Omidyar Network investment partner Arjuna Costa says he spends as much time as possible outside of Silicon Valley and in the emerging markets where he makes his investments because of the power of conversations like this one.
During a trip to the Philippines, he took a group of 20 borrowers out for coffee. They talked about working the night shift at call centers and wishing they had options beyond the pawn shop when they needed to borrow money. Costa learned that they thought of privacy on a continuum, that they were willing to makes some sacrifices in order to access better loans, as long as they knew that their data would be handled with integrity.
“They were very sophisticated in saying, ‘This is what I’m willing to trade off in terms of privacy for services with dignity and respect and responsiveness and clarity and affordability and transparency,’” he told Devex.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.