For those in Seattle looking for something to do tonight, check out the private screening of “To Catch A Dollar”

When: Thursday, August 26th, 2010
6:00 pm – Reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres
7:00 pm – Private Screening & Special Guest Speaker
Where: Two Union Square
601 Union Street, 51st Floor
Downtown Seattle
Price: Ticket Levels: $100 | $50 | $25

Please RSVP to Fortunato Vega
(206) 336-1611
fortunato911@gmail.com

[via myKRO.org]

A 16 year old teenager in Menlo Park is using her birthday as a means to raise awareness & funds for Kiva. She’s been donating to Kiva since she was 11 years old!

[via myKRO.org]

[via myKRO.org]

As some of you know, my drive to Portland today marked the 1st day of my 5-6 week roadtrip around the US. As part of this roadtrip, I’m helping the team at Vittana generate some awareness for their “March Micro Madness” campaign. Of course, I’ll be doing this with social media, but I’ll also be putting a giant Vittana logo on my Honda Civic (that’s still in process, but will post a photo once I have the decal) in the hopes of generating some awareness simply by driving around the country. To start the trip off right, Dale Chumbley (@dalechumbley) has helped me (err, he has done everything actually) organize a tweetup for tomorrow night in Portland! Here are the details:

What: Gathering with like-minded individuals (aka those Geeks who use Twitter). Who knows, maybe we’ll even get a few people — like my Aunt Loma, a photographer in Portland – who don’t use Twitter to join the group

When: Tuesday, March 2nd at 6:30 pm

Where: Madison’s Grill (1109 SE Madison, Portland, Oregon)

Why: Umm…why not is the better question…

After Portland, the next stop is San Francisco — actually, probably, Eugene for 1 night on the way for the UW-Oregon game — and we’re currently in the midst of organizing a tweetup on Friday evening. The founder of Vittana, Kushal Chakrabarti, will also be in San Francisco with me Friday evening for the Tweetup – details to come soon!!

Again, a special thanks to Dale for getting this organized so quickly (I called him today on the drive up and within 3 hours he had tweeted the details)! We hope to see those from Portland tomorrow!

From the Kiva Fellows Blog, here’s a video detailing what happens at a repayment meeting in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic:

I went to a Bank of Hope repayment meeting in this exact spot in November of 2008, so very cool to see the video!

I’m a big fan of what Kushal (who I’ve met several times in person) and his team are doing over at Vittana to bring the concept of student loans to the developing world. Here’s a video that gives more background on what their model is.

I posted this on myKRO, but wanted to post it here as well — it’s a great video that helps to give you some context around what a “typical” life is like for a woman in Kenya.

I finally got around to posting my thoughts on microfinance from my trip down to the Bay area in early August – you can take a look at myKRO.org.

[via Causemopolitan]

[via myKRO.org]

I just posted this video over at myKRO, but thought I’d post it here as well. Good video for those looking to learn more about microfinance.

Congrats to the team of UW Grads who are brining microfinance to Ghana with their project — Lumana Credit! There is a launch event this coming Thursday, July 23rd, in Seattle for those interested. I’ll be attending the Techflash event taking place that same evening, so won’t be able to make it — but for those in the Seattle area interested in microfinance, I’d highly recommend attending. Logistics:

BoConcept Design Studio
901 Western Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
July 23 at 7:00 pm

Particularly since I’m a University of Washington grad (2005) and passionate about microfinance, it’s great to see this type of initiative come out of UW!

WOW, this blog entry from Brett Mennella on the Seattle Times is awesome to see. Here’s a little background on him:

Brett Mennella, a senior at Bellevue High School (at right), helped start the school’s Microfinance Club, which focuses on learning about the global effect of microcredit. The club raised more than $130,000 in the last two years to support microloans, and decided to invest the money in Esperanza International, a global microfinance institution based in Bellevue founded by former Mariners catcher David Valle. This is the first of several posts he’ll be filing from the Dominican Republic, where he is doing volunteer work.

