Speakers Bio's

Colm A. O'Muircheartaigh

PhD, Dean & Professor, Harris School of Public Policy

Colm A. O'Muircheartaigh is dean and a professor in the Harris School and senior fellow in the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). O'Muircheartaigh's research encompasses survey sample design, measurement errors in surveys, cognitive aspects of question wording, and latent variable models for nonresponse. He is principal investigator on the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Internet Panel Recruitment Survey, and co-principal investigator on NSF's Data Research and Development Center and the National Institute on Aging's National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP). He is also responsible for the development of methodological innovations in sample design for NORC's face-to-face surveys in the U.S.

He joined the Harris School from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he was the first director of the Methodology Institute, the center for research and training in social science methodology, and a faculty member of the Department of Statistics since 1971. He has also taught at a number of other institutions, having served as a visiting professor at the Universities of Padova, Perugia, Firenze, and Bologna, and, since 1975, has taught at the Summer Institute of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

Formerly president of the International Association of Survey Statisticians and a council member of the International Statistical Institute, O'Muircheartaigh is actively involved in these and a number of other professional bodies. He is a member of the U.S. Census Bureau Federal Advisory Committee of Professional Associations (chair of the statistics subcommittee), a member of the Advisory Boards of the Panel Study on Income Dynamics (PSID) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), and a member of the National Academies Panel on Residence Rules for the 2010 Census. He is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, a fellow of the American Statistical Association, and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. He has served as a consultant to a wide range of public and commercial organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands. Through his work with the United Nations (FAO, UNDP, UNESCO), OECD, the Commission of the European Communities, the International Association for Educational Assessment (IEA), and others, O'Muircheartaigh has also worked in China, Myan Mar, Kenya, Lesotho, and Peru.

Bio Pic Edward A. Snyder, Dean and George Pratt Shultz

Professor of Economics, Booth School of Business

Edward A. Snyder is 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.

During Mr. Snyder's tenure, Chicago Booth has (a) moved into its new campus in Hyde Park as scheduled and on budget, (b) established its own campus in central London, (c) gained higher levels of recognition as offering the most rigorous MBA programs, (d) increased significantly the school's strengths in marketing and entrepreneurship, (e) instituted a program of peer-driven senior faculty reviews, (f) continued to meet its budget targets, (g) met its campaign goal of $300M, and (h) increased its endowment by over 150 percent. He is active in The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Civic Consulting Alliance, and an advisory group to Mayor Richard Daley. He serves on the boards of Argonne National Laboratory and Career Education Corporation.

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 Ph.D. 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.

KEYNOTES

Bob Annibale

Global Director, Citi Microfinance & Community Relations

Bob Annibale leads Citi’s commercial relationships with microfinance institutions, networks and investors working across Citi’s businesses, product groups and geographies, to expand access to financial services to underserved communities. He also manages Citi’s partnerships with global, national and local organizations to support community development programs focused on financial capability and asset building; microenterprise; and neighbourhood preservation, reinvestment and revitalization.

Since joining Citi in 1982, Bob has held a number of senior treasury, risk and corporate positions in Athens, Bahrain, Kenya, London and New York. He has served on many external boards and councils, including the Board of Advisors for the United Nations Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. He currently is a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and the Policy Committee of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford. He represents Citi on the Board of the Microfinance Information Exchange, the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds, the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, the Microfinance Network and the Executive Committee of CGAP (World Bank).

Bob completed 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.

Paul Christensen

Senior Lecturer, Kellogg School of Management

Paul Christensen is a Senior Lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management where he teaches courses on microfinance and international business. In addition, he helps direct the school’s International Business and Markets Program where he is involved in international curriculum development, visiting scholars and executives, student club activities and alumni outreach. Prior to Kellogg, Paul served as the founder and President of ShoreCap International Ltd., a $28 million private equity company sponsored by ShoreBank Corporation which invests in financial institutions in developing countries throughout Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Having established the company in London, Paul built a portfolio of 15 leading development finance institutions serving over 1,000,000 microfinance and small business clients and produced annual fund returns in excess of 20%. From 2000-2003, Paul served as President and CEO of ShoreBank Enterprise Group, a $12 million-asset small business development organization in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to joining ShoreBank, Paul was an Engagement Manager for the consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, where he focused on operations performance, organizational effectiveness and strategic planning for clients in the financial services, manufacturing, consumer goods, petroleum, and electric utility industries. Paul received an MBA with distinction from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts, economics, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Dartmouth College.

