Kiva U Toolkits

Kiva U: Microfinance Series



Whether you're planning for back to school or want to integrate some experiential learning into your curriculum throughout the year, Kiva's Microfinance Series is a great resource for you. It consists of three classroom lessons incorporating a variety of dynamic activities to help explore microfinance and the roles/connections of borrowers and lenders. 

 

Tap Into Your Power for Good: Group Activity with Video & Interview



We all have the capacity to change the world by changing even just one life for the better, and Kiva is a great and easy way to do just that - but there are so many more! Use this TEDx Talk on The Power of 'We' & How Technology Connects Us for Good and this accompanying activity and interview to guide your classroom, campus club or family and friends in exploring how you can tap into your own power for good!

 

Our Favorite Kiva Lesson-Plan!

The best classroom lessons that use Kiva to teach core competencies and more are created by truly innovative and amazing teachers. Different versions of this same fantastic lesson that teachers use to teach math, financial literacy, business development, social studies, georgrpahy, empathy, agency and so much more - have sprung up across the globe. From Hong Kong to San Francisco, educators are leading their students through lessons that can be as quick as an afternoon or as long as the school year, where they go full circle with Kiva and better understand what it is to borrow, to lend, and to run a (very) small business! Check it out and let us know if you have feedback, or better yet, your own lessons you’d like for us to share!

 

Kristen Goggin on Next Gen Personal Finance

One of the original innovative educators who brought Kiva into the classroom, Town School's Kristen Goggin, was recently interviewd for the Next Gen Personal Finance podcast. Check out how she uses Kiva to talk about empathy, math, and personal finance in her class here, and you can also check out her feature in Education Weekly!

PARENT ACTIVITY: 'Microloans Around the World' Coloring Book 
PARENT ACTIVITY: Save Spend Lend
 

Kiva U's Online Game - Global Impact!

    • Try your hand at 'Global Impact' by making loans, helping borrowers around the world get their businesses going and keeping yourself healthy and strong along the way! See how high you can score and how many borrowers lives you can change! Check out Volume 1 of our Global Impact Game Guide to help you and your kids/students dig deeper and learn more using this cool, interactive game and guide! 

Make Your Own Eternal Impact

  • Check out this short video about one classroom's experience changing lives with Kiva U!  
  • And this video celebrating Kiva U's first year accomplishments!
TOOLKITS

These resources contain everything you need to set up a team, motivate members, and spread the word to others about microfinance and Kiva.
 

Kiva 101: Poverty, Sustainable Development, Microfinance and Kiva

 

Bringing Kiva into the Classroom

Bringing Kiva to Your School: A Step by Step Guide!

William Ferriter Handouts: Beliefs & Rating Loans, Kiva Loan Questions and Persuasive Speech Organizer

Celebrate 10 Years of Kiva - Be the Spark!

Celebrate ten years of impact with Kiva. Use these great resources to help your school, class or club be the spark that changes the world.  Check out our activities for back to school by grade level:
Be the Spark (Elementary/Middle School)
Be the Spark (High School)
Be the Spark (University)

Exploring Non-Profits
Use this lesson plan to explore for-profit and non-profit organizations. Lead a classroom discussion on the difference and importance of both kinds of organizations and the role Kiva plays in the world of non-profits.

Fairness and Equality Toolkit
Explore the different types of inequality that exist globally. How do these inequalities play out within the financial sector?  Use this lesson plan to explore how microlending can have an impact on addressing inequality.


Poverty:

Help Eradicate World Poverty on Oct 17! The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is on Tuesday, October 17th. Use this great activity to better understand and reflect on the impact of poverty and the importance of its eradication with your parents, children, students, and friends. 

Refugees:

World Refugee Day 2018: Let's Stand with Refugees This World Refugee Day! Join us this World Refugee Day in celebrating the strength, courage and resilience of the more than 65 million people around the world, displaced but conflict and insecurity. Use this activity to talk to children about the challenges refugees face, and use this facilitator's guide to lead them through the lesson. Take it to the next level by supporting a refugee with a loan (request promo codes at KivaU@kiva.org which are each worth $25) and change the future for them, their families, and their communities! #refugees #worldrefugeeday #standwithrefugees

World Refugee Day 2017: Celebrate World Refugee Day with us on June 20th by exploring how people become refugees and what we can do to support them with this great activity. You can also check out Kiva's World Refugee Day campaign and Fund here. 

My Story: A Refugee's Journey from Tibet (Jan 2017) This beautiful story provides a glimpse into an amazing childhood that includes a journey across the Himalayas and growing up at a refugee school. It shows that no matter how difficult life may seem, there is kindness and beauty all around. Parents and teachers, use this story to explore the life of a Tibetan refugee, to reflect on your own gratitude, and to explore Kiva as a tool to offer support and opportunities to others around the world. (Jan 2017) (photo credit: Tibetan Children's Village)

Family:

Celebrate Family with Kiva this May & June! Mother's Day is celebrated in the US in May and Father's Day in June. Join us with this rich activity in exploring the concept and connection of family around the world with Kiva!

The Power of Love: Lesson & Activity for Families (Feb 2017) Check out this fantastic activity created for parents and families to reflect on this month that is dedicated to love and compassion, and to use the Kiva platform as a tool to build empathy and give some love. 

Finance:

What Does $1 Billion in Change Look Like?: Kiva is approaching an incredible milestone! What started out as a wild, innovative idea over 11 years ago, has now impacted over 2.4 million borrowers around the world with almost $1 billion in life-changing loans. Check out this activity to learn about the evolution of Kiva, what makes it work, and what we as a community have done - together, and keep track of how close we are getting to hitting the billion dollar mark here. Thank you for making #1BillionInChange possible!

