It all started in Cape Town, SA. As a junior in college, I left for a semester abroad with no idea what to expect; I knew I wanted to spend time somewhere entirely new and away from the college scene but didn’t anticipate how affected I would be by the people and environment of Africa. After months spent teaching HIV/AIDS in poverty stricken townships and organizing efforts to raise awareness regarding sexual violence in townships, I returned to the states with a new found passion for economic development.
With new focus, I spent the following summer interning in the international dept of the American Red Cross. With high expectations for being intimately involved with international aid efforts, I quickly discovered that large aid organizations, despite the best of intentions, often suffer from bureaucracy and red tape. The summer ended up being a learning experience, albeit not in the way I had originally expected. Economic development seminars during my senior year of college reinforced the hard lesson I had learned the summer before: traditional aid practices were easily tainted by bureaucracy and ineffectiveness, on both the end of the recipient and the receiver.
While I knew I still wanted to affect change in the long run, my brief foray into the non profit world had emphasized that traditional non profits may not be the most effective method. Instead of continuing in the non profit world, I accepted an offer at a sales and marketing management consulting firm following college. By working in the traditional for-profit world, I hoped to gain business acumen and a tangible skill set necessary to succeed yet often lacking in traditional non profit organizations. In retrospect – now having been in consulting for two years – I have no doubt that the decision to work in business was a wise one. I’ve been able to hone my analytical skills while also gaining invaluable public speaking and client interaction skills. Unfortunately, I’ve also come to realize that the end goal of one’s work is important; knowing that I will be spending the day helping Fortune 500 companies gain market share or increase efficiency doesn’t provide much inspiration to jump out of bed every morning. While I want to leverage the skills from the business world towards a better cause, I want to be sure to do so in an effective way. Microfinance, utilizing bottom up approaches instead of the traditional top down methods, does just this by allowing those in need to help themselves towards economic stability.
Kiva is the perfect next step. A Kiva fellowship would allow me to continue working in an environment requiring independence and self motivation but with an underlying goal and mission I am passionate about. I’ve spent time learning how successful organizations operate and I am ready to leverage the skills of the business world towards creating successful microfinance partnerships and contributing to Kiva’s mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment