social entrepreneurship Forum.
I am editing a book in Chinese onten leading social entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and would like to include a translation of your piece How I became a Social Entrepreneur into the concluding chapter.
The book will be published in Hong Kong in November this year, just in time for your visit here.
Please let me have your permission by sending me a note to this email address:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
We’ve loved working with you Jessica, and hope all your fans will watch Kiva in action in this exciting 3-minute video called The Tactics of Hope - Join the Social Entrepreneur Movement!
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I liked the simple and straight forward steps that you have outlined for one who like to be a social entrepreneur.
Learn, Listen, Ask, Jump and Keep Dreaming.
I have been watching KIVA growing day be day with its track record of loan paybacks that is so true of micro-finance, without the corruption layers of corporates.
KIVA also proves the fact that across countries, ethnicity, religion, color and creed, human beings are TRUST WORTHY.
Your efforts, KIVA’s results and your story ..... are enough to INSPIRE anyone who find themselves in similar situation, with an urge to bring a change, to do something that would improve the life of so many in the world.
Best Regards,
Habeeb ur Rahman
Having similar dream, Nurturing similar vision
I have been working with the Women’s Business Institute for over 5 years now, and am finishing my masters in Non Profit Management (through which we read a lot about Mr. Yunus). And I remember reading about Kiva somewhere…maybe on Springwise?
It’s great to hear about your experience…I’d like permission to post this article on our website: http://www.mujeryempresas.org.
A great article and an even better story… Kudos to you and all the people who worked so hard to make Kiva such a success…
My wife Heather and I recently released a book called, Great Peacemakers, in March 2008 and consider you a great peacemaker in your own right… For more info, see http://www.greatpeacemakers.com
The book has already won 10 awards and is being taught in middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities all across the country, including Brandeis and George Washington University. What we find is that almost every teacher in public schools that sees the book wants to use it in their classes—as it has a comprehensive study guide (that we give away for free) that meets U.S. National Standards and guidelines in 14 areas such as English Language, Social Studies, Service Learning, Multicultural Education, etc.
The problem is that most public school teachers have a hard time getting funding to buy the books, even with very generous discounts we give.
We are working on what we call an Adopt-A-Class program so that they can obtain funding from many individuals, much like Kiva. We have some ideas on how to progress forward on this, but I would love to speak with you further about it if possible and get more of your insights into how to best accomplish this.
Please keep up the good work… and again, I would very much appreciate speaking with you concerning this if possible so that we could get it off the ground faster and more effectively and spread peace to more youth of the world.
Very nice story. Its good to put a face to an organization as well. I’m sure that your work has had the same effect on others as Dr. Yunus’ speech has had on you. I visited the Stanford GSB for an entrepreneurship conference in the winter of 2007 when I was caught up in the social networking site craze. Since then I have done a lot of reflection and have found myself on a similar path to “social entrepreneurship” as you: taking an unglamorous position in Brazil with a world leading organization in sustainable development (my area of interest) and seeing what comes along (I don’t think it was coincidence that you were working a temporary administrative one of the world’s top schools… it’s almost like you were taking cues from Good Will Hunting.) Anyway, I have just kept pushing and in the past few months I have finally found what I think is my context. I am calling sustainability intelligence: business intelligence with triple bottom line accounting based on the GRI standards. I want to make it widely available to disseminate the ability to make environmental, social and economic decisions instead relying on the few who have the right knowledge.
I think that empowering people to make a difference is much more important (and sustainable) than individual efforts where only the one individual gets to feel good about his/herself. Thanks for making this possible!
Just noticed that you will be making a keynote appearance at the Mesh Conference in Toronto this year. I’ve been going to it since it started. I think you’ll enjoy the crowd there if you can put up with Canadian humor for a couple of days.
