Kiva partnered with the United States Department of State and the Inter-American Development Bank to launch the Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund on Friday, signaling the next step in the crowdfunding platform’s ongoing expansion into impact investing.
Seventy percent of small and medium enterprises owned by women in emerging markets are underserved or unserved, leading to a $260 billion to $320 billion credit gap for women, according to the International Finance Cooperation. Despite the odds, women reinvest 90 percent of their incomes in their families and communities.
“We see time and again with Kiva that the most impactful, high leverage, accelerated way to change the world more positively is by getting money directly into the hands of women, and particularly women entrepreneurs,” said Julie Hanna, Kiva’s board chair.
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.