What's this all about?

(Note: everything I discuss below is from me as a private individual, not representing anything connected to EPA, the federal government, or anyone else.)

Microlending means lending small amounts (as small as $25) to entrepreneurs in poor areas of the world to help them get started. It can have big effects.

Kiva.org is a site that connects people who want to lend money with people who need it. They work through field partners. More info: microfinance | about kiva.org | how it works | Risks

Per my blog post (and this one) and the support I got for the initial idea from GovLoop founder Steve Ressler, I've created this Govloop group, which gives us a home to discuss potential groups to lend to, share knowledge and experience, etc.

There's also a GovLoop team on kiva, to capture the social aspect: if you tag your loans with the team, we can see how much good we're collectively doing. It's still your loan, your risk, and you getting repaid, but we can see what impact all GovLoop members have together.

Each month (or maybe more often f the loans get filled earlier), we'll choose a worthy group to recommend. If you want to lend to someone else, feel free, of course.

Want to help? Please read all the info linked above so you're completely informed.

Join kiva,org,join the golvoop team on kiva.org, then lend some money and choose to associate it with the govloop team, and the team will get credit.

The key thing to note is that joining the GovLoop group gives you a GovLoop home, but to have the team get credit for your loans on kiva, you also have to join the Govloop team there.