Speaker and Panelist Bios:

Vikram Akula, Chairperson and Founder, SKS Microfinance

SKS Microfinance's mission is to eradicate poverty by providing financial services to poor households.  He was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006, and SKS Microfinance was named one of BusinessWeek's Top 5 Companies to watch in 2009.

Vikram launched SKS in 1998 because a fundamental flaw he saw with microfinance-- namely, its inability to scale.  Vikram identified three constraints to scaling, the three "Cs": lack of capital, capacity constraints, and the high costs of delivering micro-loans.  He then set up SKS to overcome this challenge on the basis of three innovative principles: (1) using a profit-oriented model to overcome capital constraints (2) leveraging best practices for scaling from the business world to overcome capacity constraint (3) using technology to automate processes and lower costs. Using these three inter-linked principles, SKS has been able to scale in an unprecedented manner—having provided micro-insurance products and over $1.3 billion in micro-credit to close to 4 million poor women and their families spread across 70,000 villages and slums of India while maintaining a 99% repayment rate and growing at 150% per year.  This pace has attracted equity investments from premier venture capitalists including Vinod Khosla (co-founder of Sun Microsystems) and Sequoia, (early investor in companies such as Cisco, Yahoo and Google).

Vikram is a former management consultant with McKinsey, has a B.A. in philosophy from Tufts, an M.A. from Yale, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and was a Fulbright Scholar. He has received several awards, including the Social Entrepreneur of the Year in India (2006), the Ernst & Young Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year in India (2006) and he has been profiled in media ranging from CNN to front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Susan Alnaqib, Co-President, Chicago Community Ventures

As Co-President of CCV, Susan brings more than a decade of experience in community and economic development. In her current role, Susan is responsible for fundraising and marketing strategy for the organization. In this capacity she has raised over $4 million through investment, donations and the implementation of new earned income strategies. She also oversees the delivery of client services and the development of strategic initiatives.

Susan joined CCV in February 2004 as assistant director and subsequently director of the Chicago West Side Entrepreneurship Center (CWSEC), a partnership between the University of Illinois at Chicago and CCV. In addition to working with more than 125 clients and helping access over $5.5 million in capital and contracts, Susan created and launched Innovate Illinois, a competition engaging over 100 stakeholders to identify the most innovative small businesses across the State of Illinois.

Prior to joining Chicago Community Ventures, Susan worked as an analyst with Foursome Investment Management in London, an early stage fund making ‘positive impact’ investments in environmental technology, renewable energy and organics; and provided business-planning consulting to start-up for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in Chicago.

Previous experience includes managing more than $20 million in public health projects in Africa and the Middle East for the Lions Clubs International Foundation and tripling programmatic impact as Director of Foundation Programs and Administration for Zonta International, a global association of female executives. Susan holds an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Michigan, a Master's in Public Service Management from DePaul University and an International MBA from the University of Chicago.

Jane Bieneman, Director of Financial Advisory Services, BlueOrchard Finance USA

Jane worked at Citigroup’s investment bank from 1995 to 2007.  She originated and executed private equity financings and advised clients on debt and equity capital markets transactions and mergers and acquisitions.  In addition, Jane was a senior member of the team that launched Citigroup's Public Sector Group, which is responsible for the firm's business globally with public sector clients.  Most recently, Jane worked with Women’s World Banking to establish an equity fund for its network members.  Jane began her career as a commercial loan officer for The Fifth Third Bancorp.  She holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jane joined BlueOrchard Finance USA, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of BlueOrchard Finance, S.A., in June 2008.  She is leading BlueOrchard’s new initiative, Financial Advisory Services, which advises Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) on financial transactions and issues, and raises funding for MFIs from investors globally.  This initiative was launched in 2008 to continue BlueOrchard’s strategy of supporting MFIs’ growth and development.

Paul Blyth, Chief Financial Officer, MicroPlace Inc

Paul Blyth is CFO, Financial & Operations Principle, and Head of Business Development at MicroPlace Inc, an eBay company. For the last 18 months he has headed an innovative team of financial services professionals creating retail investments that raise capital for microfinance institutions in some of the world's poorest regions. MicroPlace was founded to provide opportunities for a new kind of microfinance investor - the average American. Paul's leadership has increased the company's portfolio to include 81 investment opportunities in 62 countries. Its investor base now includes seniors, college students, parents, and professionals aged 18 to 98, meeting the goal of making microfinance an accessible, easy investment opportunity with competitive rates of return. Under Paul's direction, MicroPlace has achieved many industry 1st's: he headed the creation of the 1st ever liquid microfinance security, 1st guaranteed retail microfinance security, 1st "green" microfinance security, 1st certified "fair trade" microfinance security and more. He’s particularly proud of that fact that MicroPlace securities have outperformed all major world indices by 50+%

Before MicroPlace, Paul spent nearly two decades in finance. Beginning as an auditor at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, London, he migrated into PwC's management consulting practice. Paul later led the commercial finance activities at CHEP Europe (the world’s largest pallet business). After 5 years, Paul was lured into the world of advertising by Mother London - the fashionable, cutting edge agency noted for its development of Bono's (RED) brand, and its work for Amnesty International.

Paul has lived and worked in the UK, Canada, France, India, pan-Europe, and the US. Born in London, he obtained an undergraduate Honours degree in Politics & Business and 3 year Chartered Accountancy qualification in the UK, before moving to the US. Paul now lives in San Francisco.

Jonathan Brereton, Chief Executive and Lending Officer, ACCION Chicago

Jonathan Brereton joined ACCION Chicago in November of 2000 as a Community Outreach Coordinator through the AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer program. With a degree in Business and Economics from Wheaton College, he was responsible for both fundraising and the establishment t of additional community partnerships. Following his year of service, Jonathan was named Director of Operations in November of 2001 and was responsible for the creation and maintenance of relationships with funders, as well as various operational matters. Jonathan was promoted in October of 2003 to Chief Operating Officer, and again in October of 2004 to Chief Executive and Lending Officer.

Michael Chu, Senior Lecturer in the Initiative on Social Enterprise of the General Management Group of the Harvard Business School

Mr. Chu is also Managing Director of the IGNIA Fund, an investment firm based in Monterrey, Mexico, dedicated to investing in commercial enterprises serving low-income populations in developing countries, which he co-founded in 2007. He continues to serve as Senior Advisor and a founding partner of Pegasus Capital, a firm in Buenos Aires dedicated to deploying equity capital in Latin America, with a portfolio which includes major companies in Argentina.

Chu teaches the second year elective course Business and the Base of the Pyramid, developed and taught together with Professor V. Kasturi Rangan. He is Faculty Co-Chair of the Executive Education program Strategic Leadership for Microfinance. In the past, he has taught the course Investing and Managing in Emerging Markets and Effective Leadership of Social Enterprises. Chu is co-head of Project Antares, a collaboration between HBS and the Harvard School of Public Health focusing on commercial approaches to delivering high-impact primary health care to low-income populations in developing nations. Project Antares is part of the Social Enterprise program on Global Health and Low Income Populations. 

Before Pegasus, as President & CEO of ACCION International, Chu worked to develop financial services for the working poor as a new segment of banking capable of outstanding returns. He participated in the founding of several microcredit financial institutions and regulated banks throughout Latin America, including Banco Solidario which under his chairmanship has been the most profitable bank in Bolivia, Mibanco in Peru and Banco Compartamos, which following its IPO in the Mexican Stock Exchange in April 2007 has been incorporated as part of the exchange's index.

