The Coca-Cola Foundation has announced its support for Change Make Her, a new five-year partnership with microloan nonprofit Kiva to improve financial access for under-represented entrepreneurs around the world.
The announcement was made at the Coca-Cola “Level the Playing Field” DEI Summit in Sydney as the company builds on its long legacy of support for the FIFA Women’s World CupTM. Coca-Cola continues to work with influential partners around the world in a broader push for progress for women and under-represented groups across business and society.
Kiva is best-known for its global lending platform, which provides a simple way to connect lenders with borrowers through crowdfunding microfinance. This is an effective strategy to help get loans to people who would not otherwise have access to commercial bank services.
Over the next five years, Change Make Her will act as a revolving loan fund, supporting entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia, South Pacific, Africa, Latin America and Europe across a number of impact areas, including sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, water and retail.
Saadia Madsbjerg, president of The Coca-Cola Foundation, said repayments from borrowers will return to the fund, allowing funding to be loaned and re-loaned to borrowers around the world. This structure will allow a $1.1 million grant in 2023 to have up to a $4.5 million impact on loan volume by 2028.
“We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Kiva, which goes beyond traditional forms of giving,” Madsbjerg said. “By joining forces with like-minded lenders and partners from around the world, the Change Make Her fund will enable us to lend, and relend, alongside thousands of others. It is a partnership based on a shared belief in the power of access to finance to uplift communities.
“Micro-enterprises are important contributors to job creation and global economic development,” Madsbjerg said. “We hope that in addition to directly supporting entrepreneurs, Change Make Her will create a ripple effect for generations to come as these entrepreneurs go on to create new jobs and drive prosperity in their communities.”
Over the past 17 years, Kiva has deployed over $2 billion to 4.7 million borrowers globally, more than any other crowdfunding platform. More than 80% of Kiva loans go to women, with a 96% repayment rate. In the Philippines, Kiva has provided loans of over $185,000 or nearly P10.5M to more than 587,000 borrowers across the country.
“Kiva is honoured to partner with The Coca-Cola Foundation in expanding our work of financial access through life-changing loans,” said Vishal Ghotge, CEO of Kiva. “Together, we will be able to serve thousands more individuals than we would be able to do alone, demonstrating the collective power of value-aligned organizational partnerships. We are grateful to The Coca-Cola Foundation for its commitment and look forward to working alongside one another as we continue to advance gender equity, refugee financial inclusion, and climate-smart solutions in communities across the globe.”
Over the last four decades, The Coca-Cola Foundation has supported many economic empowerment programs across the world, including the decade-long 5by20 program, which together with The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners, enabled the economic empowerment of over 6 million women.
Through the Change Make Her program, Coca-Cola employees will be able to help direct Kiva loans to entrepreneurs and directly engage in supporting The Coca-Cola Foundation’s mission. To find out more about Kiva’s platform, visit www.kiva.org.
