Do you have to be ruthless to get rich?

The seeds for Julie Hanna’s unusual second career in finance were sown when she was only 7 years old.

At that young age, Hanna and her family fled to Beiruit from Jordan to escape the war in 1973. She was uprooted again when violence threatened Lebanon and the family moved to the United States.

Eventually, they landed in Alabama, where community groups and neighbours helped the refugees re-establish their lives.

"It was only in recent years I realised that I saw pity in their eyes, in addition to kindness," said Hanna, who was formerly an executive at companies including Netscape and is now chairwoman of the board of Kiva, a non-profit San Francisco technology company which helps facilitate loans as little as $25 — also known as “microloans” — to small companies or entrepreneurs around the globe.

Hanna’s refugee experience was instrumental in her latest career choice. "The look on my parents' faces was that of their dignity being chipped away and the feeling it created in me was one of deep shame," she said. Through Kiva, she hopes to combat the hopelessness and powerlessness that can pervade the lives of people who have been uprooted or denied opportunities.

Microlending can help more than just the entrepreneurs who receive the loans, however. Hanna and others see “high-compassion finance” as one of the best ways to help developing countries transform their economies.

"In the last three, four, five years, more and more folks have gotten on board in believing in this model for change," said Allen Taylor, vice president, global network of Endeavor Global Inc, a New York City-based nonprofit that connects emerging markets entrepreneurs with mentors and funding.

Successful new businesses can have a dynamic impact. Firms that had fewer than 250 employees and were less than five years old created 40% of the new jobs in 18 European countries and the United States, according to a report by an arm of the OECD.

"Entrepreneurs are the heroes," said Mike Hennessey, a former sales executive for companies including Oracle, who is now an investor in startups, mostly in Latin America

And now the internet has made it easier to match entrepreneurs with small investors, who hope to do some good with loans as small as $20, while also reaping some return.

Hennessey, for one, hopes for a big return — about 10 times his initial investment — but mostly he finds it personally rewarding to invest in nascent companies such as Sontra, a two-year-old Sao Paolo-based online freight broker, which has 14 employees.

Want to get involved? Here are three ways to pay it forward.

Start small with microlending

Nancy Somers, 61, who lives in Minnesota in the US, calls herself "an international financier," with a laugh. The retired owner of a contracting company has made thousands of loans on Kiva, though she declined to specify the total dollar amount. One such loan was for $25 to a bookstore owner in Amman, Jordan. When the loans are repaid she reinvests the money through the site to help other entrepreneurs.

About 1.2m lenders have loaned $595m to 1.4bn borrowers through Kiva, which launched in 2005. Lenders chose their recipients based on profiles of entrepreneurs and small businesses on the site. Money is repaid by the borrowers at zero interest. The site's operating expenses are supported by donations, and the average loan is $418. Each borrower's creditworthiness is posted publicly on a scale of 1-to-5. The repayment rate is 98%, according to Kiva.

For those seeking some return on loans, Maryland-based Calvert Foundation, a spinoff of Calvert Investments, allows people to invest as little as $20 in their “Community Investment Note” and offers returns of 0.5% to 3% annually, depending on the term. In the 20-year history of the notes the Foundation has maintained a 100% payment rate on returns and repayment rate on principal, but investors face the risk of losing either.

Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, which finances some micro-lenders, allows investors to buy its depository receipts. Annual returns on the receipts — similar to shares in the bank — have ranged from 2.8% to 4% over the past five years, according to the company, which has operations in a number of European countries.

Invest in private equity.

A handful of private equity funds are springing up that enable smaller players to invest in emerging markets entrepreneurs. Private equity is typically the domain of the very wealthy or well-connected, but some of these newer funds are accessible to those with limited capital and who don't have invitations to join. Private equity in emerging markets is considered among the riskiest classes of investments, said Endeavor’s Taylor.

Endeavor Global in 2014 launched what it calls a “venture impact” fund. The Endeavor Catalyst fund has a 10-year horizon and a minimum investment of $25,000. Investors make money as the fund’s companies are sold or go public. Upon exit, 80% of any profit will go to Endeavor to fund its nonprofit, while 20% will be returned to the investors. If you need your cash, and can find another investor willing to buy your shares, you can sell them with the fund's approval.

Be an angel investor.

Angel investors are typically experienced, successful business people who offer money, expertise and an extensive network to a new company. In exchange, they generally receive a stake in the company and a return after the business has grown and been sold, or listed on the stock market.

The most successful emerging market angel investors have relationships with particular countries or industries, either through family ties or business connections. They often have a portfolio of companies in which they invest anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. Angel List is an example of an online platform which connects investors and startups.

Risks are high. An angel investor may lose their entire investment if the company goes under. If all goes well, though, an angel investor in emerging markets could see a return of five times to 10 times their initial investment over five years to 10 years, usually when the company is acquired, said Hennessey.

"The ultimate reward is seeing that the effect a successful company can have on an ecosystem, when founders go on to invest in other companies or found new ones," Hennessey said.

This story was produced under the BBC's guidelines for financial journalism. A full version of those guidelines can be found at bbc.co.uk/guidelines.

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