- Entrepreneur and investor focused on financial inclusion, the sharing economy, and social justice.
- Co-Founder of KIVA, the world’s first peer to peer microlending website.
- Since 2005, KIVA has loaned over $700 million from lenders to entrepreneurs across 206 countries.
Jessica Jackley is the Co-Founder of KIVA, the world’s first peer to peer microlending website. KIVA lets users lend as little as $25 to poor entrepreneurs around the world, providing affordable capital for them to start or expand microenterprises. Named one of the top ideas of 2006 by The New York Times Magazine, and praised by Bill Clinton and countless others, KIVA is one of the fastest-growing social benefit websites in history. She is the author of the book Clay Water Brick: Finding Inspiration from Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least (Random House).
Since its founding in 2005, KIVA has loaned over $700 million from lenders to entrepreneurs across 206 countries. For all its success, KIVA remains focused on a simple mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty, one person at a time.
Jackley currently serves as a Venture Partner with the Collaborative Fund, focused on investing in creative entrepreneurs who want to change the world through emerging technologies.
She holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Philosophy and Political Science, and serves as an active advisor and board member on several organizations championing women, microfinance, tech, and the arts.