History 
The KIVA organization was co-founded by Matt and Jessica Flannery. The KIVA concept began as a personal project when Jessica took a 3 month trip to East Africa to conduct impact evaluation surveys for the Village Enterprise Fund. Jessica visited with entrepreneurs who used small grants to start a business.
Pictured is Neiva Lukavockic from Lukavac, Bisnia and Herzedovina. Nefija is a 34 year-old widow raising her two children on her own. She sells clothing at the local market and would like to use her loan to invest in increased inventory for her store.
The Leadership Institute makes donations to Neiva.
In 2006, an American traveler, Blake Mycosie of Arlington, Texas, visited Argentina and found that children had no shoes. Since the primary mode of transportations is walking, children have no protection from soil transmitted diseases which can penetrate the skin and can even cause death. In many cases, shoes are part of a requirement to attend school. 
Without shoes, children cannot attend school, and they miss the opportunity to realize their potential of change in their lives. TOMS business model is “One for One.” When you purchase a pair of shoes, TOMS donates a pair of new shoes to children in need. Since 2006, TOMS has donated over 600,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina.
page last updated 5/20/2013 1:14 PM