Martin Holtmann

Head of Microfinance, International Finance Corporation

Martin Holtmann heads the Microfinance Group in the IFC’s Global Financial Markets Department, with a client portfolio consisting of more than 80 MFIs and $800 million in outstanding commitments. Before joining the IFC, he was Lead Financial Specialist at the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), where he managed CGAP’s cooperation with commercial banks and the CGAP activities in the technology area. He is a board member of the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and the Microfinance Management Institute.

Martin Holtmann started his career in commercial banking with Deutsche Bank in Buenos Aires. After a stint in management consulting (Monitor Company, London), he spent twelve years as program manager and then Managing Director of IPC, a firm specializing in microfinance consulting and management services for microfinance banks. From 1995 through 2001 he was the Moscow-based director of the EBRD Russia Small Business Fund, a program that has extended more than US$ 3 billion to MSMEs. He has designed and implemented several bank downscaling programs and greenfield banks. Martin Holtmann has been a faculty member of the Boulder Microfinance Training Program since 1996. He is the author of several publications on micro and small business finance and on the design of staff incentive schemes. He is a graduate of the L.B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Victoria, B.C., Canada, and holds Master’s degrees from Trier University (Business Economics) and Harvard (Public Administration).

Tim Ogden

Editor-in-chief, Philanthropy Action and Executive Partner at Sona Partners

Tim Ogden is editor-in-chief of Philanthropy Action and is an Executive Partner at Sona Partners, a thought leadership communications firm. He has collaborated on, edited or ghostwritten more than a dozen books published by Tier One publishers and co-authored or ghostwritten several articles for Harvard Business Review. His work has appeared in Miller-McCune magazine, Alliance magazine and on Harvard Business Review online and Business Week online. He is frequently quoted in the New York Times, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

PANELISTS

Karen Hunt Ahmed

Assistant Professor, DePaul University

Dr. Karen Hunt-Ahmed is Assistant Professor of Finance and Management at DePaul University, teaching Islamic Finance and Microfinance. Dr. Hunt-Ahmed received her BA and MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She has worked in the banking sector in Chicago and in private equity in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Her research interests include Islamic finance, microfinance, globalization, moral beliefs and business practice, ethical investing and the sociocultural implications of business practice. Dr. Hunt-Ahmed is the President of the Chicago Islamic Microfinance Project and is also on the advisory committee of DePaul’s Center for Financial Services. She is working on a book entitled: The “Business” of Culture: Morality and Practice in Islamic Finance. She lived in Dubai for many years and has traveled extensively in the Middle East, Pakistan, Africa and Europe.

Charles Belanger

Regional Research Specialist of Latin America, FINCA International

Charles Belanger works at FINCA International in the region of Latin America and Caribbean, where he is in charge of research and customer relationship initiatives aimed at measuring client outreach and retention. In April 2010, he was in Haiti conducting customer research. Charles has recently been invited to the University of Zacatecas (Mexico), to speak about microfinance and women’s mobilisation in West Africa, and he has been invited at the Royal Military College of Canada to speak about microfinance’s contribution to conflict resolution in the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He previously worked with the Canadian International Development Agency in Peru, where he was working on microfinance projects. Charles’s ongoing research includes banks downscaling in Peruvian microfinance, integration of customers’ socio-economic characteristics to explain repayment rate, and use of panel data to study evolution of microfinance customers. Charles holds a Master degree in Political Economy of International Development from the University of Toronto.

Scott Bellows

Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Kiva Microfunds

A graduate of the Chicago Booth School of Business MBA program, Scott worked in commercial banking for six years in Chicago and Cleveland. He moved to Africa in 2004 and first consulted with CARE International in Sudan and Kenya and then worked as the Managing Director of two different microfinance institutions in Central Africa with World Relief and later World Vision.

Scott currently serves as the Regional Director for Asia Pacific at Kiva Microfunds. He now resides in San Francisco and maintains a home in Kenya, where he is on the faculty of the United States International University of Africa.
In addition to Chicago Booth, Scott conducted graduate and doctoral studies at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Durham (UK).

