• Marilou Uy, Director, Financial Sector Operations & Policy
  The World Bank
  Ms. Marilou Uy is currently Director of the Financial Sector Operations and Policy Department of the World Bank and Chair of the Bank’s Financial Sector Board. Ms. Uy joined the World Bank in 1985 as part of the Young Professionals Program. As part of her responsibilities in the World Bank, Ms. Uy has worked as an economist with various regions, including Latin America, Europe and Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia, on areas related to trade, private sector development, and financial sector policies and operations. Ms. Uy has also participated in research projects, including as part of the research team that prepared "The East Asian Miracle," in which she focused on financial sector issues, together with Joseph Stiglitz. Since 1996, Ms. Uy has held management responsibilities in the World Bank, including Sector Director of the Private Sector Development and Finance Department of the South Asia Region.  Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Uy pursued her doctorate level in economics and finance at the University of California, Los Angeles.

• Mary Houghton, President
  Shorebank
  Mary has been a member of the senior management of Shorebank Corporation since its founding in 1973 and is currently President of the holding company. When she first came to Shorebank, Mary was the Senior Lender and Senior Operating Officer of the Chicago bank. She also served as a director of the $100 million asset Elk Horn Bank and Trust Company in Arkadelphia, Arkansas from 1988-94, which Shorebank assisted in becoming a community development bank. Mary Houghton was named American Banker's first ever Community Banker of the Year for 2004.

• Robert Annibale, Global Director of Microfinance
  Citigroup
  Bob Annibale is Citigroup’s Global Director of Microfinance. He leads Citigroup’s commercial relationships with microfinance institutions, on a multi-business and multi-product basis, providing financing and product partnerships to institutions that serve the poor and the unbanked.  He joined Citibank in 1982. After a first assignment in Greece, he held a number of senior treasury, risk and corporate positions in Citigroup in Athens, Bahrain, Kenya, London and New York. He represents the Citigroup Foundation on the Board of the Microfinance Information Exchange and represents Citigroup on the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds and at the Microfinance Network. He also serves on a number of external boards and councils, including the University of London , University of Oxford’s St. Anthony’s College (Centre for the Study of African Economies), and on the Africa Policy Group for the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Bob competed his BA degrees in History and Political Science at Vassar College and his Masters Degree in African Studies (History) at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. 

• Richard Taub, Paul Klapper Professor of Social Sciences & Public Policy
  University of Chicago
  Richard Taub is the Paul Klapper Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.  He has served as a consultant to many development organizations including the National Community Development Initiative, the Neighbourhood Preservation Initiative, and the Cherokee Loan Fund.  Some of his recent books include “Entrepreneurship in India’s Small Scale Industries”,  “Paths of Neighbourhood  Change”, “Community Capitalism” and “Doing Development in Arkansas”. Mr. Taub received his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in English Literature with Distinction and Honors in 1959. He graduated from Harvard University's Department of Social Relations with a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1966.

• Alex Counts, CEO
  Grameen Foundation USA
  Alex Counts has been a microcredit practitioner and advocate since he served as a Fulbright scholar at the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh in 1988. He lived in Bangladesh for six years, during which time he authored Give Us Credit, a book chronicling the success of microcredit in Bangladesh and inner-city Chicago in the U.S.A. Since 1997 he has been serving as the President and CEO of Grameen Foundation USA, which is based in Washington, DC.

• Robert Townsend, Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Professor of Economics
  University of Chicago
  Robert Townsend began his teaching and research career at Carnegie-Mellon University and has been at the University of Chicago since l985. He is Chair of the University Committee on Demographic Training, and member of the Executive Board of the Population Research Center, NORC. He is also a member of the Econometric Society as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition he is a consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the government of Bolivia. His contributions in econometrics include the study of risk and insurance in developing countries. His work on village India was awarded the Frisch Medal in l998. Professor Townsend received his BA from Duke University in l970 and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in l975.
  
  

• Christina Barrineau, Chief Technical Advisor for the International Year of Microcredit 2005
  United Nations Capital Development Fund
  Prior to joining the United Nations, Christina Barrineau gained 15 years of experience in microfinance and financial systems development. At Women’s World Banking, she established and managed a global network for banking innovation in microfinance. She has worked extensively with leading international financial institutions as well as national and microfinance banks.
  
  

• Jonathan Morduch, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics
  NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
  Professor Morduch has been a consultant for the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development and has worked with a variety of non-profits and non-governmental organizations. In 2003, Professor Morduch was named Chair of the United Nations Steering Committee on Poverty Measurement. He is currently an advisor to the board of Pro Mujer, an innovative provider of microcredit for poor women in Latin America. Professor Morduch has taught on the Economics faculty at Harvard University, was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and was a MacArthur Foundation Research Fellow at Princeton University. In 2002-3, he was an Abe Fellow at the University of Tokyo. Professor Morduch received his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.

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