Have you come over this is booktv on cspan2, television for serious readers. Heres our prime time lineup. Tonight at 6 45 p. M. Eastern, chris paps reports on the only state capital to file for bankruptcy. Then at 7 45, pulitzer prizewinning science and Technology Reporter john markoff examines the future of robot technology. And at 9 p. M. On after words, minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar discusses her life and political career. Then at 10 eastern, juliana bar bass saw with the Associated Press takes a look at the costs of rio deya near rows 2016 olympics. And at 11, the first women on the supreme court. That all happens tonight on cspan2s booktv. Next, a program from busboys and poets in washington d. C. Jessica jackley, cofounder of the online microlender keva, talks about the impact entrepreneurs in the poorest countries and the impacts they have on their communities. Im happy to be able to host Jessica Jackley as we celebrate the publication of clay, water, brick. In this lovely and inspiring book, jessica draws not just on her experience founding kiva, but also the stories of those entrepreneurs that kiva helps. Jessica holds an mba from stanford, and her words can be seen among many interviews in press. I dont want to say much so, ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome jessica jack isly to busboys and poets. [applause] [inaudible conversations] good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you so much for that very kind introduction. Im really happy to be here. As you can tell, i have an amazing support team, which includes three tiny people under the age of 3. It is a wonder that this book ever got written in the last few years. [laughter] but i told them id tell them thank you to cyrus and jasper do you want to wave . Do you want to wave . And asa, whos too little to wave, and my mom and so many of you who are my friends and my be distant family. Thank you for coming tonight. So i was told that over the next 30 or so minutes that i should do a reading and speak for about 25 of those. Id like to make that a little more brief so that we can have a little bit more of a conversation if theres an interest there, and we can have some questions. But i would like to tell you, and im going to go light on the reading tonight, heavy on just the storytelling. I would like to tell you about the entrepreneurs that bookend what ive written here. One is named patrick and one is named fatuma, and patrick is the entrepreneur for who this book is named, actually. Clay, water, brick points to a story of patrick, this entrepreneur that i met in uganda several years ago, about a decade ago. And he told me his story as follows. He explained how years earlier he had fled the Northern Area of the country because a rebel group had attacked his village, taken most of his family can ill be careful with my language because of the little ones and he had basically fled with almost nothing except his brother. And he settled in a village on the boarder of kenya and uganda with this brother, unschooled, orphaned, hungry, homeless. He didnt have much of anything. He had some distant cousins that he found there, and they wanted to be close to family, any family at all, so thats where they settled. Patrick had to figure out what to do to support him and his brother. Sadly, this kind of situation isnt all that rare around the world, to have to wake up every day and figure out how youre going to feed yourself and your loved ones. And patrick told me how a few years before i had been there speaking with him back in 2004. He had decided one day as he woke up watching the sunrise, leaning his back against this mud structure where he and his brother slept, he had sort of a moment, one of these wonderful epiphanies, these little bolts of inspiration, because as he sort of rested his hand next to him on the earth, he looked down and realized that there was opportunity right in the ground beneath where he was sitting. And he started to dig, first just with his hands, and then with a stick and a metal implement that he found nearby, and he realized as he dug, he learned and he realized that some of the dirt actually was a little bit more clay. There was some clay deposits, and if he mixed that with water, it could be shaped. He decided to shape some of this earth into bricks, and he did that. The first bricks were rough and misshapen and crumbled easily, but he kept at it, he refined what he was doing, and eventually he was able to make bricks he was able to sell. It was enough to be something. And he did that again and again, day after day, and got better and better at that. He saved his money, and over the time he was able to buy a brick mold. Often when i tell patricks story, i can show a picture of the mold thats very similar to the one he got. Imagine, like, a rectangle with a line down the middle. So he instantly doubled his production because he could make two bricks at a time, these basic mud bricks, but they were smoother and more consistently shaped and size, and, of course, these sold for a little bit more. So he did that, saved up. Soon he was able to afford a bicycle taxi into a nearby village so he could apprentice just for a few days with a brick maker there who baked his bricks in a selfcontained kiln. Patrick let his bricks dry in the sun. It was free, it was easy, but the bricks didnt end up as strong as they could have been had he been baking them in a kiln. Saved more money, bought some matches, started baking his bricks, they sold for a little bit more. By the time i met patrick, not only had he taken other steps