Ten years ago, I read an article about a group of recent graduates who had an idea on how to get third-world business owners access to capital. The amounts these individuals needed were not monumental. Often they just needed $2,000 US, but that amount is had to come by in places like Sierra Leone and Palestine.
We made our first Kiva contribution of $100 ten years ago which helped fund micro-loans to 4 groups. As of today, we’ve made 117 loans to groups and individuals in 40 countries. And folks we’ve invited to join us on the Kiva platform have sponsored 71 loans. That’s the real power of social media in action!
Our most recent loan was for a woman-owned business in the U.S. Jessica Gutierrez is a second-generation Mexican American who has started a services and training business. The $10K loan will help her roll out a program training first-time home buyers. Learn more about Jessica here.
Supporting Kiva was just the start of Clarity Quest giving back to communities. We now support local, national and international charities from food banks to refugee relocation funding. I thank Kiva for getting us started!