Raising $130k by the age of 17/18 is no minor accomplishment, it’s actually INSANELY impressive if you ask me. I first heard about the fund raising done at Bellevue High School a few months ago from my friend Kayla (who has worked in the Dominican Republic for Esperanza International for the past two years), but didn’t realize there was an individual behind the whole fund raising project. I guess that was a bit naive on my part since there is almost always a leader behind every great initiative. Makes me realize truly anything is possible for those who put their minds toward specific goals. It’s obvious to me Brett is both passionate and a “doer” – hence the reason he’ll never struggle to receive help in this world. If only there were more young people like him in this world.

Thank you for your great work Brett!

Even though this is my 3rd post in a row highlighting articles by Sloane Berrent, her “Determination for Education” post on the Kiva Fellows Blog is simply too good not to mention here; such a powerful story that sheds some light on the importantance of education in the developing world.

Please read the whole post — I know you’ll be glad you did.

I first came across Sloane Berrent a month or two ago on Twitter as a result of her tweeting about Kiva. Anyway, I’ve added her blog, The Causemopolitan, to my Google reader and read it when I have time. I read Sloane’s Day in the Life of a Kiva Fellow post today and came away extremely impressed with the use of voice in her writing. Here’s an excerpt:

5:30PM – Wrap up field visits and travel back to Branch. I’m emotionally exhausted from the day. The women open up to me about their lives and their lives haven’t always been great. When I see tears welling in their eyes telling me how much microfinance and the opportunity to have a business means to them, what the women in their Center mean to them, how their lives are different, it’s enough to shake you to your core. Or if I’ve found out a women didn’t use her loan the way she was supposed to, I’m exhausted from pushing for the truth.

She hooked me with the way her voice, feelings, and personality came through in the post (not just this excerpt, but the whole thing). I tend to gravitate toward reading bloggers who are passionate and intelligent. It’s apparent Sloane is both, so her blog will now get some more love amidst the noise in my reader.

I’ve said this to many people before, but if there is no voice in a blog, why the heck should I bother to read it? I can read information anywhere; a great voice can — and does — distinguish you from the rest.

Update: I also read this post and this one tonight. Both with extremely strong voice.

For those who have not blogged for a good cause, I’ll be the first to say you should (see here). For those like me who love both blogging and philanthropy, there’s not much better than blogging to help raise funds for a great cause — and I was alerted to the fact that I could do just that by writing a short blog post to help promote Wokai.org. I couldn’t resist, for three reasons:

1. It helps raise awareness for Wokai
2. Increases the chances that Wokai will win the $1,200 from “Blogging for a Cause“
3. I met Casey Wilson, the CEO and co-founder of Wokai, a few weeks ago for lunch and am convinced she is going to bring microfinance to China in a big way

For those unfamiliar with Wokai, here is some more info:

What is Wokai?

Wokai delivers an internet microfinance platform that allows individuals to provide Chinese microentrepreneurs with loan capital.  Our organization acts as an intermediary in this process, transferring funds from contributors abroad to microentrepreneurs in China through our field partners.

Who does Wokai support?

A typical Wokai microentrepeneur is a female rural inhabitant, living on less than $1/day.  Her microfinance loan, ranging from $150-$300 dollars, provides her with the capital to start a small business.  Her business varies by location, raising sheep in a rural grassland or operating a small fruit stand in a city center.

With her income, she accumulates savings, which allows her to allocate money towards long-term investments like education and health. By the end of her loan cycle, she has experienced increased financial independence, bolstered self-confidence, and a strengthened sense of community.

Learn more and contribute today at http://www.wokai.org.

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

Now, what are you waiting for? Blog for your favorite cause (or just blog about Wokai!) — only 5 days left in the competition!

Kiva.org used to enable you to share the fact that you funded a new loan on Facebook from the confirmation screen. I just funded 5 more loans tonight, and was going to share them on Facebook — but, as you can see on the screen shot below, the option is no longer there. Anyone know why they took the feature away?

…are posted over at myKRO. Check em out!