Premal Shah

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

Premal Shah is an 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[]

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[]

Shah was an early employee of and principal product manager at PayPal.[4] Building off 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]

Awards and honors[]

Personal life[]

Premal lives in San Francisco, California, with his wife and two children. He speaks widely about the potential for technology, business and humanity to address some of society's toughest challenges.[18][19]

References[]

  1. ^ "Leadership | Kiva". Kiva. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Impact | Kiva". Kiva. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  3. ^ UChi Pol (2014-04-21), IOP- Premal Shah: Can Social Entrepreneurship End Global Poverty?, retrieved 2018-07-26
  4. ^ "LinkedIn Profile".
  5. ^ "p2p microfinance concept that I was working on before joining Kiva". www.slideshare.net. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  6. ^ Talks at Google (2012-06-20), Premal Shah: "Kiva's New Frontiers" | Talks at Google, retrieved 2018-07-26
  7. ^ Kiva (2017-06-06). "$1 billion in change: How Kiva went from nonprofit startup to global force for good". Medium. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  8. ^ "PayPal Mafia & Kiva President Premal Shah Joins Crowdfunding Platform Watsi's Board | Crowdfund Insider". Crowdfund Insider. 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  9. ^ "premal shah | Engaging Volunteers". blogs.volunteermatch.org. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  10. ^ "The PayPal Mafia". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  11. ^ "40 under 40 - Premal Shah and Matthew Flannery (31) - FORTUNE".
  12. ^ "Obama White House Champions of Change Archive".
  13. ^ "Premal Shah, co-founder of Kiva, enables the poor". San Francisco Chronicle. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  14. ^ "World Economic Forum Announces New Batch Of Young Global Leaders (Mark Zuckerberg, Chad Hurley, Kevin Rose And More)". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  15. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2010-05-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ "Skoll | Kiva". skoll.org. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  17. ^ Boorstin, Julia (2012-10-24). "Goldman's Blankfein on Power of Entrepreneurs". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  18. ^ "Premal Shah, President of Kiva - 2010 Social Enterprise Conference". Vimeo. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  19. ^ "The Power of Giving 2015". National Museum of American History. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
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