Research Report

Research Report: International Microfinance

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One day our grandchildren will go to museums to see what poverty was like. -Muhammad Yunus

Report Stats:

131 International Microfinance experts
10.73 average years of experience

International microfinance experts identified 13 top microfinance-related nonprofits working at the international level. These organizations include microloan providers, micro credit providers, microfinance institutions, information research organizations, online platforms, consulting practices, and more.

Who we invited		Who participated
	14.59% of experts responded > > >
Foundation Professionals Researchers and Faculty Nonprofit Senior Staff Other

International Microfinance Experts

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Researchers and Faculty (R)

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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)

R	Adrian Gonzalez Lead Researcher Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) See Bio Adrian Gonzalez is Lead Researcher at Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). He joined MIX in 2004, performing global analysis of microfinance institutions’ data collected primarily by MIX and other leading organizations. His research focuses on topics such as risk and portfolio quality, efficiency, depth of outreach, sustainability and interest rates. Prior to joining MIX, he was a researcher at The Rural Finance Program from Ohio State University (OSU), where he worked on microfinance, poverty reduction, and development issues in Latin America. Adrian Gonzalez has a Ph.D. in Finance and Development from the Development Economics Program at Ohio State University. He also received an M.A. in Economics from OSU. He speaks English and Spanish.

O	Alex Bernhardt Assistant Vice President Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC See Bio Assistant Vice President Alex Bernhardt manages Guy Carpenter & Company LLC’s Micro Risk Solutions group and, in his role as Intellectual Property Subject Matter Expert, is a member of the firm’s Professional Liability Specialty. Alex spearheaded Guy Carpenter's recent microreinsurance facility grant writing initiative, which culminated in the firm's receipt of a grant from the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, a partnership between the International Labour Organization and the Gates Foundation. This grant has positioned the firm as a global leader in the intermediation of microinsurance risks. In addition, Alex regularly contributes content to industry publications, including a recent article in Microfinance Insights regarding the maximization of microinsurance investment returns. In his tenure at Guy Carpenter he has also worked on an array of internal initiatives, accounts and lines of business. Based in Seattle, Washington (US), Alex sits on the board of SeattleMicrofinance.org (SeaMo), a microfinance connector organization. He has obtained the designations of Associate of Reinsurance, Associate of Risk Management for Public Entities and Associate of Insurance Services.

O	Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui Chairman of the Board Compartamos Banco See Bio

F	Anwar Hossain Deputy Executive Director (Program Chief) WAVE Foundation See Bio

N	April Newman Interim Executive Director Silicon Valley Microfinance Network See Bio April Newman serves as Venture Partner of West Coast Village Capital (an initiative of First Light Ventures), a peer support group and seed capital program for social entrepreneurs. Inspired by the village bank model used in microfinance throughout the world, Village Capital is an innovative investment model built on the hypothesis that entrepreneurs, working intimately together and providing peer support to one another, will be able to efficiently and wisely allocate investment to one another’s companies. In addition, she is managing the efforts to create a graduate-level textbook on microfinance, with support from the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International. April led Silicon Valley Microfinance Network (SVMN) as Interim Executive Director 2008-2009. Supporting members in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, SVMN provides a forum for individuals to connect, learn, and engage in microfinance. During her tenure, April strengthened and expanded SVMN’s programming, including initiating educational course offerings with a “Microfinance 101” course. She previously worked for Kiva.org, at local NGO in one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (shantytowns), and on a multi-agency health initiative for the homeless in Los Angeles’s ‘Skid Row’ area. April has a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a Bachelor’s in Biology and Ethnomusicology from Tufts University, and conflict management training from the International Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution.

N	Beth Houle Chief of Staff Opportunity International See Bio

N	Bhakti Mirchandani Vice President Unitus See Bio Bhakti Mirchandani is an Associate Vice President at Unitus Capital (www.unituscapital.com), a Bangalore-based financial advisory firm that helps social enterprises and social investment funds that benefit the poor raise capital and make investments. Prior to Unitus Capital, Bhakti worked in Corporate Strategy and Investment Management at Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers, where she was also the firm's Microfinance Specialist. Her work included one of the first microfinance CLOs. Bhakti co-founded the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards (later incorporated into Citi, for which the U.N. presented her with an innovation award), was a consultant to Women’s World Banking, and worked in Homebuilding Equity Research at Salomon Smith Barney. Bhakti co-chaired numerous social enterprise and microfinance investor conferences and published articles on publicly traded MFIs, housing microfinance, microfinance investment vehicles, and micropension. Bhakti holds a B.A. in Chemistry (cum laude) from Harvard College, an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she received the Dean's Award, the program's highest honor.