Hi Jessica,
I remember when you joined Stanford (I graduated in ‘02) and your enthusiasm for the school and reaching out to students then. I am so happy and impressed with the great work you have done since then and have been an ethusiastic Kiva supporter. Congratulations! best, Christine
Thank you so much for taking the path that you did and persisting. I have been since JAN 2008 and plan to be for the rest of my life an active KIVA-ite. My light bulb moment occurred the moment I learned about Kiva. I just instantly knew that it was “right”. I talk up Kiva to anyone who will listen and am happy to do so.
Reading your article hit the nail on the head for areas of contribution I want to make in health care research using social networking media and entrepreneurship. I was wondering if you could help me with information about how to get more involved in Social Entrepreneurship/Health Care approaches. Is the 2 year MBA the best way to do this? I am currently working on completing my MD/PhD and am not sure more education is necessarily always the best way to get contributions moving in the ‘real world’. I will be moving to San Francisco within the next 12 months to begin some of this work. Do you know if any courses offered by faculty in the Social Entrepreneurship program allow you to audit or attend without doing the formal 2 year MBA program?
hi jessica,
Exactly, I find myself in the initial stage of you, when I heard you and read this article. I always only wanted to be an entrepreneur and social worker, but not knowing how?
I watched your presentation on TED and instantly that was such a huge inspiring thing for me, and luckily i get to read this article of yours, and i just couldn’t rest without thanking you for how the story of Kiva, microlending and moreover stories of help and support with love and compassion with respect and dignity has inspired me and many others.
Its not the money, but a beautiful heart that’s needed to make this world more beautiful.
god bless,
Thank You
COMMENTS
BY Kirk Hanson
ON September 4, 2008 04:22 PM
Great story and testimonial on how you created a revolution through your passion. Jessica is an inspiration to all of us.
BY John Ko
ON September 4, 2008 04:23 PM
Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much for the inspiring and encouraging story! I definitely can relate to your early years of searching for that ‘context’. About 4 years ago, I caught the bug to make a difference in our world and left my high-tech job to work for World Vision Canada. And more recently, and more specifically, my interests turned towards supporting local entrepreneurs in developing countries with talented passionate MBAs. It’s funny how God can turn one’s world upside down for an amazing adventure…
I’m currently serving as the EVP at MBAs Without Borders… I’d love to connect with you to learn about your GSB experience and what future holds for you at Kiva.
Drop me a line when you have a chance 😊
Keep up the amazing work!~
Cheers,
John.
BY JiYoung Rhee
ON September 6, 2008 07:51 PM
Hi,
I have been watching and congratulating Kiva and its accomplishments for the last two years and wanted to get connected with a person from Kiva. Today my son sent me this link.
It is a wonderful story you shared here, enbaling a dream/concept into a tangible work and ministry for many people from all background. We thank you for that. Plus kiva has grown not only with quantity (members, loans and MEs…in many countries) but also in issue of integrity.
I have been doing off-line MF projects at various countries since 2002, learning and implementing different models from various orgs while working full time as a sw engineer. I have been promoting this ME/MED ministry/work in my Korean/American community via newspapers and seminars.
I would like to get connect with you to share what’s next for another sets of unlimited possibilities. My son graduated Standford 2005 and my husband also went there. We all are very proud of Kiva team. It will be great to get connected for more integrated, holistic restoration of all! Please send me a reply!
BY nicole
ON September 7, 2008 08:54 PM
Jessica,
Thank you so much for writing this piece. Its defintely an on time message I needed to see. And good to be encouraged that people who start social entrepreneuship projects aren’t always equipped with a trust fund and a good heart. That we can start where we are and do what we can do. I am inspired. Now trying to sustain that inspiration!
Thanks!
BY chris macrae
ON September 11, 2008 02:54 PM
Have you kept connected with Dr Yunus? I cannot quite reconcile my 2 visits to bangladesh with how similar and different kiva is
BY K K Tse
ON September 11, 2008 07:16 PM
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for your sharing. I wish more social entrepreneurs would do the same.
I am a retired management consultant and have been having a second, more rewarding, career promoting social entrepreneurship in HK and China. I always think that stories like these are the best inspiration for would-be social entrepreneurs.
