3 Inspiring Quotes from Kiva Leaders

One of the best benefits of volunteering as a Kiva Fellow is meeting the leaders of Kiva and hearing them speak during training in San Francisco. Here are three of my favorite quotes from the Kiva Fellows 12th Class training week at Kiva headquarters:

“If you want to make an impact, the best way is to make the smallest change possible in the present moment.” – Premal, President of Kiva

Dream big. Start small. Kiva started with just 7 loans worth $3,500. Today it has helped fund over 209,000 loans worth over $152 million.

“We want you guys to take all your different skills and do something amazing.” – JD, Director of the Kiva Fellows Program

Kiva Fellows come from varied backgrounds and have different skills to share. The Kiva Fellows Program staff works hard to match our unique skills to the needs of Kiva’s Field Partners so that we can all do something amazing.

“Working in a social enterprise has made me richer and more wealthy than any high-paying job.” – Matt, Co-founder and CEO of Kiva

Training week at Kiva HQ was strangely addictive. Sitting in a room with 36 other like-minded Fellows, all there voluntarily, working with Kiva staff for ten hours a day, five days a week was challenging, fun, and inspiring. We were all there obviously not for the money (Kiva Fellows pay for all of their own expenses to training and out in the field), but because we believed in Kiva’s mission and wanted to do our part in helping to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Have a favorite quote? Post it in the comments below.

Edwin Au-Yeung is excited to start working as a Kiva Fellow in Cambodia in mid-August. He was quite excited to take a picture with Matt and Premal during training week. Edwin will be taking the inspiring words above with him on his Fellowship to Cambodia – and beyond! Want to make an impact? Check out www.kiva.org to make a $25 loan to an entrepreneur across the world. Want to do something amazing and volunteer with a social enterprise? Check out the Kiva Fellows Program and apply to be a Fellow!