Jessica Jackley

The North, people in the US and Canada lending to people in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's flipped. There's guys in Kenya lending to guys or women in Brooklyn that started a food truck or Mexicans lending to other Mexicans. It's not always the same old narrative and it's not otherized.

The North, people in the US and Canada lending to people in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's flipped. There's guys in Kenya lending to guys or women in Brooklyn that started a food truck or Mexicans lending to other Mexicans. It's not always the same old narrative and it's not otherized.

It's a big old mix of people who, you know, one day you might be a lender, maybe one day you'll be a borrower or vice versa. And that's beautiful. That's the thing. So Kiva had a lot of advantages. It's a very long answer, but I think about what made Kiva spread. And it was that everyone, I think, could find a reflection of themselves somewhere at some time in the stories that they saw.

It's a big old mix of people who, you know, one day you might be a lender, maybe one day you'll be a borrower or vice versa. And that's beautiful. That's the thing. So Kiva had a lot of advantages. It's a very long answer, but I think about what made Kiva spread. And it was that everyone, I think, could find a reflection of themselves somewhere at some time in the stories that they saw.

And they were not fake. They're not made up, like... case study stuff or again, poster child stuff.

And they were not fake. They're not made up, like... case study stuff or again, poster child stuff.

My book is named after one story that represents so much of the good stuff that I've heard over the years. It was a gentleman named named Patrick in Uganda. He had fled the northern area of the country after his village was attacked by the LRA. And he lost his family, everyone except one brother. Everything that they owned had been stolen or burned. All the animals killed. So he fled on foot.

My book is named after one story that represents so much of the good stuff that I've heard over the years. It was a gentleman named named Patrick in Uganda. He had fled the northern area of the country after his village was attacked by the LRA. And he lost his family, everyone except one brother. Everything that they owned had been stolen or burned. All the animals killed. So he fled on foot.

And they found, after days and days, they found distant cousins in a little border town. outside of Tarora, Uganda, and he had nothing, was starting over. All that he had was a place to sleep in this mud hut structure and the ground beneath his feet. And amazingly, he figured out something really useful to do just with that. As he told his story to me years ago, he talked about sitting there

And they found, after days and days, they found distant cousins in a little border town. outside of Tarora, Uganda, and he had nothing, was starting over. All that he had was a place to sleep in this mud hut structure and the ground beneath his feet. And amazingly, he figured out something really useful to do just with that. As he told his story to me years ago, he talked about sitting there

his back against the hut where he had slept and watching the sun come up. And he sort of looks down and realizes in the ground beneath his feet, it's so poetic, there were clay deposits. So you can dig and find these ribbons of very usable, ready to go clay. And, and he,

his back against the hut where he had slept and watching the sun come up. And he sort of looks down and realizes in the ground beneath his feet, it's so poetic, there were clay deposits. So you can dig and find these ribbons of very usable, ready to go clay. And, and he,

dug those up and kind of mixed them with water and made them the right consistency to form bricks and at first those bricks were very rough and misshapen and they cracked and crumbled but he got really good at it pretty quickly and so day after day brick after brick the guy creates this product that he's able to sell for the equivalent of fractions of a penny and he does it again and again and again every damn day just and eventually is able to buy some pieces of wood to make a brick mold and

dug those up and kind of mixed them with water and made them the right consistency to form bricks and at first those bricks were very rough and misshapen and they cracked and crumbled but he got really good at it pretty quickly and so day after day brick after brick the guy creates this product that he's able to sell for the equivalent of fractions of a penny and he does it again and again and again every damn day just and eventually is able to buy some pieces of wood to make a brick mold and

Which sounds like, okay. But then his production increased. It sped up so much and he had higher quality products. It was firmer. It didn't break as much. Then as that went well, he was able to save up over time to buy some implements, shovel, trowel, whatever. Then he was able to save up to go to a local village and learn how to build one of these self-contained kilns.

Which sounds like, okay. But then his production increased. It sped up so much and he had higher quality products. It was firmer. It didn't break as much. Then as that went well, he was able to save up over time to buy some implements, shovel, trowel, whatever. Then he was able to save up to go to a local village and learn how to build one of these self-contained kilns.

So stacking all the beautiful bricks around a fire in the belly of the thing. Because of course you can sell those bricks for more. And so the guy had built this business, had several employees, had hired his brother, and he was able to point around in the area where he lived and say, I built that, I built that, I built that. So he had built all these like structures

So stacking all the beautiful bricks around a fire in the belly of the thing. Because of course you can sell those bricks for more. And so the guy had built this business, had several employees, had hired his brother, and he was able to point around in the area where he lived and say, I built that, I built that, I built that. So he had built all these like structures

with his team, with this business that literally began with nothing. I mean, the ground beneath his feet. And so this idea that there's never nothing, there's never absolutely nothing. I found those stories just- Incredible. Inspiring. And again, having come from Silicon Valley where there was this speed and this pace of so many resources.

with his team, with this business that literally began with nothing. I mean, the ground beneath his feet. And so this idea that there's never nothing, there's never absolutely nothing. I found those stories just- Incredible. Inspiring. And again, having come from Silicon Valley where there was this speed and this pace of so many resources.