I know that you will be speaking at the HK SE Summit this November and I look very much forward to that. What I would like to do is to leverage your visit to inspire more people in HK and China. Will let you know about my plan in due course. In the meantime, if you have any materials (videos, books, articles, etc) about the work of Kiva on the ground level, please let me know. I would love to use them to inspire my circle of friends over here.
KK Tse,
Co-convener,
Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum
BY Jessica Jackley Flannery
ON September 13, 2008 04:21 PM
Thank you all for reading, and for the kind words. I’m so glad hearing about my experience is helpful. Wishing you all the best in your respective endeavors! (And Kirk: thank you for being a support and inspiration from the very beginning!)
BY TSE KUI, Education for Good
ON September 24, 2008 02:56 AM
Hi Jessica,
I am K K Tse, Co-convener of the Hong Kong Social entrepreneurship Forum.
I am editing a book in Chinese onten leading social entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and would like to include a translation of your piece How I became a Social Entrepreneur into the concluding chapter.
The book will be published in Hong Kong in November this year, just in time for your visit here.
Please let me have your permission by sending me a note to this email address:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
BY David Hopkins
ON November 11, 2008 10:02 AM
We’ve loved working with you Jessica, and hope all your fans will watch Kiva in action in this exciting 3-minute video called The Tactics of Hope - Join the Social Entrepreneur Movement!
Kiva is also featured on http://www.tacticsofhope.org
BY David Hopkins
ON November 11, 2008 10:03 AM
Here is the video with KIVA!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MokRURNnSC0
BY Habeeb ur Rahman
ON January 15, 2009 04:54 PM
Dear Jessica,
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I liked the simple and straight forward steps that you have outlined for one who like to be a social entrepreneur.
Learn, Listen, Ask, Jump and Keep Dreaming.
I have been watching KIVA growing day be day with its track record of loan paybacks that is so true of micro-finance, without the corruption layers of corporates.
KIVA also proves the fact that across countries, ethnicity, religion, color and creed, human beings are TRUST WORTHY.
Your efforts, KIVA’s results and your story ..... are enough to INSPIRE anyone who find themselves in similar situation, with an urge to bring a change, to do something that would improve the life of so many in the world.
Best Regards,
Habeeb ur Rahman
Having similar dream, Nurturing similar vision
Riyadh, KSA
BY Stephanie S. Berry
ON January 15, 2009 05:10 PM
Thanks for sharing, Jessica!
I have been working with the Women’s Business Institute for over 5 years now, and am finishing my masters in Non Profit Management (through which we read a lot about Mr. Yunus). And I remember reading about Kiva somewhere…maybe on Springwise?
It’s great to hear about your experience…I’d like permission to post this article on our website: http://www.mujeryempresas.org.
Thank you! BTW…I signed up on http://www.tacticsofhope.org!
Stephanie
BY Ken Beller
ON January 15, 2009 05:58 PM
Jessica,
A great article and an even better story… Kudos to you and all the people who worked so hard to make Kiva such a success…
My wife Heather and I recently released a book called, Great Peacemakers, in March 2008 and consider you a great peacemaker in your own right… For more info, see http://www.greatpeacemakers.com
The book has already won 10 awards and is being taught in middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities all across the country, including Brandeis and George Washington University. What we find is that almost every teacher in public schools that sees the book wants to use it in their classes—as it has a comprehensive study guide (that we give away for free) that meets U.S. National Standards and guidelines in 14 areas such as English Language, Social Studies, Service Learning, Multicultural Education, etc.
The problem is that most public school teachers have a hard time getting funding to buy the books, even with very generous discounts we give.
We are working on what we call an Adopt-A-Class program so that they can obtain funding from many individuals, much like Kiva. We have some ideas on how to progress forward on this, but I would love to speak with you further about it if possible and get more of your insights into how to best accomplish this.
Please keep up the good work… and again, I would very much appreciate speaking with you concerning this if possible so that we could get it off the ground faster and more effectively and spread peace to more youth of the world.