like replacing a lot of his homemade implements, but he employed his brother, several other of his neighbors, and he had a thriving business x. He showed me how the old mud hut where he was sitting when he had his moment of inspiration had been replaced by a new home with baked mud bricks that he had pulled from the earth with his own two hands. So if thats not an entrepreneur, im not sure what is. The thing is, patricks story is special, and it is unique, but it is not rare. There are entrepreneurs like this all over the world. And enf i general winly believe theyre entrepreneurs. I think some people would warn not to conflate a person like patrick with a real entrepreneur. Thats how they would want to talk about it. And i think people like patrick, all the noise falls away, and you get to see really clearly what the entrepreneurial spirit is all about. Now, the person at the end of the book is more of a sobering warning and a contrast to patrick. Her name is fatuma. When i met her, i was shocked. I actually met her about 200 i think thats right, oh, 800 miles due southish of where patrick she lived outside of tanzania, and when i met fatuma and asked her how her business was going and what she was doing and by the way, i should back up. I was there ten years ago with a nonprofit called village enterprise, and village enterprise provided 100 grants to entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses. These were two of the recipients of that funding. I was there to do an impact survey, try to understand what kind of benefits it had provided to the individuals, if any. So they had this wonderful excuse to spend my days interviewing entrepreneurs like patrick and fatuma and so many others. Again, i had an excuse to ask them questions about their life and what was going on with their wellness, their standard of living. So fatuma showed me, very proudly, some written records that she had kept in blue books. Do you remember those blue books . I wrote all my middle School Essays in those. Somehow she had these, and she had kept little notes about her business, quite detailed records, actually. And as i looked over them, i thought, wait a minute, this is a real ragstoriches sort of story. So i looked through other records, and i questioned and, indeed, those numbers were accurate. She explained to me how her charcoal business had been thriving over the last few years and how everything had, indeed, started to change because of this 100 that she had been given. The thing was as i looked around fatumas home which, again, was a mud structure, very meager, not much inside of it at all except twofolding chairs where we were sitting, a small table and a mattress in the corner, i was very confused because anybody who had had that kind of drastic increase in profits in their business could have a much more sustainable livelihood, i would have thought at that point in time after id seen a number of other businesses that their life would look a lot different. She was dressed in tattered clothing, she had lost some teeth, she was very gaunt. She had told me outright that she wasnt eating very well and sickness was frequent, a frequent occurrence in her family. And so is i asked her, fatuma, where are the profits from your business . What have you done . Your business is doing really well. Do you not, you know why have you not invested in the basic things, better food, a mosquito net, school for your daughters, things like that that i had heard again and again were priorities for individuals that i met. She was a character. Well, she kind of smiled and looked around like other people were listening in. And she went, she said went over to the other side of her mud home and patted the ground next to the mattress where she slept, and she said its all here in the world bank, and cracked up. She thought it was so funny. She had literally buried the money in the earthen floor. I thought it was a great joke, actually, the world bank. Thats where she had stopped, her journey had stopped. So theres a lot more to tell about both of those stories and about so many other entrepreneurs. The thing is for years i asked the question to myself whats the difference, what makes patrick different than fatuma . Is are they both entrepreneurs . Do they both have that spirit that i so admire and long to nurture in myself and other people . The thing is i think, you know, the entrepreneurial spirit is not just about executing on a set of steps to build a great business. I think its about something more. I think its about constantly seeing opportunities, new opportunities. Not just out there in the world, just, you know, to create a great business, but in ourselves. And to want more for ourselves and others around us. I think fatuma at some point along the way, she got quite far, but she stopped dreaming, and she stopped seeing the ways that the real world could be better. Now, look, i would never want to create some sort of, you know, consumercrazy sort of person in fatuma. I wouldnt want her to suddenly have desires and want more than she could have in her life. I thought there could be so much more for her, and i saw her stop short. She stopped imagining a different future for herself. So as ive thought about entrepreneurship over the last decade, ive sort of come to this place. I told you the first entrepreneur and the last entrepreneur that i happen to have in here, and throughout i talk about my own journey. And what i think ive come down so is i love an existing definition of entrepreneurship from howard stevenson, a Harvard Business school professor. And as a stanford