This Holiday Season, lend $25 to a Student to help them achieve their Higher Ed Dreams.

This video pretty much makes me cry.



Lend a minimum of $25 here on Vittana. 100% of the money you lend through the Vittana website goes to the student, via two intermediaries - Vittana and a partner microfinance institution located in the student's own community. When the student repays the loan, the $25 comes back to you. For further details go here.

I blogged about one of Vittana's co-founders a while ago, here. Tonight I discovered that Vittana's Partnerships Manager, Nick Cane, is a former Kiva Fellow!

Kiva launched its own student loan program on Sept 20. Through the Student Microloans program, Kiva lenders can make a $25 loan to students in Bolivia, Paraguay and Ecuador.



The new program got off to a good start! Just saw this: "Today, Kiva.org posted profiles for 36 students, seeking a total of $19,250.00. We are currently on track to fund all of those loans in full, within 12 hours of being posted on the site," said Kiva president Premal Shah, in an email. "While this pilot is only a small step toward broadening access to student loan funding around the world, we plan to keep a close eye on the program's success in an effort to expand the organization's reach to a number of different countries and a larger group of students in need of funding."

I recently volunteered for one of Kiva's partner organizations located here in San Francisco - Opportunity Fund. Opportunity Fund serves as an intermediary between Kiva (and Kiva's lenders), and the clients. I called Opportunity Fund clients who had graduated from the savings program. Most of these clients had engaged in the savings program to finance higher education opportunities. Calling the clients to congratulate them on achieving their savings goals was a lot of fun!

In addition to Kiva, Opportunity Fund also works with another institution also offering higher education loans to students - Lumni. From the Lumni website: Individuals can invest in local students in a variety of ways including through a tax-deductible donation or by purchasing a low-interest note with a fixed return. In addition to the dual financial and social return of this investment, contributors are helping prove an efficient, sustainable new system for giving students access to college without the burden of a traditional student loan.

Lumni does not allow individuals to make small ($25) loans to students, but since I love what they are doing, I thought I'd mention them:) Also love that two members of the team are linked to Ashoka.

Here's how they work, and the story behind Lumni:



Lumni's business model reminded me of a thought-provoking discussion that took place at a March 3 event that I attended here in San Francisco, about Life Investments. Just something to think about! :)

2010 PopTech Social Innovation Fellows Program :: Apps due March 31

The PopTech Social Innovation Fellows program has quickly become an incredibly respected and competitive program for young social entrepreneurs. Now in its third year, the program brings 20 participants a year to Camden, Maine for a week of training, including participation in the annual PopTech Conference.


From Pop Tech:

Do you know someone with a big idea, a track record for high-impact results and a commitment to make the world a better place? If your answer is “yes,” then we would like to hear from you.

In the coming months we will be selecting up to 20 Social Innovation Fellows from around the world who are incubating transformative solutions to the world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges. Nominations are particularly encouraged in the fields of healthcare, energy, water, and the arts, as well as green materials, the environment and education.

Fellows will be selected based on their proven track record and their potential to generate high-impact and sustainable solutions. Check out the 2010 Call for Nominations for eligibility criteria, and see our 2008 and 2009 Fellows for great examples of what we look for.

The Social Innovation Fellows Program exemplifies PopTech’s longstanding commitment to the field of social innovation and highlights the importance of this sector in developing breakthrough solutions to some of the world’s most urgent challenges.

@ Yahoo! Video

We need your help as part of the PopTech network to identify the Class of 2010 — please nominate candidates now through the online nomination form.

Fellows may be nominated by another individual or organization, self-nominated, or nominated from within the PopTech network. The open nomination process closes on March 31, 2010.


YEAH! I've blogged about this 2008 fellow, before - didn't know he was a PopTech fellow - just stumbled upon it:)

Kushal Chakrabarti – Vittana Foundation
Seattle, WA
Education / Finance

Kushal Chakrabarti’s Vittana Foundation brings student loans to the developing world through the power of person-to-person micro-lending – eliminating barriers to education and providing a path to meaningful, productive employment. Building on the success of organizations like Kiva, Vittana partners with microfinance banks throughout the developing world to support and catalyze new student lending programs. By connecting socially-minded people around the world to students, Vittana enables more and more microfinance banks to begin lending for education.