Jessica Jackley Biography

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Jessica Jackley is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur.

Early life

Jackley grew up in Franklin Park, Pennsylvania, in an evangelical Christian household. She graduated from North Allegheny Senior High School in 1996. She received her B.A. degree in philosophy and political science from Bucknell University in 2000 and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, with certificates in Public and Global Management.

Career

Jackley was the co-founder and CEO of ProFounder, a platform that provided tools for small business entrepreneurs in the United States to access start-up capital through crowdfunding and community involvement.

Prior to ProFounder, Jackley was co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Kiva, the world's first p2p microlending website. Jackley and Matt Flannery (now her ex-husband) founded Kiva Microfunds in October 2005. Kiva is an organization that allows people to lend money to small local businesses in developing countries and in the United States. Named as one of the top ideas in 2006 by the New York Times Magazine, Kiva lets internet users 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 October 2005, Kiva has facilitated hundreds of millions in loans among individuals across 209 countries.

Jackley is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society, and has taught Global Entrepreneurship at the Marshall School of Business at USC. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a 2011 World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader, and serves as an active board member on several organizations championing women, microfinance, tech, and the arts, including Opportunity International, the International Museum of Women, and Allowance for Good.

Jackley has worked in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda with Village Enterprise Fund and Project Baobab. Jackley also spent three years in the Stanford GSB's Center for Social Innovation and Public Management Program, where she helped launch the inaugural Global Philanthropy Forum.

Personal life

Jackley was previously married to Matthew Flannery, co-founder of Kiva. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Associate Professor of Creative WritingReza Aslan, and their twin sons. She is a trained yoga instructor and avid surfer.