graduate, i try not to quote harvard professor, but whatever. [laughter] just kidding. He saws that says that entrepreneurship is about the pursuit of opportunities without regard to movement forward, taking steps every day. Its about action, not what we have, not what we possess. Its about moving forward despite level of education or pedigree or research thats on hand, right . The cash that you have, you know, stashed awaysome, maybe buried in the earth. Its about deciding to always look for ways to make things better in the world and to add value. Now, i did want to and so i thought about that, ive written, hopefully, well about that and in a way that could inspire anybody whether or not they see themselves as a entrepreneur to think differently about how they work and how they live, to constantly be looking for entrepreneurial opportunities and to be able to seize them and take steps forward and to be confident that they can do so regardless of the excuses and the ways that we can feel stuck every day. I hope this can be a book that gets people unstuck. And the part that i thought i wanted to read tonight because a handful of folks i know here from development work. Development work is a whole other book probably someday, but its full of really awkward moments. And i thought the entrepreneurial stories ive told you are representative of others that are in here, but heres just one other piece that i think is just something ive had to come to terms with and to reconcile as a white, middle class girl woman from, you know, pennsylvania. Ive gotten a lot of questions over the years about why did i go to afterda, and why havent africa, and why havent i done things here in the United States . I could talk about that too. But ill read you this little piece and then tell you one more thing about kiva, so this is a section right at the end calls cutout. A few years ago i flew to miami for a conference. As i entered the Four Seasons Hotel where the gathering was held, a blast of airconditioning instantly made my teeth chatter. I clenched my jaw and tried to force a smile. I followed the shiny, laminated signs with cursive psychologicals and gloved hands, icons, you know, pointing the way to our meeting, and i meanders through the wide hallways. Sound of laughter got louder as i pulled my carryon luggage behind me. I chuckled to myself. Inside the luggage were clothes for miami weather, but now i wished i had brought gloves, a jacket and a scarf knowing i had to spend the next few days sitting inside one of these frigid, windowless conference rooms. I turned the corner and saw my group. Men in pastelcolored polo shirts mingled with women in skirts and sun dresses. Most were gently tanned or pinkskinned from long days of golf or tennis or an afternoon sitting by the pool. Nearly all held ice cold cocktails or glasses of wine in their hands. These were familiar faces to me, some staff of the organization, and some other High Net Worth individuals that supported the work. All were crucial contributors, and as i scanned the room, i realized those present were probably responsible for funding the majority of the years operating expenses. I was the anomaly, younger and less experienced, quite uncomfortable and used to unused to chic hotel ballrooms. In addition to the goal of bringing people together, these gatherings were crafted to tell a story to attendees, one of need and opportunity that would culminate in a series of invitations to the people of this room to become the heroes of the story by giving generously. No one had seen me yet. Despite my individuals of the love, i was tired, cold and thirsty, so i made a beeline for the open bar. I turned to face the group looking at the crowd of friendly faces. What caught my eye was an unfamiliar darkskinned face that stared at me unblinking. In fact, as i looked, there were several faces all stationed evenly around that ballroom. All of them seemed turned in my direction with fixed smiles that seem to remain in place. I blinked not completely sure what i was seeing. I stood on tiptoe and craned my neck so i could get a better look at one of the strangers. As i did, his face suddenly reflected a flash of light from the photographers camera, and i understood. I sighed and gulped my wine. Along the perimeter of the room were lifesized cutouts of entrepreneurs, each one representing a different country served by the institution and each representing a different kind of business activity. [laughter] some of the cardboard people stood among props and equipment. In one corner was a cutout of an older woman smiling holding chickens and on a rustic looking table next to her, someone had placed a brown basket with a carton of plastic eggs alongside a rooster. A cutout of a younger, darkskinned woman with a secondhand tshirt held some grain in her hands and stood among several potted plants. On the ground were heavy sacks of rice from a local grocery store. A cutout of another woman stood behind some wooden crates fills with fakepainted foam fruits and vegetables. A man from Central America leaned against one of the walls near the half dozen light switches for the chandeliers above. Mercifully, he had no props. I turned my gaze away and walked into the crowd to talk to the living, breathing, reallive pastelclad people around me, all of whom were there to serve the kinds of entrepreneurs whose lifesized images encircled us. It had been a long time since i had learned about poverty 20 some years earlier. Sadly, some of the stories of the thinking that motivates those stories hasnt changed much. I tried to filter the good from the