N	Bill Farrand Director of Operations Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network (SEEP Network) See Bio

N	Bryan Solis Executive Director INAFI-LA See Bio Bryan is the Executive Director of the International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions – Latin America (INAFI-LA) where he has cooperated with Oxfam Novib, Foundation Ford and INAFI Foundation. In the last 4 years he has worked exclusively with Microfinance networks, promoting capacity building, research and development, advocacy and communication, services to the members, product development, and monitoring of projects. Bryan previously served as an independent consultant in banking topics and have worked for BanCrecen Bank. He has interacted with Microfinance counterparts in Asia and Africa. Bryan is a professional in Business Administration (basic formation), with specialization in Banking and Finance with formal title given by the Universidad Internacional de las Américas, Costa Rica. In addition he has a Master Degree in Business Administration with emphasis in International Management from the same Institution.

N	Debbie Hall Board Chair Village Enterprise Fund See Bio

N	Didem Altop Co-Founder & Managing Director Endeavor Turkey See Bio

F	Elizabeth Funk CEO Dignity Fund See Bio Elizabeth Funk serves on the Board of Unitus, a leading Microfinance accelerator, where she previously served as Chairman. Ms. Funk is also the founder and CEO of the Dignity Fund, a debt fund for Microfinance. Prior to becoming Chair of Unitus, Ms. Funk served as the President and CEO of CML Global Capital, a diversified international investment firm. Prior to joining CML, Ms. Funk was one of the earliest employees of Yahoo!, where she helped formulate Yahoo!’s initial shopping, online Finance and commerce strategy, and helped grow that business to comprise a major source of Yahoo!’s revenues and customer usage. Ms. Funk spent 4 years at Microsoft Corporation where she served as a Product Manager for Microsoft Word. Ms. Funk is an active member of the Young President’s Organization (“YPO”) serving as the Chair of the Board of the Pacific Region, and as a founder of Social Enterprise Networks, an initiative within YPO that brings together members worldwide on projects that “make a difference” in the world. Her other board involvements include Root Capital, Deutsche Bank’s Global Microfinance Consortium Fund, the Silicon Valley Microfinance Network, Glide Community Development Corporation (San Francisco), I-Spire (London) and Imperial Parking (Hong Kong). Ms. Funk holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Economics with Honors from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she graduated in 1996 as a Baker Scholar. She is a frequent speaker about Microfinance, to audiences such as at the US Department of State, the Forbes CEO Conference, and the Clinton Global Initiative. She was recently named the “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” by TiE. She has been profiled in publications including Forbes, the San Jose Mercury News, and Business Week.

N	Felistas Coutinho Executive Director Tujijenge Afrika See Bio

O	Geert Roosen CFO BlueOrchard See Bio

N	Gina Harman CEO ACCION USA See Bio Gina Harman is the CEO of ACCION USA. Most recently, she has led the combination of ACCION New York and ACCION USA to create the nation’s largest micro-lender. Her organization has developed new risk evaluation and mitigation tools, as well as new products so it continues to lend wisely while the US economy remains in a recession. Contributing to the vitality of the small and micro-business sectors is critical to economic recovery and microloans are a proven method of doing that. Impact studies show further that microloan recipients experience increases in their wages, develop, assets, and create jobs. After 7 years as a member of the Board of Directors of ACCION New York, and two decades as an Executive at Harman International, Gina brought her unique skills to bear at AUSA to stabilize a rapidly growing organization operating in a uniquely difficult economy. Gina has a B.A. from the State University of New York in Urban Planning and Policy and is a graduate of the Columbia University Institute of Not-for-Profit Management.

R	Jeff Blythe Director of Research & Administration Microcredit Summit Campaign See Bio

O	Joan Hall Consultant Self Employed See Bio

N	Jonathan Lewis CEO Microcredit Enterprises See Bio Jonathan C. Lewis is the founder and chief executive officer of the Opportunity Collaboration -- a learning, teaching and networking summit of 300 senior antipoverty leaders which occurs every year on World Poverty Day. Jonathan is also the founder and board chair of MicroCredit Enterprises -- an innovative social venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to deeply impoverished people, mostly women, in developing countries. A rarity in the non-profit world, MicroCredit enterprises is operationally sustainable without donations or grants. In his eclectic entrepreneurial career, Jonathan has served as the founder of a business knowledge company which addressed the role of American healthcare companies in the global health economy, CEO of the California Association of Health Maintenance Organizations, the Chief Budget Advisor to the President of the California State Senate, ounder/CEO of an urban real estate investment company and founder/owner of a contemporary art gallery. Lewis is a recipient of both a Social Venture Network Innovation Award and a World Affairs Council Award. Jonathan is a graduate, with honors, of the University of California, Davis, with a B.S. in Applied Behavioral Sciences.

