 Larry Schoonover 253-226-0874 |
After returning from a trip to Nicaragua with my wife eight years ago, I stumbled across an article about a man who was doing something to lift people out of poverty. His name is Muhammad Yunus. He calls it “Microfinance”. Some 30 years ago, economics professor Muhammad Yunus made his first loan of $27 (Dh100) to a group of 42 women so they could expand their bamboo furniture-making business. After the success of his initial loan, Yunus saw that such a small amount of money could change the lives of the people and thought why not do more? Since then, small collateral-free loans known as microcredit have been provided to 100 million people across all continents. Six years later I learned of an organization called KIVA (www.kiva.org). Borrowing a concept from EBay they built around the business model of bringing third world entrepreneurs and private lenders together to provide uncollateralized loans. In the past year I have personally made 40 such loans using Kiva. This is so rewarding that I want to do all I can to share it with others. If you will take a few minutes and review the website, I know you will feel the same way. I am in no way affiliated with Kiva, just a citizen living in Puyallup with a passion to DO SOMETHING. I am looking for someone with celebrity status to help pool individuals into a venue for presenting Kiva and its concept. You will quickly see there is no personal financial benefit for anyone except those intended, the poor. I am not asking for money, just a donation of time and your name. |
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Matt Flannery Matt began developing Kiva with his wife Jessica in late 2004 as a side-project with while working as a computer programmer at TiVo, Inc. In December 2005 Matt left his job to devote himself to Kiva full-time. As CEO, Matt has led Kiva's growth from a pilot project to an established online service with partnerships across the globe and millions in dollars loaned to low income entrepreneurs. Matt is a Draper Richards Fellow and a featured blogger on the Skoll Foundation's Social Edge website. He graduated with a BS in Symbolic Systems and a Masters in Analytical Philosophy from Stanford University |
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Muhammad Yunus is that rare thing: a bona fide visionary. His dream
is the total eradication of poverty from the world. In 1983, against the
advice of banking and government officials, Yunus established Grameen, a
bank devoted to providing the poorest of Bangladesh with minuscule
loans. Grameen Bank, based on the belief that credit is a basic human
right, not the privilege of a fortunate few, now provides over 2.5
billion dollars of micro-loans to more than two million families in
rural Bangladesh. Ninety-four percent of Yunus's clients are women, and
repayment rates are near 100 percent. Around the world, micro-lending
programs inspired by Grameen are blossoming, with more than three
hundred programs established in the United States alone.
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