We're so thrilled to be bringing Kiva to Newark, N.J.! Starting today, we'll be offering loans to hard-working entrepreneurs in the Newark area through Kiva Zip!
Zip is Kiva's pilot project to reach new types of borrowers in the U.S. and Kenya. Through Zip, anyone can endorse a deserving borrower to qualify for and raise a 0% interest loan on Kiva. These loans are made directly via mobile money and electronic payment systems, and borrowers and lenders can correspond during the term of the loan.
When you make a loan in Newark, you make so many great things happen:
- You support small businesses that would not be able to get a loan elsewhere. And small businesses create 2 out of every 3 jobs in the U.S.
- You help people who are more likely to employ people of color, women and marginalized groups.
- You jumpstart local economies, strengthening schools, communities, and social services that touch even more lives.
Shah and Booker with a Kiva Zip entrepreneur.
Shah announcing Kiva's partnership with Newark, Intersect Fund, and the Rita Allen Foundation.
Premal Shah and Mayor Cory Booker.
A lot of deserving borrowers don't qualify for loans from commercial banks. They can be denied for any number of reasons. Sometimes the amount they need is too small. Sometimes their business is too young and considered to be too risky no matter how strong the business plan. Occasionally their credit history is too short or has been damaged. At Kiva, we believe these entrepreneurs deserve a chance to make their dreams come true.
To get a loan through Kiva Zip, borrowers need passion, a plan, and people in their community who know and trust them. This is a recipe for success. And when small businesses do well, we all do well.
Some of these Kiva Zip loans are sourced from Intersect Fund, a nonprofit microlender that helps low-income individuals get the skills and resources they need to develop successful businesses and generate more income. Founded in 2009, the fund has helped make more than 300 loans to small business owners. Kiva is also working with the Rita Allen Foundation to find deserving borrowers. The organization invests in transformative ideas at early stages to address social needs and build stronger communities.
Newark joins Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Little Rock as the newest member of our Kiva City program.
You can make a difference in the small business landscape in the U.S. today.
MAKE A LOAN IN NEWARK NOW!
Have questions about Kiva Zip? About our program in Newark? Send them to blog@kiva.org.
