MADISONIANS CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Madison, WI – December 2006 — Kiva.org (www.kiva.org) uses the internet to give people in Madison

a unique opportunity to alleviate poverty in the developing world. Kiva lets individuals lend as little as

$25 to help fund small businesses run by low-income entrepreneurs around the world.

Kiva is holding a fundraising event in Madison, WI on Friday, January 26, 2007. This reception will

feature a panel discussion consisting of 3 of Madison’s leading businesspeople and the President of

Kiva.org. The panel will discuss social entrepreneurship, focusing on how local business leaders and

new technology are allowing organizations to do good while doing well. Panelists include:

o Tom Eggert, Adjunct Professor, UW-Madison School of Business (moderator)

o John Neis, Managing Director & Founder, Venture Investors of Wisconsin

o Mohan Warrior, President & CEO, Alfalight

o Toni Sikes, Founder & CEO, The Guild

o Premal Shah, President, Kiva

The event begins at 5pm on Friday, January 26, 2007. There will be a one-hour networking session

followed by a one-hour panel discussion. The event is being held at the Fluno Center (601 University

Ave.). All proceeds from the event will benefit Kiva (a registered 501c3). The suggested donation is

$20 and $15 for students. For easiest registration, please sign up online at

http://webpages.charter.net/rswiii/main.html. The event is being sponsored by the International

Professionals Association of Madison.

donations. Lenders can finance a woman in Uganda with a tailoring business, a man in Mexico selling

fruit, or a woman in Ecuador selling car parts. Most of the poor in the developing world are self

employed entreprenuers. A small amount of affordable capital can provide an entrepreneur with a

realistic opportunity to pull themselves and their family out of poverty.

Based out of Silicon Valley, Kiva is run by a team with experience in microfinance (Uganda, India,

Tanzania, etc) and technology (eBay/PayPal, TiVo, Google, MySpace, etc). Kiva expects to be a selfsustaining

501(c)(3) non profit operation by end of 2008.