Author, investor, speaker, and entrepreneur Jessica Jackley discusses creative solutions to poverty

By Jackson Stimmler ‘21, Global Scholar candidate

Jessica Jackley, entrepreneur, investor, author, and speaker, visited Poly’s Upper School on Nov. 18, to discuss creative solutions to poverty. Jackley, who teaches a social entrepreneur class at USC, is best known as a co-founder of Kiva, a p2p micro-lending website, and her 2015 book, “Clay Water Brick: Finding Inspiration from the Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least.” Serving as a chief impact officer at Aspiration, Jackley helps customers align their social values with their spending.

Jackley began the presentation by explaining that she wanted to be the opposite of a businessman or entrepreneur throughout her early life. “The more you think about money, the more you go down a moral slope," she said. She attended Bucknell University, studying philosophy, political science, and poetry — none of which seemed to catch her interest. After struggling to find a career that interested her at the college career fair, Jackley chose to attend Stanford Business School to earn her master’s degree in business administration. After graduating from Stanford in 2007, she began an office job that didn’t feel quite right. Jackley wanted to experience her efforts by helping people face to face. She did not feel she was learning about the people with whom she was working because she was not working with them directly. She identified this stage of her life as a low point.

Jackley decided to attend a presentation by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus to gain an insight into the microcredit theory, which she initially thought was a scam. However, the next couple of hours changed her life as she learned about microfinancing, microcredit, and micro-savings accounts. Microfinance interested Jackley, and she soon made a decision that would affect the rest of her life: She packed her belongings, quit her job, and flew to Africa to volunteer. She wanted to listen to people and to gain insights face to face, so she began by interviewing citizens who had received grants. She found that just $100 allowed ordinary civilians to launch their business and then get a loan instead of a grant. While in Africa, Jackley met a man named Patrick, who made clay bricks for a quarter of a penny. Her book “Clay Water Brick: Finding Inspiration from the Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least” was written primarily about Patrick. Jackley noticed that people showed generosity and didn’t always ask her to give, but instead provided her with an abundance of material for her work.

Jackley’s plan to create a website to help those in poverty began in 2005, but grew steadily over the next 10 years. She recalled Kiva started slowly with her grandmother handing her cash to give to someone else to start up their business. Kiva works by donating money to an entrepreneur across the globe to help him or her start a business with the satisfaction of getting back the original investment money. Kiva’s motto is “loans that change lives.” To Jackley’s amazement, Kiva great significantly and reached the billion-dollar mark in loans just a couple of months back. Kiva taught Jackley that everyone can do something to help someone else. One of her favorite quotes is, “Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.” She also presented three words that are vital in helping others: connection, conviction, and commitment.

Poly history teacher Jose Melgoza, who attended her presentation, commented, “Jessica Jackley had a remarkably powerful message, a message that sometimes Poly students tend to miss. To make a difference in the world, you have to devote yourself, be passionate, and be willing to make mistakes, which Jessica proved with her extraordinary life story. Jessica has made a massive impact in the world and has inspired many because she did not follow the traditional path.” Jackley has made a significant impact in our world and shows students all across the globe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it with her marvelous life story. The enlightened audience left with new ideas about how to mitigate poverty.
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