From 1989 to 1993, as an executive and limited partner in the New York office of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, Chu was one of sixteen professionals deploying KKR’s $5.7 billion private equity fund and managing an investment portfolio with aggregate annual revenues in excess of $60 billion. He joined the private equity firm from PACE Industries, a KKR-sponsored leveraged buyout, where he served as Senior Vice President & CFO. Previously, he held senior management positions in U.S. corporations and was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Chu currently serves on the boards of Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE), ACCION International (Emeritus) and is a Trustee of Dartmouth College.

Chu graduated with an A.B.(Honors) from Dartmouth College and received a M.B.A. with highest distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School.

Chu was born in Kunming, China and grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay. He and his wife Victoria Cowling Chu reside in West Newton, MA.

Jason Cons, Director of Research and Project Design, The Goldin Institute

Since 2007, Cons has directed the Institute’s “Improving Microcredit by Listening to Recipients” initiative, which focuses on recipient experiences with microcredit in rural, Northern Bangladesh.  His work for the Institute is grounded in community-based research and engagement strategies.  Cons is completing a doctorate in Development Sociology at Cornell University and in 2006-2007 was a Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellow for work on the India-Bangladesh border.  He and colleague Kasia Paprocki are completing a manuscript on the Goldin Institute’s microcredit research for FoodFirst.

Ron Dadina, Managing Director and Senior Credit Officer, Minlam Asset Management

Mr. Dadina has more than 20 years of emerging market credit experience.  During this period, he has analyzed, structured and executed a variety of debt financings across various industries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.  Most recently Mr. Dadina was a Managing Director in the International Debt Capital Markets group at Bear Stearns.  Prior to Bear Stearns, he worked as a senior transactor in the Emerging Market Structured Finance groups at MBIA and Fitch Ratings.  Mr. Dadina received his MBA from the University of Chicago, is a CFA Charterholder and member of the New York Society for Securities Analysts and the Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Linda L. Darragh, Director of Entrepreneurship Programs for the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

In addition to teaching the New Venture Lab, co-teaching the Social Entrepreneurship class and coaching for the New Venture Challenge, Ms. Darragh recently launched the Global version of the New Venture Challenge that assists Executive MBA students on the London and Singapore campuses to start and expand entrepreneurial businesses. She also initiated the Entrepreneurial Immersion trip series that went to China in 2007 and will go to India in 2008.

Previously, Darragh was an assistant clinical professor of entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Darragh was a finalist for the Most Outstanding Professor Award in 2004. She initiated the formation of the Ceres Venture Fund and is former vice president of the Women's Business Development Center. She served on former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne's High Technology Task Force as well.

Darragh was recognized as the winner of the Women's Business Advocate award for the U.S. Small Business Administration for Illinois and the Midwest in 2002 and an SBA Financial Services Advocate for the same regions in 1998. In 2002 Darragh received the Business/Technology/Finance Trailblazer Award from the Illinois State Treasurer. The Chicago Sun-Times and i-Street Reporter placed her among the Top 100 People Influencing Technology in Chicago for 2001, 2002, and 2003.

As she earned a master's degree in planning from the University of Toronto in 1978 and a bachelor's degree from Queen's University in 1976. Darragh is a board member of the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center, Illinois IT Association, ACCION Chicago, and Learning Point Associates.

Ulysses de la Torre, Director of Research, DistributedCapital Group

DCG is focused on increasing access to wealth opportunity and higher standards of living for the global majority, accomplished by means of commercially sustainable economics.  The company's first products serve cross-border capital flows by eliminating currency risk, even where conventional swaps and forwards are not available or are too expensive.  They further serve central banks and ministries of finance in the complex goal of maintaining growth and stability in the context of changing liquidity.  

Prior to joining Distributed Capital, Ulysses completed a journalism fellowship at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City, where he pursued a multi-year investigation of the effects and stresses of Globalization through researching Microfinance and Remittances throughout Latin America.  He received a joint Master's degree in Journalism and Latin American Studies at New York University in 2005 while concurrently reporting for the Inter-Press Service News Agency at the United Nations.  

