Kiva Stories from the Field

The KF12 class take a break from training to visit the Golden Gate bridge.

As member of the upcoming Kiva Fellows class 12 (KF12), I am excited but exhausted. Although Kiva Fellow class 11 is still in the field a new class is already preparing to follow in their steps. Last week myself and the 37 new Fellows of KF12 graduated from an intense week of training.

Over the week KF12 marched through crash course trainings in finance, social performance measurement, media training and more. Thankfully it wasn’t all borrowers and balance sheets. At nights we had a great time participating in events like the Kiva Social.

Our class includes investment bankers from Wells Fargo, technologists from Google, lawyers, Fullbright scholars, and Peace Corps volunteers in Mongolia. Each of us has set aside our jobs to volunteer in harsh conditions as diverse as the mountains of Moldova to the savanna plains of Sierra Leone.  Keep an eye on the Fellows Bio page for the full roster which will be updated soon. In my case, I’m taking a sabbatical from Google to document entrepreneur stories in the cloud forests of southern Costa Rica, some of whom are accessible only by motorcycle and machete. By the end of our fellowship we will have a hands-on experience of micro-finance unparalleled in the world.

Please join me in congratulating the upcoming Kiva Fellows class 12. We deploy in under a week! I can’t wait to read your stories.

Introducing the Kiva Fellows Class 12 (KF12)