Paul Blyth

Chief Financial Officer, MicroPlace Inc.

Paul Blyth is CFO, Financial & Operations Principle, President of the Due Diligence Committee, and Head of Business Development at MicroPlace Inc, an eBay company. For the last 2+ years 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 on the idea of providing 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 since inceptionJ

Before landing at MicroPlace, Paul spent nearly two decades in finance. Beginning as an auditor at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, London, he migrated into PwC's management consulting practice. After over 8 years with excel spreadsheets, balanced scorecards, and strategic plans Paul moved into an even sexier industry - the world of pallets! Paul led the commercial finance activities at CHEP Europe (the world’s largest pallet business). After c. 5 years of blue pallets, 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. Advertising had its appeal, but Paul was becoming increasingly frustrated by the irony that the “rich” (institutions, governments, and HNWs) could invest in the world’s working poor, but the “average Joe” did not have access to the microfinance asset class. Sitting at his kitchen table with a piece of paper and a pencil, Paul designed a marketplace for the retail investor … during a Google search he stumbled upon a single web page outlining the idea for MicroPlace – he sent the “contact” (Tracey Pettengill Turner) an e-mail … the rest (they say) is history.

Paul has lived and worked in the UK, Canada, France, India, pan-Europe, and the US. Born in London, he spent his childhood in both the UK and rural Canada. He obtained an undergraduate Honours degree in Politics & Business and 3 year Chartered Accountancy qualification in the UK, before moving to the US and completing the Series 7, 27, and 63 qualifications. His wife survived.

Paul now lives in San Francisco with his wife Rachel (a journalist) and their two children Thomas (2 years: toddler, expert climber, and thrower of bananas) and Alice (8 months and perfect J). They sleep occasionally.

Peter Bremberg

Manager, IFMR Capital

Peter manages Investor Relations and Business Development activities at IFMR Capital. Based in India, IFMR Capital provides access to debt capital for institutions impacting low-income households, through structured credit investments and financial guarantees. Prior to joining IFMR Capital, Peter worked in the Institutional Equities Division of Bear Stearns in New York. During his tenure with Bear Stearns, he helped hedge fund clients to formulate equity investment ideas and hosted hundreds of meetings between investors and company management teams, research analysts, and industry experts. He was a founding member of the Bear Stearns Microfinance Working Group and graduated magna cum laude from Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he studied Philosophy and Business Finance.

Jonathan Brereton

CELO, 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 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.

Bridget Burkhardt

Senior Consultant, ShoreBank International

Bridget Burkhardt is a Senior Consultant at ShoreBank International, the international consulting arm of ShoreBank Corporation, which is the first and largest community development bank in the United States. ShoreBank International works with local financial institutions throughout the world to create greater access to capital for underserved clients and to generate economic wealth within its target markets. Ms. Burkhardt specializes in strategic advisory and capital mobilization assignments for financial institutions in Africa and Asia. She works with SBI’s clients to structure investment vehicles to mobilize investor capital to support their economic development programs. She co-led the team that advised BRAC in the raising of the BRAC Africa Loan Fund in 2008. Since joining SBI in 2006 she has also completed a number of strategic advisory assignments, including the development of business plans for the restructuring and recapitalization of a specialized bank focused on women, the entry of a mid-sized bank into the SME lending market, and the entry of a local bank into the microfinance market.

Ms. Burkhardt has a corporate finance background, with an emphasis on private equity and the financing of small- to medium-sized businesses. Prior to joining SBI she spent two and half years as a financial analyst in investment banking in New York and six years as an investment professional with private equity funds in New York, London and Chicago. Ms. Burkhardt holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Carlos Castello

Retired Executive Vice President, Global Programs, ACCION International

Mr. Carlos Castello has worked with ACCION International since 1985, most recently as the Executive Vice President of its Global Programs department. Having directed ACCION’s International Operations for Latin America since 1995, Mr. Castello took on the role of Executive Vice President of Global Programs in 2006. As Executive Vice President, Mr. Castello was responsible for the management and coordination of ACCION's technical assistance to its more than 30 worldwide partner institutions, supervising the work of US, Latin America, Africa and Asia-based teams of microfinance specialists who provide assistance in credit methodology, organizational development, business planning, financial management, management information systems (MIS), development of new financial products and branch expansion strategies. He was also responsible for the development of new microenterprise initiatives. Following his retirement in March 2010, Mr. Castello continues to serve in a consulting and advisory capacity for the organization and its partners.

