Dear Kiva community,
I am honored to be Kiva’s newly appointed board chair. Julie Hanna, Kiva’s executive board chair for the past 15 years, has decided to pass the baton. Julie’s contributions to Kiva are extraordinary. From navigating the early days of Kiva’s pioneering business model, to helping Kiva scale to over $2B of loans and 5M borrowers, Julie has had a profound impact on Kiva. Her passion and love for Kiva coupled with her relentless drive and optimism for the future have been a true inspiration to all.
My love affair with Kiva started on Dec 9, 2006 when I signed up for my first loan. Inspired by Premal’s vision for creating economic opportunity around the world by providing access to capital in the form of microloans, I discovered the awe inspiring stories of entrepreneurs building their farming or retail businesses, against all odds. Many were building their business in countries that were mired with wars or conflicts. Many were faced with extraordinarily difficult economic conditions. Their stories resonated deeply with me.
I was born and raised in Lebanon, and grew up during the Lebanese civil war, which tore the country apart from 1975 to 1990. My home was located in central Beirut, the Lebanese capital, that was divided into East and West Beirut throughout the war. In 1980 a car bomb blew up in my building’s garage. In 1989 a shell landed in my bedroom. I witnessed destruction and hate, and suffered through the economic consequences of a devastating conflict.
Later, I was lucky to have the opportunity to pursue my higher education in France where I started my entrepreneurial adventure, joining iBazar, one of the pioneering marketplace businesses in Europe, which we later sold to eBay. I then helped scale eBay into one of the world’s most successful internet companies of its era. At iBazar and eBay I witnessed first hand the power of technology in creating economic opportunity for all. My experience helped restore my faith in humanity. After all, people must be “basically good” in order to trust one another in buying and selling merchandise from around the world...
And it is at eBay that I met Premal who shared his passion for Kiva. Kiva’s mission resonated deeply with me. Leveraging the power of technology to create economic opportunity, and having faith in the principle that “people are basically good”, Kiva empowers entrepreneurs to raise capital from lenders. Trust in humanity and supporting other humans are at the core of Kiva’s beliefs. And while the idea seemed extraordinarily far-fetched at the time, I was confident that it will resonate with many.
Fast forward to 2025, Kiva’s impact has been extraordinary. Over $2.2B raised in support of 5M entrepreneurs, with a repayment rate of 96%. 80% of Kiva’s borrowers are women, building their farming, retail or services businesses. I was lucky to meet several of these entrepreneurs during my recent visit to Kenya. Kiva’s team in Kenya is incredible. They have built an amazing track record of partnering with the country’s microfinance institutions and social enterprises to deliver loans to Kenyan entrepreneurs. The determination of these entrepreneurs to better their lives, their optimism for the future and their ambition for themselves and their children were truly awe inspiring. It is one thing to read about their stories on Kiva;s pages, it is an entirely different experience to actually connect with them in person, and see the fruits of their labor and ambition.
So what’s next for Kiva? Under Vishal’s leadership, I am thrilled that Kiva has an exciting future ahead. We are not done with our work: access to capital remains challenging for the world’s entrepreneurs. Climate change, refugees created by conflicts and wars, economic equity for women, these are themes that you will see Kiva continue to focus on. Our ambition is to increase our impact, accelerate our growth, and build a sustainable business model for Kiva in the next few years. It is a very ambitious and inspiring vision and I can’t wait for the team to get it done.
- Andre Haddad
