Microlending Makes its Mark in the U.S.

Tavis Smiley covered the subject of microlending over the past week on his radio program. This form of borrowing, usually more common in the developing World, has now found its way into the U.S. through the organization Kiva.org. Kiva allows lenders to seek out borrowers who want to start businesses that are promising and that lenders want to support.

Could this be used as a way to lift people out of poverty in this Country? Could it be used to help abandoned urban communities? I don't see why it couldn't.

Hear three segments on how microlending works, who it helps and why it is successful.

Segment One

Kiva President Premal Shah
KIVA.org's Premal Shah talks about his group's new push to bring microlending to credit-starved US entrepreneurs.

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Segment Two (discussion with a borrower)

Borrower Amanda Keppert
Kiva.org has been making a difference for years for borrowers in the developing world, by using the internet to hook them up with small scale lenders around the globe. The service is now available to US borrowers, and producer Mia Lobel has this profile of new Kiva borrower Amanda Keppert.

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Segment Three (discussion with a lender)

Lender Roland Allen
Roland Allen sits down with Tavis to talk about how he became a Kiva lender, and what spurred him to lend to Amanda.

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To learn more about Kiva and Microlending, go to Kiva.org