bad, the factual from the manipulative, the realistic from the overly dramatic, but still once in a while these stories get to me. Like when im surrounded by cardboard cutout toes that are supposed to make me feel closer to real people when, in fact, they were doing the opposite. And i feel pangs of the confusion and the anxiety that i did back then when i was a little kid who was told that poverty could never be fixed, that the poor would always be with us. Once in a while i do still feel overwhelmed, and there are still moments when the magnitude of the problem plaguing so many People Living on this planet feels crushing. But i have learned how to fight back. I now know never to turn away from the issues that scare me. Ive learned not to conflate difficult issues with the people they affect. Ive learned to ask hard questions and to get answers for myself firsthand, and i know it is always worth getting closer to the people that i want to understand so i can hear their truths from them directly. Know not to wait for permission to do the things im passionate about. While my efforts are never perfect, ive learned it is always worth it to keep trying, and most importantly, ive become absolutely convinced that real positive change is possible. Ive become sorry, poverty does not have to win in the end, and anyone who wants to participate in making the world better can. Even the most unqualified individuals can contribute great things, even the most humble efforts can end up improving the lives of thousands or millions of people. I know that without a doubt this is true. Despite everything, we can still serve each other in ways that have a permanent, lasting effect. The stories that i heard, like patricks, inspired me and my cofounder, matt, to create kiva, and ten years ago when we decided to do this, the motivation really was to tell a different story about poverty and to focus instead of the sadness and suffering instead of on the strength and empowerment and selfrealization that these individuals were striving for. And additionally, not just to tell that new story is, but to provide a different way for people to respond. Not just throw their change in the jar, be thanked and go on with the rest of their lives, but to truly be engaged after time as that individuals story unfolded and to be an equal partner perhaps through a loan. So at kiva, started doing ten years ago and continues today, provide a way for people to contribute 25 or more on our web site to a specific entrepreneur, a seamstress from cambodia, a chicken farmer from ghana, specific individuals that need 2, 3, 400, sometimes a bit more. And over time that loan of 25, 50 in aggregate with a handful of other peoples gets repaid. Repayment rates are 90 , and they have been oh the last decade, and its a lovely experience for people. Its really difficult to find a cheaper, more flexible, friendly source of capital, debt capital. Its also difficult to take the risk that kiva lenders are willing to take. They take on defundamental risk and currency risks, so you have in this long tail of institutions in very unreached places. Its been fun to watch. Over the last ten years, kivas just about to hit 750 million and more countries than u. N. Recognizes, which is always kind of fun, in terms of lenders and borrowers. And its in these little 25 bids. And the most important part of that statistic is all of that capital has people behind it, people who have made i hope a different kind of connection with the person living on the other side of the planet. Maybe somebody that they otherwise would have had a different impression of and maybe wouldnt have had the chance to know in the same way and to believe in in the same way. Thats a little bit of a glimpse into the last ten years of my life. Very grateful for the all the experiences ive had. Kiva has been the most lifechanging thing that ive experienced in my work. And i hope that this book can share that experience, those experiences with people and convince everybody especially the people in this room, people reading this book that there is Great Potential always, great opportunity. Sometimes even in the ground beneath our feet and always in ourselves. Thank you. [applause] [inaudible] thank you. We are doing q a. Theres a microphone here so everyone can hear your question and cspan can record it. Just raise your hand, ill come to you, and you can ask your question. Well, its not really a question. Its my husband when i turned 60, my husband gave me a 300 Gift Certificate to kiva. Thats awesome. [applause] because our daughter who traveled, you know, in africa and other countries made us aware of it. So at first i take all the, you know, because i have a how did you choose . I have a special feeling for bolivia, i picked everybody in bolivia. [laughter] wonderful. So that was you . No. [laughter] most toly women. Yes. And then later on, as i got repaid, then i started branching out, and i even started to lend to men [laughter] god forbid. [laughter] you know, all in all, its just been really great. So when his birthday came, he got a kiva. Fantastic. Really great. That makes my day. Thank you for sharing that. [inaudible] thank you. Thank you. I have a quick question. Yeah, great. I was always curious how you vet the people who will be the recipient of the this is good. [laughter] great question. So classic kiva, the way it started and the way its continued for many years, this is still a main piece of how it operates today is as follows theres lenders, the staff mostly in san francisco, but all over the world at this point, partner institutions, field partners many of which are kind of traditional microfinance institutions, but theres all sorts of different organizations now, ngos, nonprofits, institutions that are just somehow providing a loan to individuals. Again, traditionally its been for business creation, but there are other things too now that theyre all entrepreneurial opportunities, but some focus on clean energy and etc. I know im explaining this more, but you know this stuff. The field partners are the ones that exist, you know, before kiva arrives. Theyre already out there. There are 10,000 some of them, give or take a few thousand, theyre already out there providing loans, collecting repayments, troubleshooting, helping people and hand holding if they need help, if they cant repay on time, figuring out what to do in those scenarios. Often before the loans even administered providing education because the ones kiva prioritizes working with have a social impact whether its focusing on women or vulnerable 2k3wr50u7s in vulnerable prayers or providing just a really missionfocused sort of strategy. So those institutions, theres 200 or so of those right now working with kiva, and they are the experts on the ground. Yeah. So, now thats part one. I will say this, too, because its fun to think about where things are going. Kiva has been pioneered over the last few years. Its really been a great way for the organization to make some bets and conduct some cutting edge experiments about making the whole supply chain there, right . Lenders, kiva, field partners and then borrowers from making it even lighter and tighter and more dynamic, more mobile. Sorry, my ears are tuned to that little person. So kiva does, for example, the partner institution, replaced with a trustee. And theyre experimenting with mobile money transfers and all sorts of great stuff. Anyway, classic kiva and other aspects, kiva dip and where i think banking will go more and more. Quality control is my answer. Did that answer it. Something was interesting [inaudible] im sorry, can you speak a little more into the mic . The creation of kiva, this is an act of entrepreneurship. Yes. Because you put together the needs, passion, the technology. Yes. So i think that this should be part of your presentation. Oh, i appreciate that. Well, so i studied poetry undergrad, it was like my favorite thing. I never studied business, this is a whole other part of my story. I was sort of a hater. I mean, i thought business is bad, its about making money, i want to help people, that seems to involve giving money away. I feel like an accidental entrepreneur, first of all. Thats one aspect. And also i hope that the stories kind of show as opposed to tell. It feels strange to get up and say im an entrepreneur too. But i guess. Theyre my heroes. Thats what im trying to be. If he gets real bad, i can just cover and i may breastfeed my son while im talking to you, which i feel great about. [laughter] if i understand your model, youre basically using technology to crowd fund something that kind of exists, the ngos are in place on the ground. So what percentage of my 100 donation is going to go to keep kiva alive in. Zero. So the way it works and the ngos dont get anything either . Its a tricky im not trying to give a trick answer, i promise. When you lend, you lend your 50, again, to the seamstress in cambodia. It all goes to that seamstress. As she repays, she will repay with interest if its not kiva zip. But shoal repay with interest thats set by that field partner. Kiva doesnt work with partners we feel are abusive in their practices or charging an incredibly high amount of interest. But still on average the Interest Rates can be 25, 30 in the sector. Thats because it requires a ton of work often to reach borrowers and to serve them well and even still a lot of these ngos barely make ends meet, right . They need other subsidized dollars to do that. So the seamstress repays with a little bit of interest, and that institution keeps the interest and passes the principal back through kiva, back into the hands of borrowers. Now, that said, kiva asks folks at the point of purchase when youre about to say, yes, take your money, we say would you also like to donate to operating expenses . I know thats not what you asked, but often people do, and theres 2, 3 million going through the site every week. So even to get a tiny percentage on top of that is huge and make a big dent in the organizations sustainability. And for the record, as we talk, you know, business, nonprofit, i think there can be good happening in all sectors, i know that now, its funny because sustainability, you know, its a word for profitability in the social sector. And kiva has been profitable at moments in the past and i believe will be even more over time, which is kind of crazy as a nonprofit. It stays in the organization to, thats the difference. When when youre dealing with that much money flowing around, i think the organizations done a pretty good job of taking being smart about that. Does that answer your question . [inaudible] yeah. So speak of sustainability from a different angle, its going to be a slightly longwinded question, so i apologize. Thats okay. Im a climate activist and have been for a while, and im a student also, and so a lot of my fellow environmental activists feel very strongly that capitalism and Climate Change go hand in hand and that we really cant hope to, you know, save our planet with the current economic model that we have. And so is, obviously, the entrepreneurs that kiva is funding or not, the people causing climated change, but i am wondering im hoping