Prior to NYU, Ulysses worked as a financial systems engineer for Wall Street Systems, Inc. for five years, half of which was in Asia.  His primary responsibilities were implementing Foreign Exchange and Fixed Income trading floor systems and advising clients on the design and deployment of software-based risk analysis tools for Emerging Markets trading desks in London, Moscow, New York, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.  Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Ulysses also spent nearly two years traveling independently across Latin America before changing careers.  He earned a joint Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration from the University of Vermont in 1996.

Thomas Derdak, PhD, Founder and Executive Director, Global Alliance for Africa

Thomas Derdak brings sixteen years of management experience in the creation and implementation of development programs for countries in sub Sahara Africa, including Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, and Uganda. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in Philosophy and his B.A. from Butler University in English Literature and Philosophy.

Roland Dominicé, Executive Director, Symbiotics

Roland Dominicé was appointed executive director of Symbiotics in 2008, after having been in charge of client relationship and business development since co-founding the company in 2004.  He also worked for BlueOrchard Finance, SA as their chief financial officer for three years, as well as for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Geneva in management consulting, for McKesson in San Francisco in corporate finance, and for UBS Switzerland in institutional asset management.  Roland Dominicé holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago.

Jesse Fripp, Vice President, ShoreBank International

Jesse Fripp is based in Washington, DC and leads ShoreBank International's Global Microfinance Community of Practice as well as managing the MENA and South Asia regional project portfolios.  With nearly fourteen years of international experience in the Balkans, the Middle East, and South Asia, Mr. Fripp has designed and managed large-scale development finance and economic development programs including projects recognized for their innovations and impact in such forums as the World Bank’s Global Development Network and elsewhere.  

In addition to his economic development experience, Mr. Fripp has designed and/or overseen Greenfield microfinance institution start-ups in four countries (Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq, and Afghanistan), including non-bank financial services companies, credit unions, and traditional MFIs, as well as MFI commercialization/transformation initiatives in Pakistan and Romania.  He has directly managed and/or overseen micro & small enterprise, energy-efficiency, and housing loan portfolios ranging from $1 million to $25 million in size, and built operations processes and professional teams in challenging development and post-conflict environments.  

Mr. Fripp holds a Master's in Public Management with a concentration in International Economic Development from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Mike Gabriel, Associate, Grameen Foundation

Mike Gabriel is the Asia Regional Product Manager for Grameen Foundation’s Capital Management & Advisory Center.  He brings 10 years of experience in investment banking and social enterprise development.  Previously he was an Enterprise Development Manager with Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, Inc. in Manila and Chicago where he helped Philippine migrant workers return home through savings, investment and entrepreneurship programs.  He spent a summer working with Ashoka’s Social Financial Services initiative during business school.  Prior to that, he spent three years as an analyst with Banc of America Securities’ short-term finance group helping to execute commercial paper programs for large multi-nationals.  Mike received his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and his BA in Latin American Studies from Vanderbilt University.

Gwyneth Galbraith, Director of Development and Evaluation, Opportunity Fund

Opportunity Fund is one of the largest microlenders in California. Previously, she was a strategic development consultant focused on major gifts fundraising, strategic planning, communications, and financial analysis for a variety of nonprofits, including Opportunity Fund, The Rockridge Institute, and the Arthur Ross Gallery.  Gwyneth spent five years as a development director at the University of California, Berkeley, and has also worked at the University of Chicago and The New Yorker magazine.  Gwyneth holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from UC Berkeley.  She serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. 

Since its founding in 1995, Opportunity Fund has originated $9.8 million in loans to small businesses and has invested more than $130 million into needy communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Opportunity Fund’s leadership team has received the Skoll Award for Innovation in Silicon Valley, the Wachovia Impact award, the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award and the SBA Financial Services Advocate of the Year. In addition to the Small Business Loan Program, Opportunity Fund operates one of the largest matched-savings account programs in the country and is a leader in providing innovative financing to community real estate projects in the Bay Area.

