Kiva’s First US Loan
10 June 2009
Maria Shriver and I just made a loan to Elizabeth, the first US Kiva Borrower- next week Elizabeth is cutting my hair!
The adrenaline rush I have right now going onto Kiva’s website and seeing loans for entrepreneurs in the United States might compare with what sports fans feel when they watch a good super bowl game.
It’s so exciting. I log into my Kiva account and can see the borrowers that we have been gathering the last few weeks all the sudden go active on the Kiva website.
Preparing for the U.S. launch has been somewhat of a “top secret” operation over the last few months and today it’s finally real.
Check out a few videos of some of the borrowers from ACCION USA that are included in the June 10th US Launch!
Joe from Erica Dorn on Vimeo.
Luis delivery service from Erica Dorn on Vimeo.
Gotta go.. Premal is coming on Good Morning America!!!
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My personal interest in US microfinance began while fundraising for rebuilding projects in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Seeing the desperate need for support of small businesses aid and development to strengthen communities, it has become a goal to spread awareness about US Microfinance. I have been thrilled to be the first domestic Kiva Fellow helping launch such a momentous development in US Microfinance.
Check out all of the ACCION USA loans being funded on Kiva.
For more information- kivaprogram@accionusa.org (I’ll be the fellow checking the email) Wonder how many will come in today?
Entry Filed under: All. Tags: accion, ACCION USA, erica dorn, Kiva, Kiva Fellow, kiva.org, maria schriver, microfinance, US microfinance.
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1. Kiva: First Loan in the U.S. « Wir sprechen Online. | 10 June 2009 at 06:56
[...] Kiva (28), Microcredits (9), Microentrepreneurs, Net (792), Society (53), USA (21), Web (1,122) Starting today, lenders can make loans to microentrepreneurs in the USA via Kiva; http://tr.im/o2gz [...]
2. Laura Kozien | 10 June 2009 at 07:31
This IS super exciting – and ACCION USA is so proud to partner with Kiva.org on this unprecedented day. Congrats to you, us, and Opportunity Fund–together, we’re making microfinance more accessible than ever before!
3. Javier Rojas | 10 June 2009 at 09:55
Congratulations for the super work!!! This partnership between ACCION USA and Kiva.org will allow us to spread the hope about microfinance as an efficient way to change the shape of our economy and alliviate poverty for good!
4. Tdunbar | 11 June 2009 at 01:47
Sooo exciting!
5. Unilove | 11 June 2009 at 02:13
Excellent reporting and sharing of this momentous undertaking. Yay!
6. Jon Roland | 11 June 2009 at 09:03
This is to commend you for your efforts. However, microlending is not new to the United States. It was a well-established practice throughout the frontier era and into the 1950s, until it was displaced by things like credit cards. My mother opened what was then called a “finance company” in our small town in 1949, and made small loans to minorities as well as others at reasonable interest rates. They repaid the loans, she reported their performance to the Credit Bureau, and when she became a real estate agent in 1960 she was able to get financing for many of those microborrowers to purchase their own homes and set up their own businesses. While overhead made it uneconomical to do microlending beginning about the 1960s, the legacy lives on, and I am pleased to see it being used in other parts of the world today.
7. Jan | 11 June 2009 at 11:09
How to put a business on the kiva site so they can get a loan?
8. Julie | 27 July 2009 at 07:21
For Jan and everybody else interested in becoming a Kiva borrower: Go to ACCION USA’s website: http://www.accionusa.org and apply using the online application (these loans are available nationwide). Once you prequalify you can tell your loan officer that you’d like to be a Kiva borrow! If you have any questions or need any help filling out the application please call us at (866) 245-0783.
9. lilian | 16 December 2009 at 12:16
do you need a loan from a God fearing loan agency for your business xmas and person need contact this email that is were i got my loan contact them now erica_pat231@yahoo.com. hurry
now for your loan today and note that they are real legit and God fearing aways remenber that a trial must surely convince you…..