N	Kate Cochran Vice President Unitus See Bio

N	Kathleen Stack Vice President, Program Development Freedom from Hunger See Bio Kathleen Stack has thirty years of experience in international development with expertise in program design, strategic business planning, microfinance and microenterprise development, curriculum design and training of trainers. She has consulted for and trained microfinance organizations and NGOs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Ms. Stack is one of the co-creators of the Credit with Education methodology and developed the strategy for linking Credit with Education to credit unions. She also developed Freedom from Hunger’s Basic Business Education curriculum for microfinance clients. More recently she contributed to the design of Saving for Change, a joint program with Oxfam America to support savings-led microfinance. She currently coordinates strategic planning efforts for Freedom from Hunger. Ms. Stack has served on the Steering Committee of the Global Financial Education Program (GFEP), a joint program of Microfinance Opportunities and Freedom from Hunger. She was a founding member of the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network and served on the SEEP Board of Directors, and has been an instructor at the University of Southern New Hampshire’s Microenterprise Development Institute. Ms. Stack holds a Master of Arts degree in International Administration from the School for International Training Graduate Institute and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Clark University. She speaks fluent French.

F	Khaled Al-Gazawi Chief Executive Officer - First Microfinance Foundation - Egypt Aga Khan Development Network See Bio On September 6th 2009, Dr. Khaled Al-Gazawi joined the First Microfinance Foundation – Egypt (FMF-E) as the Chief Executive Officer. FMF-E is the local affiliate of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), which in return is part of the bigger Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). Khaled has more than 11 years of experience in micro-finance, plus an extensive experience in banking, marketing, and business consultancy. Prior to joining FMF-E, Khaled served as the director of operations at Quality Finance International (QFI), the international arm for of the well-known consulting firm; Environmental Quality International (EQI). EQI possesses more than 27 years of experience in creating and supporting the major microfinance programs in Egypt and the MENA region. In his capacity at QFI, Khaled managed the operations of several projects in Sudan, Syria, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Jordan, and the West Bank. Khaled also worked before as a Management Consultant for QRPC in Qatar. Earlier in his career, Khaled worked for FINCA International, a major microfinance provider. Based in Washington, DC, Khaled worked in the capacity of the Greater Middle East Program Manager. Khaled also served as the CEO of the Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom), the leading Jordanian Microfinance institution in Jordan. Thanks to his experience, Tamweelcom became the leading microfinance service provider in Jordan, and was awarded globally on different occasions for its transparency, dedication to poverty alleviation, and good governance. Prior to Tamweelcom, Khaled was the Director of Operations at CHF International in Jordan. Khaled is a certified CGAP/Sanabel Trainer in various fields of microfinance. Khaled holds a PhD. degree in International Management from the University of Phoenix, Arizona/USA, an MBA from the Yarmouk University in Jordan.

N	Kylie Charlton Managing Director Unitus See Bio

O	Lauren Speeth CEO The Elfenworks Foundation See Bio Lauren Speeth currently serves in the following formal capacities for partner non-profits: Board of Advisors, and System Architect & html/xml programmer for inequality.com at Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University; Board of Trustees & External Board of Advisors at Graduate School of Business, Mills College of California; Board of Regents at Saint Mary's College of California, and although not in Georgia is part of the ‘brain trust’ for Georgia Green Loans. Speeth She was the founding CEO for the Elfenworks Foundation and Elfenworks Productions, LLC. Her previous positions range from Systems Analyst to Consulting Systems Engineer at Bank of America in 1984. Since the early days of the internet when her work was noted in Gramophone Magazine (Webwatch, 2001) and highlighted in the New York Times (Classical Musicians Take to the Web, 2002), her client sites have consistently been award winners. She is also the author of the awareness-raising book on domestic poverty entitled Tracks of Hope. In 2001, Speeth began her filmmaking career. Since 2007, with the joint effort Faces of Poverty, she has focused on visual storytelling on behalf of nonprofits. Her films have been: screened on Waikiki beach; garnered Silver Lei, Best International Mid-Length Documentary, Best Music Video, and Best Jazz Video awards; and received Davey, Summit, JPF, and Telly Awards. An active recording and performing musician, Speeth is a founding member of the band Commodore Callahan and is currently on sabbatical from the Peninsula Symphony, where she has been honored to hold a seat in the First Violin section since 2000. Speeth holds a bachelor's degree from Mills College, a master's (MBA) from Saint Mary's College, a doctorate (DBA) from Golden Gate University, and an Advanced Computer Security Professional Credential from Stanford University, as well as lifetime Community College Teaching Credential in Finance.