Jacob Haar, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Minlam Asset Management

Since 1997, Mr. Haar has successfully conducted business in emerging markets and worked with international non-government organizations on issues of sustainable economic development and human rights. Prior to co-founding Minlam, Mr. Haar worked with Azeri Star Microfinance, a microfinance institution in Azerbaijan. Mr. Haar received his M.A. from the University of Chicago's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, is a Fulbright Scholar and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with his A.B. from the University of Chicago.

Christoph Kneiding, Consultive Group to Assist the Poor

Christoph Kneiding joined CGAP's Market Intelligence team in 2008. Through Market Intelligence, CGAP provides insight into topics critical to the microfinance sector such as the impact of the global financial crisis, developments in access to finance, and trends in market behavior. Previously, Christoph worked for Citibank, the Boston Consulting Group, and the German Development Agency. He holds a PhD in Economics from Frankfurt University. His thesis focused on small business finance in Germany and the UK.

Erin Koch, Designer, IDEO

An innately curious industrial designer, Erin Koch has broad expertise in topics ranging from healthcare design and design for sustainability to user-centered product development methodology and design strategy and planning. Since joining IDEO Chicago in 2005, she has worked on or led such diverse projects as redesigning the membership experience for a large labor union, creating a growth strategy and signature spaces for a 100-plus-member pediatric association, developing a pain-medication delivery device for patients suffering from chronic pain, and imagining the workplace of the future for a major multinational networking and communications corporation.

A consummate traveler, Erin has taught design-innovation classes at the Universidad de los Andes in Columbia, South America, and recently helped to conduct ethnographic and qualitative research for a new HIV/AIDS test in Africa with the Kellogg Global Health Initiative and Northwestern University scientists.

Prior to becoming a designer, Erin spent two years working in emergency and operating rooms, with cardiology staff, and in various pediatric-care centers. She has also worked as a freelance industrial designer for a variety of clients and design firms. Erin holds a BA in Industrial Design from The California College of Arts in San Francisco, California

Christian Novak, Emerging Markets Consultant

Christian Novak has over 17 years of banking experience with JPMorgan, ING and Morgan Stanley, mostly working in their credit risk management and fixed income divisions covering the emerging markets.  In addition, Christian has been in contact with microfinance and economic development projects for over 10 years: he assisted in the development of one of the leading MFIs in Argentina (Emprender, formerly FIS) as a member of the Advisory Board and investor, he co-founded and was a Board member of two foundations aimed at implementing sustainable development projects and fostering education (Fundación Cruzada Argentina and Fundación Makro, respectively), he is a member of the Credit Committee of the Association Communautaire d'emprunt de Montréal, and he was a member of Morgan Stanley’s Microfinance Institutions Group, participating in three groundbreaking transactions that raised in aggregate U$250 million of debt financing for MFIs globally.  Christian is currently an emerging markets consultant, including microfinance consultancy.  He carried out his studies at the Catholic University of Argentina, where he graduated as a public accountant and where he also received a bachelor degree in business administration.

Raghuram G. Rajan, Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

From 2003-06, Prof. Rajan served as the Economic Counselor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund. He is an expert on international finance and banking, particularly in areas concerning the growth and development of poor nations.

Among Prof. Rajan's many honors, he won the inaugural Fisher Black Prize awarded by the American Finance Association in January 2003 as the person under 40 who has contributed the most to the theory and practice of finance. He is also the co-author (with Luigi Zingales) of Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists (Random House, 2003).

After his original professorship at Chicago Booth (1991-96), Rajan served as the Bertil Daniellson Visiting Professor of Banking and Finance, Stockholm School of Economics, 1996-97; the Visiting Professor of Finance, Northwestern University, 1996-97; and the Fischer Black Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000-01. He earned his MBA in 1987 from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and his Ph.D. in 1991 from MIT.

