"A serious Kiva fan."

- Katherine, Lender

I don't remember the first time I heard of Kiva but by the winter of 2007, I was a serious Kiva Fan.

I remember there was a big Kiva Billboard on 101, the highway we would take from my home in the Bay Area up to San Francisco. Every time we passed it I felt FOMO (though the 'fear of missing out' wasn't a term let alone a cultural phenomenon back then), because I wanted to be a part of the team that was creating the elegant solution of crowdlending to tackle the global problem of lack of access to capital.

In addition to being a lender, my fandom also manifested itself in a coffee mug I got for Christmas one year. The mug traveled with me to college and out to NYC after I graduated. I still have it in my cupboard. I referenced that mug in my cover letter which I feverishly wrote and submitted the day I realized Kiva had an open role in NYC.

As part of the application process, the Kiva US team asked me to see how many of my friends and family I could get to make a Kiva loan. I got 70 people to lend on Kiva. I really wanted the job. I really wanted to work for Kiva!

Surprise surprise, I got the job! Now I get to go to work each day and be a part of that team I had so deeply admired. I'm glad to report that it's as gratifying as I thought it would be way back when all I had was that coffee mug.


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