Tuesday is my last day at Kiva! I'm working to wrap up all of my projects, and wanted to mention one old project that's come up.
I don't know if you guys remember the documentary on Professor Yunus and Grameen American that came out in a one-day release earlier this year. Premal from Kiva showed up in the documentary, as part of a panel with Professor Yunus. Definitely one of the highlights of my time at Kiva!
Afterwards, I went to a bar with a bunch of people who had watched the movie. What blew my mind is that almost everyone was talking about Kiva, and how they were going to join Kiva to participate in the microlending movement. It really opened my eyes that this movie could be a hugely powerful way to drive awareness of microlending.
However, that's only if the movie can get into a general release. The director of the movie let me know that getting into general release is going to require a bit more funds, which she's struggled to raise. So she's started a Kickstarter, which you can find here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gayle/to-catch-a-dollar-muhammad-yunus-banks-on-americaSpeaking as an individual, I'm going to be supporting this Kickstarter as I believe the documentary could really help drive awareness of microlending and of Kiva. The way Kickstarter works, there are pledges that earn different levels of rewards... and one of the rewards is coffee with Professor Yunus! That's out of my price range, but I'll definitely be attending the NY screening if anyone else is able to attend. More info here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gayle/to-catch-a-dollar-muhammad-yunus-banks-on-america