you can give me some kind of fuel to fight back on that, that argument. Because i personally dont think that capitalism necessarily has to stop existing for us to combat Climate Change, but i think there are definitely better practices, and it sounds like kivas something that fosters i sure hope so. Yeah. I think the good news is, you know, when we say capitalism, i think were thinking tell me if im wrong the traditional, strictly forprofit structures in the world. Not social enterprises, not hybrid organizations. And, you know, i think the big problem with those traditional structures is theres youre legally required to always make decisions to maximize benefit to shareholders. Not as you can a c corp. Legally, you know, prioritize any other factor like the environment, and all else being equal, is this vendor even though it costs a dollar more to get their product or whatever is it going to make a much less damaging sort of impact on the environment. The good news is i think not only are there all those hybrid structures and new structures cropping up that really force people to and answer questions about their social impact including their environmental impact, but i think in general its not going to even be a differentiating factor in the future. People all organizations are going to have to be accountable. Whether they want to call themselves, you know, get ahead of the game and call it now and say we need to think about our social impact, we need to get ahead of this and try to make that a really positive thing and prioritize that, organizations are going to have to ask and answer those questions. So what that says to me is that somewhere along the way itll have to ask and answer questions about whats enough which i feel is the real problem if you want to be down on capitalism. Thats the real problem, the endlessness of the quest for more, more, more, more, more. I think because organizations will have to, like i said, i dont want to repeat myself too much here, but will have to be very transparent about their impact, good, bad, ugly, everything and hopefully start to improve those latter two. I think theyll be yeah, there will be more good outcomes because everyone will have to compete in this way. I have a friend, i have lots of friends who use sociallyresponsible investing, social investing, impact investing, and the one i was talking to two weeks ago, he was like, yeah, its not even a thing. I think even as now everyones now, you cant avoid this stuff. Its not unique anymore to have a sociallypositive lens, a positive lens on how youre investing and looking at companies. So i hope [laughter] to summarize, that the worlds moving in that direction and companies are going to have to get much, theyre going to have to really step it up in terms of prioritizing and just, again, being open about kind of impact theyre having. So hopefully. Hi. Hi. [inaudible] firstly, i just want to thank you for creating this organization. Thank you. Like, way back in college all the time i was doing impact work yea. Oh, you can help kiva, really big name to have a mark or two. My question is you talked about that entrepreneurship, that ability to see more opportunity. Yeah. And inevitably, youll have setbacks. Right. And i think, you know, years ago i had a lot of idealism before i encountered more of the real world, and as you encounter more of the real world, you get a little bit disenchannelled, i think. Disenchanted. So i was wondering if you had an example from your years of experience that was a little bit of a setback and then how you overcame that and what drives you. Yeah. So, all right, heres just, you know, the biggest one that i think ive experienced. There came a point, so i felt like as kiva started to really happen and work and the world started to Pay Attention to this little side project that matt and i were doing on nights and weekends and [laughter] as it started to take off, i really just felt in my heart that, oh, my goodness, this is what i was born to do, this is it. Im doing this forever. And so the point at which years later i actually left kiva as a fulltime staff person, right, to do something else. And its all in the book. But leafing was a really difficult leafing was a really difficult transition for me and a scary one. Because, again, i had sort of retroactively looked back and said to myself, oh, i guess im an entrepreneur too, right . I guess this is happening. It was really an attempt to solve a specific set of problems in the world, but et turned into something bigger, and it became bigger than my wildest dreams. So having realizing, because i left kind of at a moment that was a difficult personal and professional moment for me. It was sooner than i, at that time, would have wanted. And it turned out to be the best thing in the world for me because it forced me to have a bigger perspective and to not just have my identity and tie it up in i did this one thing, im doing this one thing, this is who i am, this is what everything in my life has culminated to. I had to say, oh, well, look entrepreneur figure out what to do next when that moment comes, and it really toesed me to re forced me to recalibrate. In fact, in true form i took nine months and traveled around the world, went to 15 Different Countries and wrote case studies on Women Entrepreneurs for stanford Business School because that was what i needed to recalibrate. I needed to remind myself what that spirit was. I needed to be around it, i needed to be immersed in it. And be it allowed me to see myself not just as, you know, this person who got to do kiva and started to