Jessica Jackley

This month we had the pleasure of learning from Jessica Jackley, the co-founder of Kiva a micro-financing website and a professor at the Marshall School of Business at USC. She shared her struggles and her successes in finding her own path to help bring positive changes to the world and revealed that she wanted to be the opposite of a businessman or an entrepreneur because of the negative stigma surrounding them. Jackley was inspired by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and a Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, to incorporate and utilize finance-based strategies specifically micro-financing. Jackley then created the website Kiva in order to create connections between people and grant opportunities to others. Jackley stressed the value of connection, conviction, and commitment. She highlighted the importance of understanding that each person has an individual story and emphasized the necessity to have an open mind when learning and listening to others. Jackley shared how even she was at times judgmental before finally understanding that each situation requires a different use of the given money. Some could use the money to buy materials in order to further production and increase profit; however, others were just as successful when they utilized the money to create connections through the purchase of items like tea and sugar. It was such an amazing experience to be able to learn from Jessica Jackley and hear just how many lives she has been able to touch!