Last week in Philadelphia, Advanta threw a party to celebrate the official launch of the KivaB4B program. It was official and it was fun. The food and drinks were flowing and Senerita and Senio, our honored guests from Samoa, performed a traditional Siva dance. In addition to Senio and Senerita, we had a truly royal showing. Dennis Alter, the Chairman/CEO of Advanta and Ami Kassar, the Chief Innovation Officer, joined forces to welcome both Matt Flannery, CEO/Founder of Kiva and Premal Shah, Kiva's President. Here's the red carpet photo of some of the VIP's.
From left to right:
Premal Shah, Senio and Senerita Mataomile, Dennis Alter, Karil Daniels and who's that uber-handsome guy on the far right??? Ami Kassar.
Although Karil and Senerita met earlier in the day (see the post below), the official meeting at the event was historic as it was the first time that a Kiva borrower came to the US to meet a Kiva lender.
Finally, the highlight of the evening for me was Advanta's presentation of a $100,000 check to Kiva. Not everyone realizes that Kiva takes no cut from the transactions between borrowers and lenders. They are a nonprofit dependent on external funding. I was thrilled to see the big check and enjoyed watching Premal fold it up and put it in his back pocket.
From left to right:
Premal Shah, Senio and Senerita Mataomile, Dennis Alter, Karil Daniels and who's that uber-handsome guy on the far right??? Ami Kassar.
Although Karil and Senerita met earlier in the day (see the post below), the official meeting at the event was historic as it was the first time that a Kiva borrower came to the US to meet a Kiva lender.
Finally, the highlight of the evening for me was Advanta's presentation of a $100,000 check to Kiva. Not everyone realizes that Kiva takes no cut from the transactions between borrowers and lenders. They are a nonprofit dependent on external funding. I was thrilled to see the big check and enjoyed watching Premal fold it up and put it in his back pocket.
Hello! I am a volunteer for the Kiva Philly group. I unfortunately was not at the B4B Launch Party, but I did get to see Senerita the next night at the PMC Reception. I am trying to get the Kiva Philly blog off the ground (kivaphilly.wordpress.com), and it would be really great if I could get a few minutes of Senerita's time for an interview. Is she still in the country? Are any of you guys traveling with her?
-Rabia
raaabia at mail dot com