Prior to his move to ACCION's headquarters, Mr. Castello worked in Bogotá, Colombia from 1992 to 1994 as the director of ACCION's regional technical assistance hub, Centro ACCION. As director, he was responsible for funding, program development, management, strategic planning and technical assistance.

Mr. Castello's extensive experience in microfinance includes his work from 1985 to 1992 as ACCION's director for operations in Colombia and as executive director of the Association of Solidarity Group Programs of Colombia, an organization that provided ongoing training and technical assistance to private organizations implementing microfinance programs. In the early 1980’s, prior to joining ACCION, Mr. Castello served as the Latin American representative for PACT, Inc., responsible for all grant making and support operations for the region.

A native of Colombia, Mr. Castello holds a M.S. in economics and development and a M.S. with distinction in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He graduated from Union College with a B.A. in International Administration.

George Conard

Executive Director, Technology for Microfinance, Grameen Foundation

George Conard leads the Technology for Microfinance group at Grameen Foundation, combining twenty years of technology industry experience with a deep passion for the mission of microfinance. George joined Grameen Foundation in 2005 to lead the pilot of Grameen Foundation’s Village Phone program in Rwanda and then launched Village Phone Rwanda SARL. Prior to joining Grameen Foundation, George drove international marketing and product development efforts, focused on education, at Microsoft Corporation and has volunteered and consulted on technology for development issues for a wide range of organizations, including Digital Partners, Microsoft and the Asia Foundation.

Kira Costanza

Executive Director, SunPower Afrique

Kira Costanza is the founder and Executive Director of SunPower Afrique, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to connect Microfinance Institutions and small businesses to solar PV systems in Togo, West Africa. This project stems from Kira’s work on the ground with an MFI in 2008 as a fellow for Kiva Microfunds.

Kira is also the Director of External Relations at SunPower Builders, her family’s 38-year-old, solar and green design-build firm outside of Philadelphia. Kira manages marketing and PR at SunPower, as well as business development and. Kira is an engaged member of the local and regional solar communities, actively participating in policy advocacy as a Board Member of MSEIA, a member of the Governor’s Solar Working Group and an active participant in other stakeholder meetings and associations.

Prior to her work in the solar industry, Kira worked with the Outreach team at the
International Peace Institute (IPI,) a peace and security policy think-tank at the United
Nations in New York, and supported research and advocacy to the UN as an intern with
the International Crisis Group’s Africa Program.

Kira received her BA from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec with a concentration
in Cultural Studies and Political Science, specializing in Developing Areas. Having
lived, studied and worked in Quebec, France and West Africa, she speaks fluent
French.

Patrick Thomas Fisher

Founder and President, Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund

Mr. Fisher founded Creation Investments in 2007 and has worked exclusively in the Microfinance Industry since inception in deal origination, due diligence, transaction execution and ongoing board capacities. He spent the majority of his career working in the financial services industry, most recently for JPMorgan Chase. His relevant work experience includes years of service in International Banking and Global Treasury and Trade Services, primarily covering Asia and Latin America. Mr. Fisher lived in China, specifically in Hong Kong and Beijing. Prior to that, Mr. Fisher marketed interest rate, commodity foreign exchange derivatives on Bank One’s Chicago trading floor. He received his credit training from American National Bank in Chicago. He has started numerous businesses, established three previous investment funds and has served on the board of several for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. His past experience includes executive leadership for a not-for-profit organization in Chicago. Mr. Fisher is a graduate of the JL Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he received a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and Marketing. He also received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, at the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in Philosophy, Theology, and Computer Applications. Mr. Fisher has studied biblical Greek, speaks intermediate Mandarin and is fluent in Spanish. He is a Certified Cash Manager, Certified Treasury Professional and a member of Mensa.

