This summer, Mona officially announced the launch of the “Chicago Access to Capital Initiative.” In partnership with Kiva and the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Mona will be working to connect Chicago-area entrepreneurs with zero-interest, zero-fee loans.

Today, social venture Mona announced that its partnership with crowdfunding platform Kiva and DreamxAmerica has reached a new milestone: $500,000 in zero-interest loans distributed to small businesses across the United States – primarily to immigrant, refugee, and women entrepreneurs.

Today, Mona – the award-winning social venture incubated at Stanford University – officially announced the launch of its corporate gifting program showcasing underrepresented entrepreneurs and creators, the majority of whom are women and immigrants.

We are thrilled to announce that Mona has been selected as one of four ventures founded at the Stanford Graduate School of Business for Alpine Social Ventures’ inaugural class. Our founder, Andrew Leon Hanna, is one of the first Alpine Social Ventures Fellows.