Jessica Jackley

What do brick makers, basket weavers, farmers, fishermen, seamstresses, shopkeepers, shepherds, and so many other hardworking entrepreneurs have to teach us about resilience? Hope? Resourcefulness? Purpose?

What do these incredible individuals have to teach our organizations—from nonprofits to small businesses to the Fortune 500s—about fostering creativity? Managing risk? Rapidly innovating? Prioritizing what matters most?

Highlighting stories and lessons from her recent book Clay Water Brick, Jackley presents a powerful keynote that proposes new, unique business wisdom and reframes existing best practices in atypical, thought-provoking ways.

Bright, energetic, and unapologetically optimistic about the power of entrepreneurship to change the world, Jackley offers a refreshing and deeply inspiring perspective relevant to a wide range of organizations and individuals.

Kiva is one of the fastest-growing, most successful social ventures in history. Since its founding in 2005, Kiva has facilitated over $850M in loans to entrepreneurs in the world’s poorest communities, connecting people across 216 countries. And it continues to grow. In the for-profit world, $1B companies are often called “unicorns”—Jackley is one of only a handful of people in the country who can speak to the experience of starting a “unicorn” in the social sector.

Jackley shares the inspiring, circuitous, and unlikely story of Kiva’s founding; its hyper-rapid growth; and navigating inevitable twists and turns along the path to success. Each lecture is tailored, but some lessons she’s shared in the past include:

·     Harnessing the power of social media for social change
·     Getting to Oprah with zero marketing budget
·     Earning the influencers: when President Clinton becomes your ambassador (without being asked!)
·     Handling the tough stuff, from fraud to other failures
·     Navigating hyper-rapid growth (200x in four years) while maintaining core values
·     How to be heard among the noise: crafting a bold, beloved online presence
·     Embracing radical transparency
·     Nurturing a culture of trust across diverse, decentralized teams
·     Inspiring co-creation with and within your community

 Based on her core conviction that relationships are the most powerful force for change, Jackley shows us how to build unstoppable web momentum that translates into positive real world action.

In this talk, Jessica Jackley shares the inspirational path that led her, just after graduation, to create Kiva. It’s a story of unorthodox beginnings, surprising growth, and the unprecedented social change that has revolutionized a worldwide microlending movement. Jackley drew on an unlikely background—studying philosophy and art; seeing microfinance firsthand in Africa; earning an MBA while launching Kiva—to become one of the world’s leading female entrepreneurs. And though Kiva's successes can be measured in many ways, Jackley reminds students that Kiva’s most important contribution has been in the minds and the hearts of the thousands of lenders and borrowers who use the site. This connection, based on dignity and respect, is crucial in whatever you dedicate yourself to.

Enthusiastic, grounded, and very relatable, she helps students realize that they, too, can spend their lives doing meaningful work, synthesize their skills to do what they love, design an extraordinary career, and, most importantly, build a truly meaningful life by working entrepreneurially—in any field—in the service of others.