Roger Frank

Managing Partner & Founder, I3 Advisors LLC

Roger Frank is one of the pioneers in using the capital markets for social change. After 20 years on Wall Street with a focus on emerging markets, he was part of the team that created the first commercial, cross-border capital raise for microfinance. As part of that effort he spent several years traveling the globe convincing investors that poor women in emerging markets who wanted to take care of their families was a good credit risk. The models he helped create brought several billion dollars of commercial funding into the field and in 2008 he was part of the team that won a Fast Company Award for businesses pioneering new models for social impact.

He created I3 Advisors to build on build on his experience in microfinance, Wall Street, emerging markets and development to provide funding to Small & Medium Enterprises committed to social impact. He has worked with CEOs of major, multi-national corporations and Presidents of Central Banks; he has discussed new models for sustainability with Presidents and Princesses and taught women prisoners and disabled adults.

After starting his own graphic design studio, founding community arts programs, teaching in prisons & schools and an extensive tour behind the iron curtain, he received an MBA in Finance and International Business from New York University Stern School of Business. He holds a BFA, cum laude, from the University of Delaware, speaks conversational German and Spanish and is on the Livelihoods Council for Save the Children and the Microfinance Social Performance Task Force. When not traveling the globe he plays in a masters soccer league and actively coaches youth sports.

James Gutierrez

Chief Executive Officer, Progreso Financiero

James is a leading social entrepreneur and innovator in financial services serving the unbanked and lower-income. In 2005, James co-founded Progreso Financiero to bring micro-lending to the US Hispanic community and help millions of underbanked families build credit, move up the financial ladder, and achieve their lifelong aspirations.
Since 2006, Progreso has made over 35,000 loans, grown to over 120 employees and 25 locations in California and Texas, been certified by the US Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution, and secured over $40 million in venture capital funding. By 2012, Progreso aims to help over 1 million families enter the financial mainstream while bringing fair and responsible lending practices back to the forefront of America’s banking industry.

James has been featured in numerous media outlets, including the American Banker, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Business Week, and Bloomberg and is a frequent speaker on topics of financial empowerment for America’s poor. In 2009, James was a featured speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative, Microfinance USA, SOCAP, and the FDIC’s Advisory Board Meeting. He has also pioneered new policies on banking reform, helped co-found the Coalition of New Credit Models, and serves on the Pew Trust/New America Foundation’s Working Group on Small Dollar Lending.

James also serves on the boards of organizations dedicated to strengthening the American middle class from the bottom up, including the Latino Community Foundation, PERC, and Core Innovation Capital. As a young Latino entrepreneur, he enjoys helping other entrepreneurs succeed and has invested in over 15 start-ups. In 2009, James was invited to the White House as a leading young entrepreneur and received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Hispanic-Net.

James received his MBA from Stanford and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.

Kalyani S. Iyer

Consultant

Kalyani S. Iyer has a BA in International Studies from Vassar College and a MSc in International Public Policy and Political Economy from the University College London. A citizen of Singapore, Kalyani was based in Beijing on a fellowship after which she worked with China’s largest microfinance institution (MFI), where she was involved in their research initiatives, fundraising and setting up of strategic partnerships with foreign entities. Kalyani also spent a year with India’s second largest MFI, leading their alternative products vertical and was extensively involved in pilot-testing and launching financial and non-financial products and services for over four million clients in more than ten states across the country. In addition to her interest in innovative technologies for the low-income segment, Kalyani has a strong interest in India-China business and development issues.

Jodina Hicks

Chief Program Officer, Safer Foundation

Jodina Hicks was named Chief Program Officer of the Safer Foundation in 2008, and previous to this she was Safer’s Vice President of Public Policy and Community Partnerships since 2004. The Safer Foundation is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit providers of employment placement and job readiness training exclusively targeting people with criminal records. Other educational and social services are provided in support of its employment programs. Under contract with the Illinois Department of Corrections, Safer also manages two large adult transition centers with a total of 550 beds. University research acknowledges the success of these programs through low recidivism rates—Safer’s employment program boasts a 25.8-percentage point differential when compared with the same year Illinois State prison releases. At Safer, Ms. Hicks provides direction and oversight for workforce strategies, education, and new model development.

