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Using Technology to Disrupt Poverty
Posted on May 26th, 2009 3 commentsOriginal Post: May 20, 2009
Last week I spent the better part of three days in Palo Alto at the annual meeting for the National Center of Women in Technology (NCWIT). Over the three days, the speaker that inspired me most was Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva, the world’s first micro-lending marketplace for the working poor.Kiva works by connecting entrepreneurs in the developing world with lenders (people like you and me) who provide interest-free loans via the Kiva.org website. Millions of dollars in loans are provided each month to the working poor in over 50 developing countries.With a loan of only a few hundred dollars, the working poor are able to invest in a self-staining future. Examples of types of investments include the purchase of a cow to plow land, or purchase of materials to build a fruit stand.
Jessica emphasized four principles that have been key to Kiva’s success.
Know Your Mission – Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for poverty alleviation.
Stay Open – Kiva adopted crowdsourcing, which opened up the opportunity for volunteers to log onto Kiva’s site and translate people’s stories from all over the world. Everyone can give in their own way.
Iterate – Kiva took a simple idea and launched in 2005 with a site that consisted of only three pages. Today Kiva offers individual stories and profiles in many languages and provides a myriad of ways for people to build community and contribute.
Focus on Individuals – Kiva empowers individuals on both sides of the equation.Borrowers gain hope for a better, self-sustaining life, while the site gives lenders tools to easily build lending teams and spread the word about Kiva organically. Kiva’s intense focus on individuals also allows it to have a loan pay-back rate in the high 90s.
Kiva’s growth has been phenomenal and these principles can certainly be applied to for profit and non-profit businesses alike.
It is amazing how the areas of microfinance and social good have become so sexy while traditional businesses are struggling to stay alive. It’s a tough time for a lot of us, but overall, perhaps the massive disruption of wealth will help us appreciate the important things in life, and replace our emphasis on wealth with that of meaning.Technology has powerfully transformed the way we live, breathe and do business. Why not harness technology as Kiva does — to disrupt poverty and advance social good. That’s what I call having your cake and eating it too.
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Girls in Tech Presents: The World of Casual and Social Games
Posted on May 26th, 2009 No commentsOriginal post: May 15, 2009
During this down economy, one of the few industries that have continued to grow is casual online games. Women are a dominant force in this industry, making up 75% of the population that pays to play. It’s no wonder that casual games have become so popular – they’re easy to play, provide a quick hit of fun, and are highly social and viral in nature.
Have you ever wanted to know how to get involved in the super-hot gaming space? Are you curious as to what the job opportunities are in games? Do you want to get a sense of who the big players are and how they make money? Or maybe you’re just asking yourself, what is the big deal with games – and why is everyone playing them and talking about them?! If any of these questions apply to you then Girls in Tech has the perfect forum for you.
Girls in Tech Presents: The World of Casual Games
An online casual games panel featuring
Zynga, Mochi Media, SGN, and Super Rewards
A BIG thanks to our sponsors:
Corporate Sponsor: Super Rewards
Media Sponsor: Inside Social Games and GamezeboEvent Details:
Thursday, May 28, 2009
6:30pm Networking & wine
7:00pm Panel start
Location: ngmoco:) Office — 118 King St. 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA -
The Women of BD
Posted on May 16th, 2009 No commentsOriginal entry: April 6, 2009
In conjunction with the Web 2.0 Expo, Girls in Tech organized a special evening panel on “The Women of BD” featuring the heads of Business Development from Yelp,AdBrite, Bebo and CBS Interactive. The event was a standing-room only, smashing success with well over a hundred people in attendance!
A week earlier, I learned about the Girls in Tech event through a friend. Having six years of BD experience, I was intrigued, and my very first GIT event did not disappoint. The panelists talked candidly about their experiences in BD, discussed how the BD role has changed in today’s challenging economic environment, and gave advice on how to make a career transition to BD.Afterwards, as the panelists stuck around to chat with attendees, I stole one-on-one time with Sonia Survanshi McFarland from Yelp who gave me insightful advice when I asked her, “What should I be doing to move up in my company?”. She prefaced her tips by advising, “You should be doing the job that you want for a while before expecting to get the title that comes with it.” (ie, in order to be promoted to VP, you should already be preforming at a VP level before asking for a promotion)
Sonia’s Tips on Moving Up
1.) Make yourself indispensable. Position yourself to be strong where your boss may be weak, and offer to step in and handle aspects of the job that your boss hates doing.
2.) Be visible and take credit for your work! Women tend to be modest about our achievements, whereas men generally don’t have this problem. It’s important to shine and celebrate our achievements.
3.) Be in the know. Know how changes in the industry and overall economic environment affect your company. Take a thought leadership position, proactively contribute ideas and provide creative solutions to problems.The Women in BD event delivered exactly what i was hoping to see — women having fun and helping each other. By the end of the evening I was certain I wanted to be a part of Girls in Tech.
A big thanks to Jessica Alter (Bebo), Sonia Survanshi McFarland (Yelp), Lucy Jacobs (AdBrite), and Jennifer Vescio (CBS Interactive) for sharing your BD experiences with us, and to Peter Pham (BillShrink) for moderating the session!