make it work, but as an entrepreneur more generally. And even better, to put my work in its place. And as is evidenced now, but at least several guests here tonight, to have a life that for me included other things that also provide me with so much meaning and fill other spaces in my identity. I feel like work is now in its place in the right way and in a healthy way. No one tells you youre a workaholic when youre saving the world. [laughter] really. I mean, if youre an ibanker, sure. But if youre just really working hard on something that helps people, usually you only get positive praise, and this can be actually very strange. The social sector is interesting because the currencies that people are getting paid in and that they really desire are not straightforward or and visible all the time. Its about control and power and feeling like your ideas respected and having influence. And so anyway, theres a lot to unpack there, i think, and its very easy to get suck ised in and have work even when its your dream job, even when its beyond your wildest dreams and things are going beautifully its easy to still have the wrong things take over your identity. I feel like today i have all sorts of ambitions. Im raring to go, i have lots of ideas. Ive definitely been in the mama cave lately, which is great, but its work is in its place. Work is always still just work, and theres a lot more to me and to what i want to be and do in the world than just that. Helpful . Okay. So you are helping entrepreneurs start up with whatever they need to start. Who helped you start up . Be how did you start your own funding . So is, you know, friends and family are customers too. [laughter] the first lenders were, was that lady, my mom, sandra, and friends and family. Jim, linda, youre early. Theres a lot of people in this room actually. The first round of loans was seven entrepreneurs who needed a total of 3100. Matt and i spammed our friends and family and said we think this is legal, will you please do this social experiment with us and see what happens . In the next, you know, basically overnight that money came in, and we were able to lend it out to seven entrepreneurs, hold our breath and, indeed, the money came back and we were repaid, everyone was repaid, and we got to have more and more rounds of loans. The truth is in the very beginning we just relied on people that loved us and wanted to see us get a shot at doing our dream. And i think a lot of people that Fund Entrepreneur even thousand have that same spirit. It was a beautiful thing. The Second Company i started which has its own life span and, actually, i shut it down when the begins were about three months the twins were about three months old was an early crowdfunding platte form we werent calling it crowd funding. Even r the Second Company was an attempt to provide what we called Community Funding because a lot of entrepreneur stories, as ive heard them over the years, really begin when those closest to them take a risk, invest this that person in that person and give them their first shot at getting going. You know, that, like, framed dollar bill on the wall, its usually from mom or dad. [inaudible] i have a question for you. Hi, thank you. Im curious about how your experience as a social entrepreneur and, of course, all your exposure to all these entrepreneurs has shaped your thinking as a parent of young children. Yeah. How, how has that paid out for you . Thats a great question. You have a little one there, congratulations. First of all, i feel incredibly lucky because i have i didnt realize how much flexibility and autonomy can i, actually, if you throw me the muslim and hem. So im experiencing with work, like, integrating work and family. [laughter] so with twins i couldnt, i couldnt breast field in public because i was topless on the couch for six months, but we can do this. So anyway, in terms of how i feel about [inaudible conversations] sorry, just pause. One sec. This is a great question. Hold on one sec. Thank you for your patients. [laughter] okay. So im going to leap. So in terms of how my entrepreneurial experiences has affected my parenting. One, i have flexibility and awe on the that i didnt every day im grateful for. Its not about, i dont like when people say be your own boss. Youre always serving somebody, you have a little bit of control when youre deciding on your own ventures. But i guess i feel, i just have such every day i have such, my belief in the idea that so much is possible always, it really affects how i treat my kids and how i see them. I really want them to know that their dreams arent just, you know, cute things to talk about, but theyre really its really possible for all of us, whatever our gifts are and whatever we want to do in the world to go out and make those things happen. Whatever your work ends up being in the world, whatever they choose too do, if to do, i think theyre going to need to work entrepreneurially more and more to get those things done. I know. Sorry are. Its like a little hard to see. Hold on. [laughter] okay, cool. Whats up . [laughter] sorry. Hes having a i think hes really tired. Its all right, buddy. Its all right, buddy. Anyone else have any questions . [inaudible conversations] okay. Sorry, yes. Go right ahead. What is your biggest piece of advice for women who want to start their own businesses whether from the field or otherwise . For women . Yeah. For women. I would say be clear about what you really want and dont, you know, dont be afraid to write your own rules. Be clear about i mentioned currencies. Be clear about the combination of things you