April is the Month of Microfinance (2017)! One month every year we join together to really recognize the importance and impact of microfinance on people's lives around the world. Check out this fantastic activity to better understand and share how crucial it is to lend to those the banks won't lend to. 

Food:

World Food Day Is on October 16th! World food day is around the corner! Invite your children, students, families, and friends to explore and understand food system. Use this great activity to reflect on various issues like how farmers bring food to your tables, global food security, hunger and poverty.

World Food Day Activities (World Food Day 2016)

Water:

Celebrate World Water Day, March 22nd, 2017 No matter who you are, water is an essential part of life for you, but less than 1% of the water on Earth is fit for human consumption. Use this activity to examine your own water usage and that of your family, and use Kiva to explore how everyday people can help get clean water to people around the world.

Clean Water for All this Fall: United Nations Day is quickly approaching and you can invite your children or your students to explore one of the UN's goals for a healthy planet: having enough clean water to meet our needs! Use this great activity to think deeply and critically about this important issue that impacts all of us every day. 

Gratitude & Empathy:

Gratitude and Empathy Classroom Activities (Thanksgiving/Holidays 2015)

Gratitude & Empathy with Kiva (Holiday 2016) Thanksgiving and the holidays are excellent times to reflect on the things and people for which we are most grateful. Use our Gratitude & Empathy activities with your class, friends or family in thinking about these and use Kiva to explore if the things and people you're thankful for are shared by people around the world. Gratitude & Empathy (for the classroom; K-12+);  Gratitude & Empathy (Friends & Family)

Explore Gratitude & Empathy with Kiva for the Holidays!

This holiday season, reflect on the things you are most grateful for and show gratitude towards others by taking action to change lives. Use our Gratitude & Empathy activity in your home or classroom, and use Kiva to explore how the things you're most grateful for are meaningful and important to people all around the world.

Gender:

Join the conversation around International Women's Day!

International Women's Day 2018: Classroom Activity Join hundreds of classrooms around the world who will be discussing women and gender equality this March in honor of International Women's Day (on March 8th) with this amazing lesson that reflects on incredible women in history, on the Kiva platform and in our own lives.  #BeBoldForChange #InvestInHer

The Power of Gender Equality: Lesson & Activity for Families (International Women's Day 2017) International Women's Day is elebrated on March 8th, but we are talking about women and gender all month long! Use this eye-opening activity to talk about gender and equality in your family. 

Gender Equality and Women's Day Classroom Activities (International Women's Day 2016)

Join the International Women's Day celebration by incorporating this engaging lesson plan about identity and gender equality (along with its accompanying presentation) into your classroom. In the lead up to March 8th, educators around the world will explore gender equality and women's rights with their classrooms. Take part in this important conversation and take action with your classroom. #equality #investinwomen

Environment:
Earth Day is around the corner (April 22nd)! Use Kiva U's Earth Day lesson plan to engage your students in a conversation about pollution and what actions they can take to make both local and global impact. It encourages students to read and analyze articles about pollution, collaborate in teams, and take action with Kiva this Earth Day. #EarthDay2018 #TheFutureisGreen #EcoKids

Learn More

Poverty, Financial Inclusion & Kiva
 

Additional Resources

Learn more about our partners and the work they do to support entrepreneurs around the world and help put an end to global poverty. 

SAGE: Our friends at the fantastic global education travel company SAGE helped Kiva U students from two schools to learn about microfinance first-hand in Guatemala. Learn more about their 2015 summer adventure here. 

Lend for America: This is a non-profit organization that supports university students in facilitating microfinance to entrepreneurs in their own communities. Check out their website and their excellent Campus Microfinance Starter-Kit.

+Acumen: Our friends at +Acumen are also working to help support the newest generation of leaders in social innovation. Check out their free courses online. There's an exciting one on financial sustainability coming up.

Ashoka: The team at Ashoka has created a course in empathy. By completing this free course, you will gain tips and ideas from schools, entrepreneurs, and experts on how to instill empathy in children and prepare them for the road ahead.

Girl Rising: Educating girls can change the world, but there are still millions of girls who never get that opportunity. Girl Rising is a film and a movement, and also features fantastic educator resources, available here. 

BYU: A group of university students from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah surveyed and experimented with coordinating a Kiva U event on their campus. They collected their learnings and tips for success in this helpful video guide and slideshow. 

University of Agder, Norway: What would you do with an extra $25? Buy a new shirt? A nice meal? A group of MBA students from the University of Agder created this video offering a different perspective of what $25 is worth and how a small loan can support families around the world. 

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: In their 2014 annual letter, the Gates cover 3 myths that block progress for the poor.  

What works in ending poverty?  Here is an article from BRAC with a new apporach to help the ultra-poor move to a place of sustainable livelihoods in 24 months. 

The Kiva Store: Get some Kiva gear here or email us at KivaU@kiva.org for Kiva U materials (stickers, pencils, flyers, and more!) 

Better World Education (BWE): This non-profit envisions a future where all youth practice empathy and social change while also learning math and literacy.

BWE writes "Better World Ed (BetterWorldEd.org) is on a mission to help you(th) love learning about self, others, and our world. Social, Emotional, and Global Learning.

Better World Ed creates Learning Journeys: Kits of videos, short stories, and lesson plans about unique humans from all over our home (Earth). The Videos hook students on curiosity before judgment. The Stories make math and literacy real-world and relevant. The Lesson Plans make learning joyous and experiential.

Together, we can help you(th) to become compassionate and mindful leaders. To reweave the fabric of our communities. To move from head to heart. To be peace. To be love. To Be WE."