How You Can Empower Women through Kiva Microloans

Click here to join the She is Not Lost team on Kiva or continue reading for more details on how and why you should join:

What is a Kiva microloan?

A microloan is a way for people like you to contribute to developing areas by monetarily supporting individuals, and getting paid back. Kiva is the organization that facilitates and manages the underwriting, disbursement, and repayment of the loans through its field partners and trustees. The minimum contribution to a crowdfunded loan on Kiva is $25, and when you are paid back you can choose to fund another loan, donate to Kiva, or withdraw the amount in full. Kiva believes “dreams are universal, but opportunity is not”, and contributing to a Kiva loan is a sustainable, accountable, and dignified way for you to fund someone’s dreams and create a lasting impact.

Vava Coffee is a Social Enterprise in Kenya founded by Vava, a woman whose Kiva-funded business connects fair-trade certified smallholder coffee farmers to the global market. Read more here.

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Why it’s important to lend to women

Las Girasoles Tecpanecas, an all-female lending group in Guatemala, received Kiva funding to grow their weaving and agriculture businesses. Read More Here.

Lending to a borrower doesn’t only create opportunity for an individual- it creates a ripple effect that also benefits their families and their communities. Studies have shown that this effect is even more impactful when contributing to women and mothers, even though worldwide they are typically more economically disadvantaged than men. To quote one of my favorite books, titled Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, “When women gain control over spending, less family money is devoted to instant gratification and more for education and starting small businesses.” Providing a woman with the opportunity to start or expand her business is an opportunity to improve her life and those of future generations.

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How to choose a loan that’s meaningful to you

If you’ve ever visited a country and thought to yourself, “I wish I could do something to help, but I don’t even know where to start”, you’re not alone. And thanks to Kiva, a microloan is a great place to start making an impact. The great thing about lending on Kiva is that you can do it at any time and as often as you like.

The Kiva platform allows you to filter through borrowers so you can choose a specific cause or region that’s important to you. One easy way to choose is by location, and your selection can be inspired by a country you’ve visited in the past, or one that you want to visit in the future. One loan that I funded was to a woman in the Philippines named Sheridan who wanted to invest in more inventory for her motorcycle repair shop. Having visited El Nido, Palawan just a few months prior, I remembered needing to buy a replacement tire for my scooter after getting a flat on the eastern side of the island. Had it not been for the repair shop I found within walking distance, I would have been out of luck! Lending to Sheridan on Kiva was a great way commemorate an experience from my past travels, and I’m excited to see her progress as she grows her business!

Choosing to make an impact through the Kiva platform has become my guilty pleasure, and I love checking on the status of the loans She is Not Lost team members fund and virtually cheering on the borrowers as they make their repayments, expand their businesses, and continue showing the world what it means to be an entrepreneur.

Najah is a refugee living in the West Bank. She loves animals and her Kiva loan helped her buy more sheep and goats to expand her business. Read More Here.

A step-by-step guide to joining the She is Not Lost team on Kiva

Join the She is Not Lost team on Kiva, and together we can celebrate creating economic opportunity for women worldwide. See below detailed instructions for joining the team if you are new to Kiva, or click here to skip ahead to instructions for joining the team if you already have a Kiva account.

How to join the She is Not Lost team if you are new to Kiva

Click this link: https://www.kiva.org/invitedto/sheisnotlost/by/carinaotero and follow the below steps to join the team. Toggle right or left to scroll through the images.

Step 1: Click on the She is Not Lost logo in the center of the page

Step 2: Click the blue Join Team button on the right side of the page

Step 3: Create a new account

Step 4: Click the blue Join Team button

Step 5: All requests to join are automatically approved. Click continue

Step 6: The yellow banner confirms that you've joined the team

Step 7: Click Lend to make your first loan

Step 8: Use the filter tools to search female borrowers in any region you choose

Step 9: Once you've selected a borrower, click Lend Now. The minimum contribution is $25, but you can choose any amount you like

Step 10: Proceed to Checkout

Step 11: Before checking out, be sure you've chosen to attribute your loan to the She is Not Lost team

Step 12: Once you've checked out, you can choose to share the loan and invite others to join the team

Step 13: Your contribution will then show up in the She is Not Lost team page

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How to join the She is Not Lost team if you already have a Kiva account

Click this link: https://www.kiva.org/teams and follow the below steps to join the team. Toggle right or left to scroll through the images.

Step 1: Type She is Not Lost into the team search bar and click Search Teams

Step 2: Click on the She is Not Lost logo or team name

Step 3: Click the blue Join Team button on the right side of the page

Step 4: All requests to join are automatically approved. Click continue

Step 5: The yellow banner confirms that you've joined the team

Step 6: When making your next loan, choose to attribute it to the She is Not Lost team while checking out

Step 7: Once you've checked out, you can choose to share the loan and invite others to join the team

Step 8: Your contribution will then show up in the She is Not Lost team page

Have you joined the She is Not Lost team on Kiva? Say hello below in the comments, or tell me about the travel experience or country that inspired your loan!