A conversation with
Jessica Jackley
Jessica Jackley is an entrepreneur, investor, and speaker best known as the co-founder of Kiva, the pioneering microfinance platform that helped introduce person-to-person lending to a global audience and reimagine access to capital for entrepreneurs around the world.
Through her work at Kiva, Jessica helped shape a new conversation around trust, dignity, and economic opportunity, challenging traditional assumptions about poverty, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship.
Today, Jessica serves as the CEO of VOW for Girls, a global movement working to end child marriage and create futures where every girl has the opportunity to choose her own path. Her work continues to center around human dignity, agency, and building systems that empower people rather than reduce them to problems to solve.
Jessica is also the author of Clay Water Brick, where she reflects on the lessons she learned from entrepreneurs living in some of the world’s most economically vulnerable communities and explores what they can teach us about leadership, resilience, and innovation.
Throughout her career, Jessica has worked at the intersection of business, philanthropy, and social impact, helping shape conversations around ethical entrepreneurship, storytelling, and the future of human-centered leadership.
In this conversation, Jessica will reflect on what it takes to scale impact without losing the person at the center of the mission, sharing insights on dignity, capital, leadership, and the evolving future of social entrepreneurship.
Join us for a thoughtful conversation on business, impact, and building organizations that value people as much as growth.