Jodina has an undergraduate degree and a Masters Degree in Urban Studies from Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania and received her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law in Camden New Jersey. Ms. Hicks serves on the Executive Committee of the Governor’s Statewide Community Safety and the City of Chicago’s Reentry Working Group and has been the recipient of many awards for leadership and for scholarship-the UrbanPromise organization established the Jodina Hicks Annual College Scholarship Award in her honor

Beth Houle

Chief of Staff, Opportunity International

Beth Houle is Chief of Staff at Opportunity International. Her responsibilities include global strategy, knowledge management, and marketing/brand. She is developing new processes and applications to set global templates and build Opportunity’s businesses, particularly its regulated institutions. With more than a decade of experience in microfinance, Beth served as Opportunity International’s head of marketing strategy from 2002-2006 and co-led the strategic planning for Opportunity International-US. Beth worked in private investment with Salomon Brothers Inc. in New York. Later, she worked in India funded by The Ford Foundation and Tata and Sons. Beth is founder of Women Advancing Microfinance Chicago/Midwest, an advisor to the One Acre Fund in Kenya, and on the finance committee for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Oak Park, IL where she resides with her husband and daughters.

Ruth Mbeba

Project Manager, Mennonite Economic Development Associates

Ruth Dueck Mbeba has over 20 years’ experience in accounting - in public accounting, as a controller, and as a practitioner and consultant in the field of microfinance. She was based in East Africa for 8 years, serving as a Finance and Training Specialist and Senior Consultant with MEDA. Ms. Dueck-Mbeba has extensive experience in building capacity at all levels of a micro-credit organization and in the development and implementation of appropriate systems and tools for best practices in microfinance. She also has considerable experience in the design and delivery of microfinance training curriculum and workshops, particularly in the area of accounting, financial management, risk management, internal controls and internal audits. She has conducted training for the Boulder Institute (Turin and Chile), for the School of Applied Microfinance in Kenya and for MicroSave in India.

Ruth’s range of country experience includes Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Pakistan, Tanzania and Thailand. She has also served as the Facilitator of SEEP’s Financial Services Working Group. Ruth is a Certified General Accountant (Canada), holds a certificate in Adult Education and is a candidate for the Certified Internal Auditor designation. Ruth is fluent in English, German and Swahili.

John McMahon

Director of NGO Markets, Salesforce

As Director of NGO Markets, Mr. McMahon is responsible for leveraging the power of Salesforce.com’s people, technology and resources to improve global communities and promote compassionate capitalism.

The Salesforce.com Foundation is based on a simple idea: Donate 1% of Salesforce.com’s resources to support organizations that are working to make our world a better place. The ultimate goal: to disseminate the financial, technological and intellectual wealth of the organization to those in our global communities who need it most. The Foundation’s accounts include ADIE, Janalakshmi Financial Services, Opportunity International, Kiva, Ashoka, Susan G. Komen, World Vision and The American Red Cross.
The Salesforce.com Foundation with help from Google.org, The Skoll Foundation, the WK Kellogg Foundation and the Lodestar Foundation developed Pulse which was created between Acumen Fund and the engineers from Google.com. Pulse provides an integrated approach to collecting either custom social performance metrics or social impact metrics based on the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS).

Mr. McMahon started his career at Cisco Systems, Inc. in 1989, was formerly Vice President of US Sales for Polycom and Chief Operating Officer for Network Engineering Technologies. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University and The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business CMI Program.

Nicholas Molodyko

Head of Practice Management, ShoreBank International Ltd.

Nicholas Molodyko is assigned primary line management for SBI's intellectual capital (IC) development activities including impact monitoring and reporting; capturing, storing and disseminating (internally and externally) across SBI’s communities of practice – microfinance, small business finance and housing finance. Prior to joining SBI, he was involved in the start-up of SBI's sister company, ShoreCap Exchange. Before joining ShoreBank, Nicholas spent over a decade managing donor-funded international public health projects where he provided technical assistance, managed logistics and served as an institutional liaison to the United Nations, and Sub-Saharan African NGOs and government agencies. He has written extensively in the areas of microfinance, knowledge exchange, and data collection methodology. Nicholas served as Chief Editor for UPsides, a development finance publication, with the Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO) where he worked with FMO’s experts in their application of standards for performance measurement including the IFC Performance Standards, the Equator Principles, and the Global Reporting Initiative. Nicholas serves on the CGAP Steering Committee for Knowledge Management. He was recently nominated to serve on the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) Steering Committee and has been a member of the SPTF since its inception.

