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About Jessica

Jessica Jackley Flannery | KIVA Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer | Board of Directors

Named as one of the top ideas in 2006 by the New York Times Magazine and called "revolutionary" by the BBC, Kiva (www.kiva.org) is the world's first online micro-lending marketplace for the working poor. Kiva lets internet users lend as little as $25 to specific developing world entrepreneurs, providing affordable capital to help them start or expand a small business. Kiva has been one of the fastest-growing social benefit websites in history, with thousands of people lending millions of dollars to entrepreneurs in over 50 developing countries.

In the midst of these successes, Kiva remains focused on a very simple idea: bringing people closer to each other. Kiva’s mission, “to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty,” and the idea that relationships are a powerful force for positive change, remain foundational for the organization’s strategy – and for Jessica Jackley Flannery’s life work.

Jessica grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from North Allegheny Senior High School in 1996. She went on to graduate with a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from Bucknell University in 2000, where she served as student body president.

Jessica moved to the Bay Area in 2001 and pursued her interests in the social sector with a project management role at Stanford’s Center for Social Innovation by day and – during evenings and weekends – as a live-in “house mom” and manager of New Creation Ministries, a home for underprivileged teenage mothers and their children. One of Jessica’s primary contributions at Stanford was the launch of the Global Philanthropy Forum, a gathering and ongoing community of international philanthropy leaders now in its 7th year.

In 2004, Jessica pursued her interest in international development by working in East Africa with Village Enterprise Fund, a nonprofit focused on microenterprise development and business training in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It was here that she saw the power and beauty of microfinance up close, through the entrepreneurs with whom she had the privilege to work. Their stories of success served as the inspiration for the creation of Kiva. In its beta round, Kiva raised $3,000 in funding for 7 individuals. In its first year, Kiva raised $500,000 in loans; in its second year nearly $17 mm had flowed through the site. Today, nearly $100,000 is loaned on the Kiva website every 24 hours.

Jessica has spoken widely on microfinance and social entrepreneurship, and her work with Kiva has been featured in a wide array of media and press including the Oprah, the Today Show, the BBC, NBC, ABC, PBS, CNN, NPR, the WSJ, NYTimes, the Economist, and more. To date, Jessica has studied microfinance firsthand in more than 35 countries around the world.

Jessica has worked in a variety of other organizations across the public, nonprofit, and private sector, including World Vision, Potentia Media, the International Foundation, Amazon.com, and others, and serves as an active board member with nonprofits in the Bay Area and internationally. She graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with her MBA in 2007, including Certificates in Public Management and Global Management.

Jessica is a trained yoga instructor, published poet, and mediocre (but dedicated!) surfer.

Watch an interview with Jessica about KIVA (Youtube.com)