want. Im paid in flexibility and autonomy, and i get to work with people that i love, and i feel like the work i do every day is inspiring. You know, financially its ended up being more rewarding than i ever expected, but i think to be really clear about what you want to get out of it will help you create the right boundaries and priorities for yourself and for your life and not end up waking up one day and saying, wow, what have i given up to get here . Or who have i become to build this thing that i thought i wanted . Thats one thing. I think also find other women who can be your support system in all different phases of life. I think mentorship is definitely the thing these days, right . I think, actually, i mean, im so into it too, but a lot of women i meet are so into mentorship. Its the endall, beall solution. If you just have a mentor, all the doors will slide right open. Im serious, thats how some people talk about it. The reality is much more for me that having peers is as valuable. There are mentors i think that tell you youre great when you need to hear it and that help you see things realistically and give you reality checks, but there sorry are. Maybe we shouldnt. Okay. Were going to do a new plan here. One more pause. [inaudible conversations] okay. Im almost done with this answer. But if you find here we go. If you find, i think there are mentors who encourage you and are more about helping you grow personally, like understand your strengths and weaknesses, that sort of thing. Theyre also mentors that open doors for you and organizations and champion you as you move on up in your organization. I didnt really have those myself, but what ive found instead is that peers who are entrepreneurial going through the different phases of their own ventures end up helping me figure out what i need to figure out along the way and feel supported more than anything else. So and i im a part of a few actually formal groups, one based in l. A. , one is based out of new york, but is books from all over, and that latter one called the list. Rachel started this, shes one of my heroes. Shes a peer, but shes one of my heroes and mentors in a way. And the women are really there to help each other out. I think you can create your own not just friendships, you know, you can have coffee with a handful of people that will inspire and sport you, but take it upon yourself to form a group of 20, 50 people, you know, that you know even casually and say is i want to help each other out in our work over the next decade. Lets do it, lets figure it out. And the way this list is used its a totally commercial form, its called the list. Hey, people will put out there, hey, my books coming out, help me spread the word. Im raising funds for my venture, can you look at my pitch and give me feedback . Real things that help people succeed. So there you go. [inaudible conversations] thank you very much for sharing all your experience. That is really interesting, and tie anything with what you just said tying in with what you just said s there any setup for mentoring for some of the is there setup for what . Im so sorry. For mentoring . Oh. Maybe from ask kiva entrepreneurs . In thats a really good question. With any organization, i think they do have a support system. Lets step back a little bit. A lot of microlending is done in groups, and this organization theres the gumming bank, theres opportunity international, theres finca, a handful of, like, the grandfather organizations of modern microfinance. And finca, way back in the day 30 plus years ago started a practice called village banking. Theyre really known for pioneering this. This village banking, people are grouped together because theres no other collateral to be had, so lets say ten of us in the room need a loan at some point. We group together, and if i dont repay, youre all on the hook for me and vice versa. Thats done frequently. I think theres a lot of the peer peertopeer learning, and i think there are other folks who also work, like i said, with these institutions that form relationships. Kiva doesnt structure any sort of mentorship like that. I shouldnt say we, the organization has had conferences and gatherings of some of those to field partners to help them share best practices and especially working with kiva figuring out how to use the technology and make it work. I know thats been really Helpful Organization to organization. I often get asked people get so excited, which i love, they get so excited about the entrepreneurs that they theyve loaned to, they want to mentor them themselves or somehow connect with them, and for whatever its worth, i mean, i absolutely think we can learn something from everyone, and we all have something to offer, and its a beautiful thing. Often youll see a person that does not actually have any expertise or skills in a particular area that might be relevant to this, and i think its best when that sort of is put in the right framework. I think its wonderful for entrepreneurs and lenders to connect, and i think thats going to happen more and more with kiva zip, itll be more direct, more mobile. Mentorship is a different story, and i think it happens best when its happening locally with people surrounding that entrepreneur. Lets give these are great questions, thank you. One last round of applause. Oh, thanks. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. And ill be here yeah. To sign books. This is, like, day two. Ive not really done this before, so i think thats what happens next. Thank you very much. Well have the book signing right over here. [inaudible conversations]