LEAPing up all-time lending list

With a $175 loan to a woman in Cambodia who runs a small grocery store, the Ransom Everglades student-run club LEAP (Lending to End All Poverty) moved into eighth place on the all-time lending list among more than 2,000 participating schools according to the non-profit micro-lender, Kiva.

RE's LEAP has made 1,234 microloans for $178,350 – and counting – to individuals or small businesses in 70 countries since the club's start in 2007.
LEAP members executed the online loan to the Cambodian business woman during the advisory period Sept. 25. They also used Kiva's website to send $100 to a mother of four who runs a general store in Timor-Leste, $50 to a group of female business owners in Senegal and $125 to a father in Vietnam to help him build a hygienic toilet in his home. The club made more than $3,300 in loans in September.

"It makes me so happy to see the positive impact that our club has had on those who need help," LEAP President David Civantos '20 said. "Helping business owners around the globe improve their lives and economic well-being is what LEAP is all about. We work hard as a club to consistently make the best loans possible during meetings, and it is rewarding to see the success that these loans are having."

Civantos, vice president Elliot Sable '21, secretary Tim Sucher '20 and other members use the Kiva website to research small business owners who need financial help and then distribute loans that fit with the club's goals. Since its start, LEAP has invested primarily in female business owners (61 percent) who work in agriculture. Bolivia has received the most money, and Pakistan has received the most individual loans.

The group participates in occasional fund-raising events at the upper school, but primarily uses proceeds from previous loans to fund additional loans. Seed money from several RE parents got the club off the ground in its early days, but LEAP has been proudly self-sustaining ever since thanks to a 98 percent repayment rate.

Rafael Fernandez '09 founded the club with the assistance of Humanities Department Chair Jen Nero. The inspiration for LEAP stemmed from AP Economics summer reading in 2007: Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and pioneer of microfinance. After reading the book, Fernandez approached Nero with the idea of starting a microcredit club. 

"We have come a long way since then," Nero said. "We granted our first loans backed by sales of Cuban coffee and pastelitos along with revenues from a Guitar Hero contest. The club continues to thrive under the able leadership of David, Elliot, Tim and a dedicated group of underclassmen. We look forward to funding hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide as we approach the $200,000 mark."
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Middle School

2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 250 6850

Upper School

3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133
Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.