Jackley to Speak on ‘Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Social Change’

Jessica Jackley

Entrepreneur and investor Jessica Jackley, a pioneer in the field of microfinance, will deliver the next Tanner Lecture on Ethics, Citizenship and Public Responsibility on Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

Jackley is co-founder and former chief marketing officer of Kiva, the world’s first peer-to-peer microlending website, which allows users to lend as little as $25 to individual entrepreneurs, providing affordable capital to help them start or expand a small business. Kiva has been one of the fastest-growing social benefit websites in history and, since its founding in 2005, has facilitated more than $500 million in loans among individuals across 216 countries.

Convinced that social change happens across all sectors, Jackley has worked in public, nonprofit and private organizations, including the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Amazon, World Vision, Village Enterprise Fund, Project Baobab, Potentia Media and others. She currently serves as an investor and advisor with the Collaborative Fund, investing in entrepreneurs who want to change the world through emerging technologies. She is also a visiting practitioner at Stanford’s Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Jackley has taught “Entrepreneurial Design for Social Change” at Drew University and “Global Entrepreneurship” at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a 2011 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and has served as an active board member or advisor for numerous organizations in areas of championing women, microfinance, tech and the arts, including Upstart, International Museum of Women, Allowance for Good, Global Health Corps, Opportunity International, Vittana, Fuse Corps and others.

She holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with certificates in global management and public management, a B.A. in philosophy and political science from Bucknell University and honorary Ph.D.s from Centenary College and Quinnipiac University.

The Tanner Lecture Series on Ethics, Citizenship and Public Responsibility provides a public forum for exploring questions about ethical citizenship in provocative and challenging ways. The series has been endowed by alumnus W. Lynn Tanner ’75 Ph.D., founder, CEO and chairman of TEC Canada, a leadership development organization dedicated to accelerating the growth and development of outstanding 21st-century leaders.

A reception will be held immediately following the March 18 event. A reduced parking rate is available in the Irving Parking Garage, when mentioning the event.