N	Lisa Kuhn Fraioli Director, Credit with Education, Latin America Freedom from Hunger See Bio Lisa Kuhn joined Freedom from Hunger in 2005. She is a microfinance specialist with eleven years of experience providing training, technical assistance, and research services to microfinance institutions and networks around the world. As leader of Freedom from Hunger’s initiatives in Latin America, Ms. Kuhn Fraioli develops the regional strategy, supervises Freedom from Hunger’s technical teams based in Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador and provides technical assistance to partner organizations in Latin America, including the development of new products, services, support systems and materials related to Credit with Education. Prior to joining Freedom from Hunger, Lisa worked as a Micro-Lending Manager at Opportunity International specializing in assessing and improving the impacts of microfinance products and services on women. She worked closely with Opportunity’s partners around the world providing full-service product development for new loan and education products. She has also worked as a policy assistant for FINCA International and as a research assistant for the Microcredit Summit Campaign Secretariat. Ms. Kuhn Fraioli is co-author of “Empowering Women Through Microfinance” commissioned by the Microcredit Summit Campaign in 2002.

O	Melchior De Muralt Partner De Pury Pictet Turrettini & Cie S.A See Bio Melchior de Muralt is Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee of Blue Orchard Finance S.A., a company specialized in investments in the microfinance industry. Since April 2001, he is a Managing Partner of de Pury Pictet Turrettini & Co. Ltd, an independent asset management firm based in Geneva. He is a member of the Investor Committee at Zurmont Madison Management AG, a Zurich private equity firm. H He is president of Cadmos Fund Management and the Guilé European Engagement Fund, a pioneer in the field of SRI equity investments and Treasurer of the Guilé Foundation. He is also a director of the OASIS fund, an investment vehicle dedicated to investing in social enterprises. He is the President of the World Microfinance Forum Geneva. Prior to joining de Pury Pictet Turrettini & Co. Ltd, Mr. de Muralt was a Portfolio Manager within the Institutional Department of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie. In this capacity, he was one of the promoters of the Ethos Foundation (www.ethosfund.ch). He was also head of the Family Business department. Melchior de Muralt holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D in Political Sciences at the University of Lausanne.

O	Michael Hamp Senior Rural Finance Advisor International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) See Bio Michael is the Senior Rural Finance Advisor and Coordinator of the Finance, Assets, Markets and Enterprise Development Cluster of the Programme Management Department of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Michael Hamp has been working with the German Technical Cooperation, GTZ, in various positions for 18 years. Initially, he has been an Advisor to Bank Indonesia (central bank) on the famous Linking Banks and Self-Help Groups Project, PHBK, in Indonesia. This was from 1990 until 1995. He then joined GTZ’s Financial Systems Development Unit, where he supervised the GTZ portfolio of financial system and credit projects in Africa (1995 -1998). After his assignment in Namibia as Principal Advisor to the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Project (1999 – 2003), he joined the bilateral technical assistance programme for the Promotion of Small Financial Institution (ProFI) in Indonesia as Programme Coordinator and Principal Advisor until October 2007. He became staff member of the IFAD in Rome on November 2007. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology of Economics and a Master Degree in Agricultural Engineering both from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Bonn, Germany.

O	Nadine Chehade MENA Director Planet Rating See Bio Nadine Chehade joined the Planet Rating team in May 2006 to head the Beirut office from where she covered the MENA and Caucasus regions. Starting 2009, she became in charge of overseeing the development process of new products and services offered by Planet Rating worldwide. Nadine has conducted over 30 missions in MENA, Eastern Europe, Central and East Asia, as well as East and West Africa. Nadine started her career in Investment Banking with ABN Amro, before working as a strategy and management consultant for 4 years, conducting projects for various industries and clients, first with Accenture and then with Kea&Partners, a company spun off CapGemeni. In 2005, she worked as a consultant for ILDES, a Lebanese NGO with a microfinance program. Nadine is fluent in Arabic, English and French. She holds an MBA from Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC).

