The International Bank of Bob

After I won my games on Jeopardy! in 2009, I decided to join my friend Bob Harris' lending team on Kiva, called The Friends of Bob Harris. Bob was already planning to write a book about his adventures in micro-financing, so by the time I appeared on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in 2010, I was able to say that I was investing some of my winnings in The International Bank of Bob.

Bob's book comes out next month. If you live in San Francisco (March 5, St. Regis Hotel), Los Angeles (March 13, Barnes & Noble at The Grove), or New York (March 29 at The Strand Bookstore), there will be appearances and signings to celebrate the event. I've read two drafts of the book, and, like Bob's Prisoner of Trebekistan, it is informative, entertaining and touching. You can support your local bookstore by buying a copy there, or, if you no longer have one, order it from Amazon.

I would also encourage you to participate in Kiva. The Friends of Bob Harris welcomes new members and this link credits your acceptance to me. Be sure to designate The Friends of Bob Harris as your lending team when you join. (The designation "closed team" only means you have to make a request to join.) So far, our team of just over 1,000 members has made over 100,000 loans totaling just over $3,000,000. That puts us in position number four for all time, behind the 25,000 member Athiest and Agnostics team, the 10,000 member Christian team, and the 1500 member Milepoint team (as of today.)

I have chosen to reinvest my money as loans have been repaid. I've made loans to women in almost 50 countries, and I'm happy to say there are now loans available to fund here in the United States. I do have a soft-spot for women with horses and women artists and artisans, but my portfolio is pretty varied in terms of businesses. While I do not aspire to operate The International Bank of Christine, I do like to think I am doing my best to make the world a better place, one $25 loan at a time.

Proud Kiva Plug

I've reached a point where I have no idea how long it has been since I've posted a blog. This has gotten so bad that I didn't even check to see that I had comments awaiting action. So I apologize to Mike Garrett, who wanted advice about appearing on Jeopardy! I hope he had a great run on the show. According to the J-Archive, his episode(s) (which shot in mid-December), has (have) not yet run, so I can at least look forward to watching him compete.

And congratulations are in order for Amy Stephenson,  a fellow member of the Friends of Bob Harris lending group on Kiva, who had a three-day run on Jeopardy! earlier this month. She'll be contributing some of her earnings to our worth efforts when her check shows up late this spring. Thus far, our group has loaned over $1.5 million and Bob himself has loaned over $100,000.

Bob Harris himself is on the down-hill side of finishing his book about micro-loans called The First International Bank of Bob. I highly recommend his previous books Prisoner of Trebekistan and Who Hates Whom.  While I sometimes feel I've known Bob forever, we met only about four years ago. Before that I "knew" him from his many appearances on Jeopardy! as a regular contestant, a Tournament of Champions contestant and a contestant on two different special Jeopardy! championship series and from the radio commentaries he used to do for KNX radio that may have been syndicated around the country. Bob and I also both have degrees from Case Western Reserve University (his is an undergrad degree and mine is from the law school) but we were there about 10 years apart. Should he ever appear in your area to do a talk or a book signing, go.  He's very, very funny.

Because of Bob, I joined Kiva and talked about it when I appeared on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in 2010. I've made 80 loans so far, all of them to women who are trying to improve their lives and the lives of their families in something in excess of 30 countries. It's a great way to remind myself that I am helping to improve the world $25 at a time with money that can then be re-loaned upon repayment.  Feel free to join me.