Kathleen Robbins, PhD, Co-Founder, Jatropha Pepinye

Jatropha Pepinye is a biofuels program in Haiti designed to empower small farmers and address the energy, economic and environment issues in rural Haiti.

Previously she developed FonkoSel Aktive pa Digicel, a replication of the Grameen Bank Village Phone program, creating a partnership between Digicel, the largest cellular provider and Fonkoze, the largest MFI in Haiti.  Prior to that, Dr Robbins was CEO of a cellular company in the US.  Her educational background includes an engineering degree, MBA and DMin.  Her doctorial dissertation was on the impact of wireless communications in the developing world.

Christian Ruehmer, Co-Founder and Partner, Perfect Point Partners srl

Perfect Point Partners srl (PPP), is a consulting company with focus on efficiency and risk management for microfinance and microenterprises, based in La Paz, Bolivia.  Mr. Ruehmer has been involved in Microfinance since 2001 and worked with over 40 MFIs and organizations in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.  PPP is known for its pragmatic approach to operational and risk-related problems and its thorough understanding.  Christian has worked in the financial sector since 1989.  His areas of expertise include risk management, treasury management, investment management and structured finance.  Christian graduated from Hochschule fuer Bankwirtschaft (HfB) in Frankfurt, Germany in 1995 and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Financial Risk Manager (FRM).  Christian is the founder and president of Proyecto Horizonte Ushpa-Ushpa, a village development project that supports over 800 children and their families in Bolivia.  The program also offers microenterprise support.

Urmi Sengupta, Vice President for Knowledge Exchange, ShoreBank International

Urmi Sengupta joined ShoreBank International in 2004 to work with ShoreCap Exchange as a Program Consultant.  Urmi is currently the Vice President for Knowledge Exchange and is responsible for managing the Knowledge Exchange Program, which is focused on strengthening partner banks through banker to banker peer learning mechanisms.  Prior to joining the ShoreBank team, Urmi worked in corporate banking in India and has extensive small business banking experience.  She holds a graduate business degree with a concentration in finance from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, and a graduate degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.  Urmi also worked with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Trade and Investment Division in the summer of 2003.

Edward A. Snyder, Dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Economics at the School

In his role as Dean, Mr. Snyder oversees the overall academic, financial, and administrative leadership of the school, including its academic programs in Chicago, London, and Singapore. 

During his tenure beginning in July 2001, Mr. Snyder has focused on strengthening the school's values with the objective of ensuring that Chicago Booth continues to offer the most challenging academic programs of any business school in the world. His other main strategic imperative has been to strengthen the school's relationships with business and alumni around the world for the dual purposes of (a) increasing opportunities for Chicago Booth students and alumni, and (b) increasing the school's influence so that it can continue to help improve business practices, increase performance, and strengthen the world's market-oriented economies. 

As a scholar, Mr. Snyder is interested mainly in industrial organization, antitrust economics, law and economics, and financial institutions. Mr. Snyder co-teaches a course, Economic Analysis of Major Policy Issues, with Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy. 

Mr. Snyder received his PhD in economics and an M.A. in public policy from the University of Chicago. His research develops insights into business practices, specifically distribution and contracting practices, antitrust enforcement, and public policy. Before joining Chicago Booth, Mr. Snyder was Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School. He began his academic career at the University of Michigan Business School.

Dr. Robert S. Spich, Faculty, Global Economics and Management, Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA

Dr. Spich specializes in international management, negotiations, leadership and international entrepreneurship. He is a founding faculty member (2000) of the Principal’s Leadership Program, where he teaches a course on leadership for teachers on career track to become principals of urban schools.

After earning his first degree in international relations at Lafayette College, Dr. Spich gained field experience in development projects for the Peace Corps in Latin America and AID in Southeast Asia. After earning both his MBA and PhD in management and international business from the University of Washington in Seattle, Dr. Spich was awarded fellowships from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University as well as the Fulbright Scholars Program. His Latin American cross cultural capability has continued to create teaching and consulting opportunities with both private and academic executive programs in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Mexico.