N	Ole Rasmussen Microfinance Adviser DanChurchAid See Bio Ole Dahl Rasmussen is Microfinance Advisor at DanChurchAid, a Danish non-missionary faith-based NGO with an annual turnover of USD$80 million. He has previously worked with a microfinance institution in Thailand, taught a microfinance course at graduate level at Copenhagen University and done research on performance in microfinance in Benin, West Africa. He holds an MA in Political Science from University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

N	Ranya Abdel-Baki Deputy Executive Director Sanabel See Bio Ranya Abdel-Baki is an economist by education and is currently the Executive Director at Sanabel – The Microfinance Network of Arab Countries. Prior to working at Sanabel, Ranya has worked as a credit analyst for five years at National Société Générale Bank and as an Urban Economist & Development Specialist in an environmental consultancy firm. Ranya has undertaken a number of consultancy assignments assessing the social impact and financial sustainability of development projects in Egypt. Experience in microfinance includes the co-writing of the Arab Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report for the past two years and lecturing on microfinance in the American University in Cairo. Ranya holds a MSc. in Urban Economic Development from University College London.

N	Roger Coulter Vice President of Finance Unitus See Bio

N	Rolando Victoria Executive Director Alalay Sa Kaunlaran Inc (ASKI) See Bio

N	Ruhi Das Executive Director BASTOB - Initiative for People's Self-Development See Bio

N	Ryan Calkins Executive Director Seattle Microfinance (SeaMo) See Bio Ryan Calkins co-founded SeaMo in 2007 in response to a growing need in the microfinance community for collaborative spaces. He regularly contributes to the SeaMo website (www.seattlemicrofinance.org) with editorial content covering important topics in microfinance, including social performance metrics, augmenting financial services to the poor, and technology. Before graduate school, he spent two years in Colombia as a human rights monitor and a year in Honduras as a disaster relief liaison. Calkins graduated with a Master of Arts in International Relations from Yale University in 2005, concentrating on Latin America, microfinance, and intergovernmental policy.

N	Sharon Miller CEO Renaissace Entrepreneurship Center See Bio

N	Tanay Chakravarty Managing Director Ajiwika See Bio

F	Thelma Cruz Programme Officer TEAR Fund See Bio Thelma Cruz is the program officer of TEAR Fund, New Zealand since 2006. She is also currently the member of a pool of consultants under the NZAID Approved Contractors’ Scheme since 2008. Previously she worked as a freelance consultancy work between 2003-2006. Between 2001-2003 she was the regional program advisor, Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator, Habitat for Humanity Int’l/Regional Program Officer for Habitat for Humanity in the East & Southeast Asia Regional office. She has also been the program director for Save the Children in the Japan-Philippine office, the program officer for United Nations Development Program in Manila. Thelma obtained her Masters in Community Development and Diploma in Community Development at the University of the Philippines. She received her Liberal Arts (English) and Bachelor of Science in Education (History) at the College of the Holy Spirit, Manila, Philippines.

O	Thomas Carter Coordinator, Cooperative Development Program United States Agency for International Development (USAID) See Bio Tom coordinates USAID's Cooperative Development Program (CDP). The CDP funds US cooperatives and cooperative development organizations that partner with counterpart cooperatives in developing and transitional economies. The major focus of the program is supporting efforts to develop solutions to significant cooperative development challenges including cooperative law and regulation, governance, achieving salience and scale, attaining and maintaining autonomy and self-reliance. Prior to joining USAID, Tom worked as an FAO Advisor to India's National Dairy Development Board (1990-2000); as Representative in India for the Cooperative League of the USA (NCBA/CLUSA - 1982-89); as Director of International Programs for the World Council of Credit Unions (1975-82); and various positions with the Peace Corps including Volunteer (1965-67), Associate Director (1967-70), Regional Director (1970-72) and trainer (1972-74). Tom has an A.B. degree with a major in Philosophy from Dartmouth College. In addition to graduate work in philosophy at the Nagpur University Post-Graduate Teaching Department and UCLA, he completed Peace Corps training at the University of California, Davis.

N	Zahirul Alam Executive Director Integrated Development Foundation (IDF) See Bio Mr. Alam left ILO in 1992 and came back to Bangladesh and established Integrated Development Foundation (IDF) to work for the poor people of difficult, remote, hilly and un-served areas of Bangladesh. IDF was rated as one of the top microfinance institutions in the world by Forbes magazine in 2007, and the 6th in Bangladesh. Mr. Alam started his career with Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus in 1973 and worked as founder member-secretary of the Rural Economics Program from where Grameen Bank model was developed. He also worked in the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development as Action Research Fellow in an experimental project on microfinance for the poor for about 8 years. He joined in a ILO regional program for Africa based in Addis Ababa in 1984. Zahirul Alam completed his Master in Economics and Bachelor with Honors in Economics from the University of Chittagong in 1975.