Overview

Why are you interested in becoming a Trustee?

Our program works with young entrepreneurs from the age of 17 to age 25. All of our entrepreneurs come from marginalized communities in one of the most economically distressed cities in the country. We believe that Kiva lenders can help decrease the capital gap for our entrepreneurs that we've worked with for multiple years.

What is the mission of your organization?

Equip African-American/Latinx students with 21st-century skills to create wealth.

Borrower Due Diligence

How will you decide who to endorse as a borrower? What due diligence will you conduct?

All potential borrowers will go through a multi-year, multi-step process. First, all borrowers must have completed our 6-month high school program where they are trained to launch an entrepreneurial idea with $1,000 in funding provided by our organization. Students have to learn how to market, budget, value differentiate, and pitch. Second, the students who completed the high school program have to go through a prototyping program where they design ideas and conduct customer feedback sessions. Students have to develop business models and prove the viability of their business ideas. Upon completion of these programs, students are eligible to engage with the Kiva platform. Our program will have multiple years worth of skill data and several checkpoints of accountability when deciding which borrowers to endorse.