Terry Provance

Executive Director, Oikocredit USA

Terry Provance has been Executive Director of Oikocredit USA, in Washington, DC,
since November, 2001, and has worked successfully to increase investments and publicity
for the socially responsible and development-focused nationwide organization.
Rev. Provance is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He pastored a local UCC congregation in Pittsburgh for 5 years before administering an international program in
the national Cleveland office for 10 years prior to joining Oikocredit.
Terry has traveled extensively throughout the world visiting over 100
countries for peace, economic justice, disarmament and racial equality. He has worked
for the National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church USA, American Friends
Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Association and received an MDiv
from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and an MA in Christian Social Ethics from the
Graduate Theological Union.

Sarah Rotman

Associate Microfinance Analyst, CGAP

Sarah Rotman is Associate Microfinance Analyst at CGAP. She works on the project and research agenda of the Technology Program, designing innovative projects in the area of branchless banking in order to deliver financial services to low-income customers. Her research projects include exploring the business case for agents and developing future scenarios of branchless banking. Prior to joining CGAP in 2008, she interned with the Urwego Opportunity Microfinance Bank in Kigali, Rwanda. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin and later worked for a development nonprofit on educational projects in Haiti and Africa. Sarah has a master's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS.

Lori Scott

Vice President of Community Investment Partners, Calvert Foundation

Lori Scott is the Program Manager of the Calvert Foundation Community Investment Partners program. The goal of Community Investment Partners (CIP) is to increase community investment, by replicating Calvert Foundation’s successful lending and investment strategies and products. CIP has worked with over 20 leading foundations, corporations and other institutions, and Lori manages a combined portfolio of over $40 million in community development loans and investments. She provides in-depth services related to community development portfolios, from design an implementation of lending programs, strategy and policy development, market research, as well as on-going portfolio management and investor and loan administration.

Lori has been with the Foundation since 1999, starting with the Lending Program. Prior to the Calvert Foundation, she was the Loan Fund Manager at the Illinois Facilities Fund, a statewide communities facilities lender. While at the IFF, Lori evaluated the first round of charter school applications and implemented the charter school loan program. Lori co-authored the "Community Development Primer" for the Social Investment Forum which provides investors with information needed to evaluate community investment opportunities. She has a MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Lori lives in Chicago with her husband and two sons.

Lolita Sereleas

Founding Partner, FUND Consulting

Lolita Sereleas is a consultant providing targeted services to mission driven organizations with a focus on community development financial institutions. Ms. Sereleas has 15 years experience in the not-for-profit sector through her work at Chicago area non-profit organizations. For four years, Ms. Sereleas directed the delivery of community development consulting services to organizations nationwide at a not-for- profit research and consulting firm. In October of 2000 she established a consulting firm, FUND Consulting. Over the past 10 years FUND Consulting has provided consulting services to over 100 community development financial institutions nationwide.

Ms. Sereleas holds a M.S. degree in Public Service Management and a Graduate Certificate in Metropolitan Planning from DePaul University. Ms. Sereleas currently serves as part-time faculty at DePaul University’s Public Service Graduate program.

MODERATORS

Ryan Calkins

Board of Director, SeaMo

Ryan Calkins is the founder and chairman of SeaMo, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the microfinance community. After graduating from Willamette University with a BA in Religious Studies, Calkins worked in Honduras for the World Council of Churches on their Hurricane Mitch relief efforts. He then spent two years as a researcher in Colombia for Witness for Peace, a US-based human rights organization. In 2005 Calkins graduated from Yale University with an MA in International Relations. His current project at SeaMo addresses the mid-level management capacity problem in microfinance.

James Dailey

Director and Chief Technology Officer, MicroEnergy Credits

Beginning his service with Opportunity-US in 1984, Larry has held a variety of senior positions within the organization. In 1991, he founded Opportunity's Africa Regional Office in Zimbabwe, and served as its Africa Regional Director until 1996. Upon returning to the US, he became Vice President of Opportunity-US for global operations. Opportunity internationalized its structure in 1998, and Larry was asked to lead the new Opportunity International Network.

