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Premal Shah

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Premal Shah
EducationStanford University
OccupationCo-founder Kiva
Board member ofCenter for Humane Technology, Change.org Foundation, Watsi.org, VolunteerMatch
WebsiteKiva.org

Premal Shah is an Indian-American entrepreneur who co-founded Kiva, a global poverty alleviation non-profit that has raised over $1 billion for low-income entrepreneurs in eighty countries.[1][2]

Early life

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Shah was born in Ahmedabad, India, and raised in Minnesota, graduating from Irondale High School. He attended Stanford University, where he pursued his interest in economic development, with a specific focus on microfinance.[citation needed] At the London School of Economics he received a research grant to study the microfinance work of the Self-Employed Women's Association.[3]

Career

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Shah was an early employee of and principal product manager at PayPal.[4] Building on his college interest in microfinance, Shah took a sabbatical from PayPal in 2004 to prototype a concept of person-to-person microlending in India.[5][6]

Upon his return to Silicon Valley in 2005, Shah joined Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley in launching Kiva and scaling it into a global organization.[7] Kiva has since raised over one billion dollars in loans from over a million lenders in support of over two million entrepreneurs from eighty countries. Seventy-five percent of loans are disbursed to women, with a repayment rate of ninety-six percent.[2]

In addition to serving as president of Kiva, Shah sits on the boards of other non-profit of organizations, including Center for Humane Technology, Change.org Foundation, Watsi, and VolunteerMatch.[8][9] He is considered to be a part of the PayPal Mafia, a group of PayPal alumni who have gone on to found or co-found other successful companies, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, and Yelp.[10]

Premal is currently listed as a co-founder at renewables.org - an investment platform for renewable energy in emerging markets.[11]

Awards and honors

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Personal life

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Premal lives in San Francisco, California, with his wife and two children. He speaks widely about the potential for markets, technology & altruism to address some of society's toughest challenges.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "Leadership | Kiva". Kiva. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Impact | Kiva". Kiva. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  3. ^ UChi Pol (April 21, 2014), IOP- Premal Shah: Can Social Entrepreneurship End Global Poverty?, archived from the original on December 15, 2021, retrieved July 26, 2018
  4. ^ "LinkedIn Profile".
  5. ^ "p2p microfinance concept that I was working on before joining Kiva". www.slideshare.net. August 10, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  6. ^ Talks at Google (June 20, 2012), Premal Shah: "Kiva's New Frontiers" | Talks at Google, retrieved July 26, 2018 {{citation}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Kiva (June 6, 2017). "$1 billion in change: How Kiva went from nonprofit startup to global force for good". Medium. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  8. ^ "PayPal Mafia & Kiva President Premal Shah Joins Crowdfunding Platform Watsi's Board | Crowdfund Insider". Crowdfund Insider. January 23, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "premal shah | Engaging Volunteers". blogs.volunteermatch.org. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  10. ^ "The PayPal Mafia". Fortune. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  11. ^ "renewables.org - About Us | Invest in Renewable Energy". renewables.org/our-team/. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  12. ^ "40 under 40 - Premal Shah and Matthew Flannery (31) - FORTUNE".
  13. ^ "Obama White House Champions of Change Archive".
  14. ^ "Premal Shah, co-founder of Kiva, enables the poor". San Francisco Chronicle. January 18, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  15. ^ "World Economic Forum Announces New Batch Of Young Global Leaders (Mark Zuckerberg, Chad Hurley, Kevin Rose And More)". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  16. ^ "San Francisco Bay Area — News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds: SFGate". Archived from the original on May 4, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  17. ^ "Skoll | Kiva". skoll.org. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  18. ^ Boorstin, Julia (October 24, 2012). "Goldman's Blankfein on Power of Entrepreneurs". CNBC. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  19. ^ Writer, a Staff (July 8, 2024). "Carnegie Corporation of NY honors Premal Shah, co-founder of global poverty alleviation non-profit Kiva | News India Times". www.newsindiatimes.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  20. ^ "Premal Shah, President of Kiva - 2010 Social Enterprise Conference". Vimeo. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  21. ^ "The Power of Giving 2015". National Museum of American History. September 29, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2018.