Meet Jessica Jackley

© Epic, 2010

Prized for Co-Founding Kiva and ProFounder

"The stories we tell about each other matter very much."

Jessica Jackley majored in philosophy and political science.  She never expected to change the world--especially through business.  However, attending a lecture by Muhammad Yunus was all it took to change that.  For the first time, she was introduced to the concept of microfinance, a system of providing small loans and other banking services to the poor...and she loved it.

In fact, Jessica was so excited about microfinance that she quit her job to spend three months working for Village Enterprise Fund in East Africa.  Her job was to interview microloan recipients to evaluate how the loans had impacted their lives. The results were impressive, and she was thrilled to see the dignity that microfinance programs offered to these otherwise-ignored entrepreneurs.  

When Jessica returned to the US, she wanted to make microfinance available to more would-be borrowers.  In the spring of 2004, Jessica and Matt Flannery founded Kiva, the world's first peer-to-peer microlending website.  Here's how it works: anyone can go to the website, browse entrepreneur stories and pictures, chose a cause, and make a $25 loan.  Simple but revolutionary.  

As of today, Kiva has loaned an impressive $175,365,825 to 455,859 entrepreneurs in 54 countries. The current repayment rate is 98.99%.  With Kiva running successfully, Jessica has moved on to another exciting project.  She is the founder and CEO of ProFounder, a website that provides an online platform to help small entrepreneurs in the U.S. raise start-up cash.

Sources:
Jessica Jackley's TED Profile
Kiva Website 
Profounder Website


Check Out This Video:
Jessica Jackley: Poverty, Money--and Love (TED Video)

Meet Paul Farmer

© Epic, 2010

Prized for Co-Founding Partners in Health

"This could be very simple: the well should take care of the sick."

Between his undergraduate studies and medical school, Paul Farmer decided to spend one year in Haiti learning about the local people and their health care systems.  During his his time at Duke, he had met many Haitian farmers as he visited tobacco plantations and migrant labor camps not far from the university.  After seeing their awful living conditions in the US, reading all he could about Haiti, and writing papers on Haitian topics, Paul was ready to see the country for himself.

Paul remembers a poignant moment while volunteering at a hospital in Haiti.  He was speaking with a doctor who was about to return to the US.  The doctor was a good man who loved the Haitian people, but he couldn't wait to get out of Haiti and back to his home.  "I realized, hearing him talk, that something had happened to me already," Paul later reflected.  "He was leaving Haiti, really leaving in body and mind, and I realized I was going to have trouble with that."  Later that same day, Paul frantically gathered money to pay for a blood transfusion to treat a pregnant woman with a severe case of malaria.  Despite his efforts, the money was too little too late.  The woman died.  Paul determined then to build his own hospital in Haiti, one that cared for Haiti's poor without regard to payment.

In 1984, Paul returned to the Harvard University to begin joint degrees in anthropology and medicine.  But he couldn't stay away from Haiti, even while working on two doctorate degrees.  Somehow he managed to start the Clinique Bon Sauveur in 1985 in Haiti, while still securing impressive grades at Harvard.  

In 1987, as he continued working towards his degrees, Paul co-founded Partners in Health or PIH, an initiative originally created to support health-related activities in Cange, Haiti.  PIH built clinics and schools, provided training for health care workers, organized mobile screening units, and  researched health issues in rural Haiti.  The organization's mission is both medical and moral: whatever it takes, meaning that when a person is sick, PIH is committed to use any and all means at their disposal to make the person well.  "Just as we would do if a member of our own family--or we ourselves--were ill," explains PIH's website.   

Today PIH has expanded to become a global health care system for the poor.   As of 2009, the organization boasts 49 health centers and hospitals in 11 countries with 11,000 employees committed to doing whatever it takes.

Sources
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Partners in Health Website

Check Out This Video
Paul Farmer's This I Believe Video

Meet Liu Xiaobo

© Epic, 2010

   Prized for Fighting for Human Rights in China

"The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer." -- Charter 08

When Liu Xiaobo was announced as this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, most of the world scratched their heads.  But not in China.  Furious Chinese authorities quickly censored the incoming news, broke up local celebrations, and placed Liu's wife under house arrest.  Then China issued a statement reprimanding the Nobel Committee for their "desecration" of the prestigious award.

Though less known outside of China, Liu is a well-known literary critic and activist within his country.  He was a professor for many years at Beijing Normal University.  Since Liu's involvement in the nonviolent Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, he has been a strong spokesperson in calling for freedom of speech, democratic elections, and constitutional reform.  He has been sent to prison or labor camps four times for his political activism.  When he isn't in jail, Liu is often under government surveillance or house arrest.  

Liu is currently two years into an eleven-year prison sentence.  The charge?  Inciting subversion of state power.  He was arrested just days before the publication of Charter 08, a document in which he and others called for greater human rights in China. 

Today Liu's future remains uncertain, but we applaud him "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."  

Sources

Pen American Center Website
Nobel Prize Website
China's Charter 08 (Translated)
NPR: Chinese Dissident Liu Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Check Out This Video
Nobel Peace Prize Announcement

Meet Wendy Kopp

© Epic, 2010

Prized for Founding Teach For America

"When people think the issue can be solved, it becomes a moral imperative to be part of the solution." 

As Wendy Kopp neared college graduation, she still had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.  Desperately, she started searching for job opportunities. Though she hadn't previously considered teaching, Wendy decided that she wanted to spend time teaching in New York City.  But it wasn't that simple.  She soon discovered that trying to figure out how to land a teaching job in NYC was like trying to get through a maze. This difficult process led Wendy to ask an important question: Why don't we recruit people to teach in low-income communities as aggressively as people are being recruited to work on Wall Street?

Wendy became convinced that many college graduates would be interested in making a difference through teaching if an effective teaching corps existed.  Passionate about this idea, Wendy devoted her undergraduate senior thesis to the topic.  In her thesis, she outlined a two-year teaching corps that would recruit, train, and place recent college graduates in low-income schools across the United States. 

In 1990, just one year after submitting her thesis, Wendy had raised $2.5 million dollars to officially launch Teach For America.  With the mission to eliminate educational inequity by involving top-graduates in the education process, Teach for America began with a  corps of 500 teachers working in six low-income communities.  

Two decades later, Teach For America has grown to become a widely recognized and respected organization.  Teaching corps positions are highly-coveted among college graduates: this year more than 46,000 people (including 12% of all Ivy League seniors) applied for about 5,000 positions.  Currently, Teach For America boasts a network of over 28,000 current teachers and alumni that are impacting more than 300,000 students each year. 

Sources

Teach For America Website

New York Times: Charisma?  To Her, It's Overrated

Good Q&A: Wendy Kopp

Economist Interview: Eight Questions for Wendy Kopp

Check Out This Video 

Wendy Kopp, 2006 McGraw Prize in Education Winner