Warmest regards,
Ken
BY Mike McNulty
ON January 16, 2009 07:12 AM
Hi Jessica,
Very nice story. Its good to put a face to an organization as well. I’m sure that your work has had the same effect on others as Dr. Yunus’ speech has had on you. I visited the Stanford GSB for an entrepreneurship conference in the winter of 2007 when I was caught up in the social networking site craze. Since then I have done a lot of reflection and have found myself on a similar path to “social entrepreneurship” as you: taking an unglamorous position in Brazil with a world leading organization in sustainable development (my area of interest) and seeing what comes along (I don’t think it was coincidence that you were working a temporary administrative one of the world’s top schools… it’s almost like you were taking cues from Good Will Hunting.) Anyway, I have just kept pushing and in the past few months I have finally found what I think is my context. I am calling sustainability intelligence: business intelligence with triple bottom line accounting based on the GRI standards. I want to make it widely available to disseminate the ability to make environmental, social and economic decisions instead relying on the few who have the right knowledge.
That said, I had heard about microfinance a few years ago but wasn’t able to find any online lending platforms that allowed Canadians to lend. When I learned about Kiva last fall I decided to donate to it and promote it on one of my blogs in support of poverty week.
http://brazilmike.blogspot.com/2008/10/microloan.html
http://brazilmike.blogspot.com/2008/10/microloan-part-2.html
I think that empowering people to make a difference is much more important (and sustainable) than individual efforts where only the one individual gets to feel good about his/herself. Thanks for making this possible!
BY Mike McNulty
ON January 19, 2009 01:17 PM
Hey Jessica,
Just noticed that you will be making a keynote appearance at the Mesh Conference in Toronto this year. I’ve been going to it since it started. I think you’ll enjoy the crowd there if you can put up with Canadian humor for a couple of days.
BY Christine
ON February 7, 2009 09:33 PM
Hi Jessica,
I remember when you joined Stanford (I graduated in ‘02) and your enthusiasm for the school and reaching out to students then. I am so happy and impressed with the great work you have done since then and have been an ethusiastic Kiva supporter. Congratulations! best, Christine
BY Terry Cumes
ON February 25, 2009 11:27 PM
Thanks for the great article Jessica! Where do we sign up for your blog so we can get regular nuggets of inspiration? 😊
BY howard zugman
ON June 12, 2009 12:09 AM
Jessica,
Thank you so much for taking the path that you did and persisting. I have been since JAN 2008 and plan to be for the rest of my life an active KIVA-ite. My light bulb moment occurred the moment I learned about Kiva. I just instantly knew that it was “right”. I talk up Kiva to anyone who will listen and am happy to do so.
Thanx again
BY Heather Heine
ON April 12, 2010 02:22 PM
Hi Jessica,
Reading your article hit the nail on the head for areas of contribution I want to make in health care research using social networking media and entrepreneurship. I was wondering if you could help me with information about how to get more involved in Social Entrepreneurship/Health Care approaches. Is the 2 year MBA the best way to do this? I am currently working on completing my MD/PhD and am not sure more education is necessarily always the best way to get contributions moving in the ‘real world’. I will be moving to San Francisco within the next 12 months to begin some of this work. Do you know if any courses offered by faculty in the Social Entrepreneurship program allow you to audit or attend without doing the formal 2 year MBA program?
Thanks for any help.
Cheers
Heather
BY Bhuwan K.C
ON November 18, 2010 11:02 AM
hi jessica,
Exactly, I find myself in the initial stage of you, when I heard you and read this article. I always only wanted to be an entrepreneur and social worker, but not knowing how?
I watched your presentation on TED and instantly that was such a huge inspiring thing for me, and luckily i get to read this article of yours, and i just couldn’t rest without thanking you for how the story of Kiva, microlending and moreover stories of help and support with love and compassion with respect and dignity has inspired me and many others.
Its not the money, but a beautiful heart that’s needed to make this world more beautiful.
god bless,
Thank You