Add a Statement of Values to the Kiva website

[Guest]

.

[JohnAtKiva]

Hi to you too Richard! 

I'll have to read up on equal access.  What kind of "irrelevant exclusionary criteria" did you have in mind in the context of microfinance/loans?

In terms of cruelty/animal treatment - I'm definitely aware of the cockfighting debates that have gone on.  Thanks to everyone who has reached out to bring me up to speed on the subject!

Regarding Kiva's core values and guiding principles... I'd love to hear your thoughts on the mission statements and beliefs here:
http://www.kiva.org/about

Is that section new to the site?  I just noticed that this thread was started in 2008...

[RichardF]

John, broadly speaking, we all know microfinance fills the gap for people who are underserved by traditional financial institutions (banks) simply because those institutions have unfounded discriminatory policies (“irrelevant exclusionary criteria”) against serving them.  This has been proven repeatedly by MFIs like Kiva’s Field Partners and people like the Field Partners’ Borrowers.

As far as Kiva loans go, I’m referring to the lending platform.  If a loan is not Raised, then I consider any condition that prevents a potential lender from funding a portion of that loan within a reasonable period of time (to me, that’s a few minutes at most) to be based on “irrelevant exclusionary criteria.”

As far as the mission statement goes, that’s the reason why I lend through Kiva.  As far of the beliefs and what Kiva promotes, I support them as well.  I do have to admit, however, that I don’t recall reading them before, and I have no idea how long they have been on the website.  I can’t tell by looking there. 

In the context of recent Kiva Friends conversations about possible ways to improve Kiva’s operations, perhaps what I’m looking for at this point is more along the lines of operationalizing those statements in more specific terms, such as guiding principles and design specifications.

For example, based on what’s posted at http://www.kiva.org/about, what can be concluded about whether/how Kiva should implement relationships and features such as these?

• Acceptance of contributions from potential financial benefactors
• Loans to people living in economically developed countries
• Loans to people involved in bloodsports
• Lending platform cash flow, accounting and reporting system
• Lending platform listings introduction and removal timetables, quantities, diversity, and accessibility

I'm not at all confident I can predict how Kiva will adapt its operations, or even guess what's currently or soon to be on its to-do list based on that page.

John, back at you, how will Kiva use those statements to determine how it will respond to whatever recommendations that emerge from the upcoming round of consensus-building discussions you plan to encourage at Kiva Friends?

[JohnAtKiva]

If a loan is not Raised, then I consider any condition that prevents a potential lender from funding a portion of that loan within a reasonable period of time (to me, that’s a few minutes at most) to be based on “irrelevant exclusionary criteria.”

Ah ok, thanks - that helps clarify things a lot for me!

I do have to admit, however, that I don’t recall reading them before, and I have no idea how long they have been on the website.  I can’t tell by looking there. 

I'm not sure when the current version of that about page was put up... but it looks like it was after June 2008:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.kiva.org/about

In the context of recent Kiva Friends conversations about possible ways to improve Kiva’s operations, perhaps what I’m looking for at this point is more along the lines of operationalizing those statements in more specific terms, such as guiding principles and design specifications.

Got it.  My initial focus will be on getting increasing the quantity and quality of information on the site... but after that, I'd like to start hashing specifics out as a community. :-)

It will take some time to wrap up my Information related work though... so in the meantime, I'm asking questions and learning everything I can. :-)

I'm not at all confident I can predict how Kiva will adapt its operations, or even guess what's currently or soon to be on its to-do list based on that page.

My overall priorities are along these lines:

1) Make sure the information currently on the Kiva website is as accurate and timely as possible.
2) Find ways to make it easier for the experts at Kiva (i.e. not me) post information on partner pages and also get in front of the lender community.
3) Dig into some of the questions raised around Kiva's values and processes.
4) Work together with Kiva's larger lenders to identify their needs, and present our joint findings to Kiva's product team to help guide their efforts.

All along, I'll be asking questions and learning as much as possible... so that when I get past the basic priorities (#1 and #2), I'll be in a better position to ask questions and collaborate with the community.

John, back at you, how will Kiva use those statements to determine how it will respond to whatever recommendations that emerge from the upcoming round of consensus-building discussions you plan to encourage at Kiva Friends?

I'm still working on the first few priorities, around improving the information on the Kiva website.  But I can honestly say that the concepts of Dignity, Accountability and Transparency are values that Kiva aspires to live up to.  If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't have taken this job.

That said, good intentions are nice... but they are just the beginning.  My goal is to help Kiva live up to those good intentions!

[RichardF]

John, thanks for your candor. I just have one question of clarification. 

What do you mean by, "get in front of the lender community"?

[JohnAtKiva]

What do you mean by, "get in front of the lender community"?

I haven't quite figured out the details just yet. :-)

I was just amazed when I sat down with the microfinance team and got to learn a bit about them.  The team is really diverse and hard working, and many of them speak multiple languages and grew up all over the world.  I am just a city mouse, and so it was really inspiring to me to learn that a team of passionate and multi-lingual globetrotters were traveling the world to make Kiva happen.

In that moment of realization, it just struck me that we should give our lenders a chance to talk to these guys about the work they do for Kiva.  I think the Partnerships team could learn a lot from our lenders, and possibly vice versa as well.

I haven't quite figured out what form that communication might take - in the beginning, it will probably be in the form of interviews and blog posts.  Over time, maybe something more interactive?  It will take some time to figure out the details, but that's what I meant by "getting [the experts at Kiva] in front of the lender community"!

[RichardF]

Thanks for the clarification.  I'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble finding any number of lenders to interact with the microfinance team.  I'm also sure you can find among the lenders quite a committed, worldly, multinational, multilingual group of globe trotters as well!