Dr. Spich is Faculty Program Director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at the Anderson School. CIBER creates, supports and runs programs and events to facilitate the internationalization of management curriculum and research. Dr. Spich has worked with students teams to develop business and international marketing plans with over 30 international startup companies.

Internationally, Dr. Spich has had the honor to teach in the most distinguished universities in Latin American including the Pontificia Universidad Catolica (PUC) and the Universidad de Adolfo Ibanez of Chile, Universidad Austral (IAE) of Buenos Aires and ESAN of Peru. More recently Dr. Spich has been invited to participate as consultant and teacher in the building of new business schools and programs in Central Europe including the USBSP (U.S. Business School Prague), the PEF/IBSS programs in Graz, Austria. Dr. Spich continues to research and write about topics which include security and risk in IB and global leadership development.

Tamra Thetford, Program Manager, Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program

Tamra heads FIELD’s MicroTest program.  MicroTest is a national program performance measurement and client outcomes tracking project for the microenterprise industry.  With MicroTest, she oversees primary data collection and compilation, provides written data analyses and feedback on data use to MicroTest members, and designs and delivers trainings related to program performance and client outcomes.  Additionally with FIELD, Ms. Thetford has conducted primary research and presented findings on the links between microenterprise and the informal economy.  Ms. Thetford has coordinated a project funded by the Ms. Foundation’s Collaborative Fund for Women’s Economic Development to both assess the performance of microenterprise agencies and social businesses, and monitor client-level outcomes.  Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, she was a Managing Associate for a consulting firm focused on international microenterprise and microfinance.  She holds a B.A. in International Studies from American University.

Lisa G. Thomas, Vice President of Capacity Building and Operations, ShoreCap Exchange

Ms. Thomas is responsible for assisting in the development and management of client one-on-one capacity building relationships in Asia and Africa and oversees all the operations of SCE. She also supports the President of SCE in fundraising and strategic activities. Prior to joining SCE, Ms. Thomas was a manager at The Clement Group, a Chicago-based strategy consulting firm.

In 2006, she completed an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in international business and economics. Before beginning her MBA, Ms. Thomas worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch in New York and distressed debt/equity research at CRT Capital in Connecticut.

Ms. Thomas holds a BS (Honors) in Finance from the University of Oregon.

Charles Wheelan, PhD, Sr. Lecturer in Public Policy, Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago

Charles Wheelan teaches several courses on understanding the policy process for Master’s students.  For the 2004-05 academic year, he was voted Professor of the Year in a Non-Core Course by the Harris School student body. 
In the fall of 2005, Wheelan taught the inaugural International Policy Practicum (IPP), in which 12 students studied economic reform in India for an academic term followed by a 10-day trip to Bangalore and Delhi to meet with economists, politicians, educators, civic leaders, and other experts.  The 2006 IPP examined poverty alleviation and income inequality in Brazil; Wheelan and students visited Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro to meet with experts on the topic.  The 2007 IPP visited Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank.  During the summer quarter, Wheelan is a visiting assistant professor of economics at Dartmouth College, his undergraduate alma mater.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago, Wheelan was Director of Policy and Communications for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a business-backed civic group promoting healthy regional growth in the Chicago area. From 1997 to 2002, Wheelan was the Midwest correspondent for The Economist. He has written freelance articles for the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Wheelan’s first book, Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, was published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2002. The bookwas released in paperback in September 2003 and is now being published in 10 languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. In 2007, the book was selected by 360 Degrees of Reading as one of the 360 books that every college bound student should read.

Wheelan also writes a monthly column for Yahoo! Finance called “The Naked Economist” that applies basic economic analysis to issues ranging from health care costs to traffic congestion. He is currently working on a public policy textbook that will be published by W.W. Norton & Company.

Wheelan holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.