Kiva President, Premal Shah, speaks at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting!

October 6, 2011

By: Christine Ness

In 2005, President Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in an effort to build partnerships among world leaders from a variety of backgrounds with the ultimate goal of creating a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values.

To fulfill the action-oriented mission of CGI, all members devise practical solutions to global issues through the development of specific and measurable Commitments to Action. To date, CGI members have made more than 1,900 commitments valued at $63 billion, which have already improved the lives of nearly 300 million people in more than 170 countries.

CGI’s Annual Meetings bring together heads of state, government and business leaders, scholars, and NGO directors. Participants analyze pressing global challenges, discuss the most effective solutions, and build lasting partnerships that enable them to create positive social change.

Premal Shah, Kiva President

Kiva’s President, Premal Shah, was invited to speak at a topic dinner as part of this year’s CGI Annual Meeting which was held in New York from September 20th-22nd. The theme of the dinner was “Women + Technology: A 21st Century Solution” and the dinner discussion focused on ideas for using the power of technology to overcome obstacles to women’s advancement. Premal spoke about the great potential for technology to enhance women’s use of financial services. He shared stories of exciting new systems such as “M-PESA”, a mobile phone-based money transfer service that dismantles barriers to women’s use of microfinance.

Other notable speakers at the dinner included Dr. Madeline Albright, former United States Secretary of State, and Kiva supporter. We are excited to note that Dr. Albright has taken the time to contribute a clip to our “Why I Kiva” project. Check out Dr. Albright’s clip here!