In relending my repaid Kiva loans today I had to marvel again at the organization’s commitment to transparency and responsible stewardship.  In my view, these qualities form a large part of what it means to be a leader these days, and few social profit organizations exhibit them consistently.  Two things I came across today reminded me of Kiva’s leadership.

In browsing my lending options, I came upon a field partner profile of an MFI in Nicaragua which is apparently having some delinquency issues.  The delinquency rate for the Kiva loans issued by CEPRODEL is currently a high 51.52% and its risk rating is a low two-out-of-five stars.  Kiva has done an excellent job of explaining why this is, from its initial downgrade of CEPRODEL’s risk rating in June after an on-site assessment, through the impact of the “No Pago” (“I Won’t Pay”) movement in Nicaragua, through deteriorating economic conditions and Kiva’s collaborative effort with CEPRODEL to refund some of the loans.  This rigorous commitment to transparency and good stewardship is refreshing.

I also happened to come across a post on the Kiva Fellows blog which gives a peek into what all this microfinance stuff actually looks like on the ground.  In this post, Jenny Jin, a member of the 11^th class of Kiva Fellows, shares a video clip she recorded during her time with the MFI KADET in Western Kenya.  The video shows a KADET employee explaining the Kiva model to prospective borrowers.  I have worked in the international development sector (albeit from here in DC) for over a year now, and this sort of raw, personal glimpse of the “front lines” is, again, refreshing amidst the typical glossy reports containing their disproportionate share heavily edited success stories.

Now, it’s not that Kiva has not run into trouble with respect to transparency in the past.  I remember the controversy almost exactly a year ago when David Roodman of the Center for Global Development called Kiva out on the fact that its explanation of the lending model was less-than-forthcoming.  But Kiva’s co-founder, Matt Flannery, replied quickly, honestly, and publicly, responding to concerns and committing to change.  I liked Roodman’s admiration of the “grace, humility, and quiet confidence” that Flannery exhibited.  He’s right when he says that “the world would be a much better place if all charities, all organizations for that matter, were as open and responsive to criticism as Kiva has been.”  As I recall the grace and constructiveness of the Roodman-Kiva exchange, I again can’t help but note how—and I apologize in advance—refreshing it is in comparison to the irritatingly juvenile spats that Bill Easterly and his Aid Watch blog are currently waging with the development community on the topic of transparency (if you feel like switching gears from Roodman’s NPR to the Bill O’Reilly that Easterly’s blog is in comparison, view highlights of the quarrel here, here, here and here).

So, reminded of my appreciation for Kiva’s outstanding character, I re-lent my repaid capital (proud to say it brought my lending team’s totals to 67 loans for a total value of $2,075).  This time I decided to try lending to a soap manufacturing operation in Senegal, a clothing sales entrepreneur in Iraq, and both agriculture and secretarial services businesses in Rwanda, a country that my work will more intimately involve this year.  I had just enough Kiva credit for the loans, a donation to Kiva for operating costs and a Kiva gift certificate for a friend.