Larry is the past chair of the Small Education Enterprise Promotion (SEEP) Network, a research and advocacy group of microfinance industry practitioners. Also, he was a plenary speaker at the 2006 Micro Credit Summit, the 2006 Veritas Forum at Colombia University and New York University, the 1999 Microcredit Summit Meeting of Councils in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and a featured speaker on microfinance at the 1999 World Parliament of Religions Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. He has also published several articles on microfinance and served as a contributor to "The New World of Microfinance" (Rhyne, Otero, et. al., 1996), “Serving with the Poor in Africa” (Yamamori, Myers, Bediako and Reed, 1996), “Globalization and the Kingdom of God” (Goudzwaard, 2001) and “More Pathways Out of Poverty” (2006, Harris et. al.).

Larry is a graduate of Wheaton College and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Larry and his wife, Sandy, live in Oak Park, Illinois and have three children, all in their 20s.

Preeth Gowdar

Kellogg School of Management

Preeth Gowdar is an MBA student at the Kellogg School of Management. Prior to joining Kellogg, he spent two years with Lok Capital, a venture capital fund focused on providing equity capital and capacity building support to Microfinance Institutions in India. On the investment side, Preeth worked in the areas of operational due diligence, financial evaluation as well as deal structuring. He also spent time in portfolio management, helping to improve the management level operations of portfolio MFIs. Previously, Preeth had worked with Accenture as a Management Consultant, serving clients in a variety of industries, throughout the United States, Europe and India. He holds a Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Alicia S. Menendez

PhD, Research Associate (Associate Professor), Harris School of Public Policy

Alicia S. Menendez is a research associate (associate professor) in the Harris School, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, and a principal research scientist at NORC. Her research interests include development economics, poverty and inequality, labor economics, and household behavior. She is particularly interested in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. She is currently engaged in a project that collects and analyzes data on individuals' health and economic status, the costs associated with illness and death, and the impact of adult deaths on households and children's well being in a series of household surveys in South Africa.

Menendez received her PhD in economics from Boston University. Before coming to the University of Chicago, she was a lecturer in public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and a researcher at the Research Program in Development Studies at Princeton University.

Larry Reed

Independent Consultant

Larry Reed is a consultant and trainer focused on developing solutions that bring financial services to those excluded from financial systems around the world. He teaches courses on “Poverty Lending and Financial Viability” and “Commercial Bank Based Poverty Lending” and has worked with clients such as the World Bank, the Boulder Institute of Microfinance, the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion Network (SEEP), ACCION International and the US Agency for International Development.

Larry previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Opportunity International Network, a global coalition of 60 microfinance organizations in over 30 countries. Opportunity's Partner Organizations include microfinance programs in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, and support offices in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US. In this role Larry helped Opportunity develop formal financial institutions focused on serving the bottom end of the economic ladder. He led Opportunity to convert NGO’s into banks that provide a range of financial services for the poor. He also helped to create the world’s largest microinsurance brokerage, helping the poor to gain life, health, property and crop insurance.

Robert Spich

Senior Lecturer, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Dr. Robert S. Spich is a senior lecturer of management and international business at UCLA Anderson School of Management where he is a faculty member in the Global Economics and Management area. His teaching specialty covers courses in international management, emerging markets, negotiations and cross cultural issues in global business. With a bachelors degree in international relations from Lafayette College, Dr. Spich continued his professional formation with field experience in economic development projects and technical assistance for the Peace Corps in Chile and the Agency for International Development in Washington D.C. After earning both his MBA and Ph.D. in management and international business from the University of Washington in Seattle, Dr. Spich was recipient of several research and teaching fellowships to Latin America from both the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University as well as the Fulbright Scholars Program. In addition to his regular courses, Professor Spich has been invited to teach specialized sessions in the Executive MBA and Executive Programs Seminars at UCLA as well as at the University of Washington, the University of Victoria, the American Business School in Prague and the Executive Extension programs at UC Berkley and UCLA. Given his extensive Latin American experience, he has been regularly invited to lecture in executive programs in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Mexico. For the past two years he has co-taught an international strategy course at Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the UC San Diego. In addition he has authored and taught a unique on-line web course in negotiations in the international management program of the University of San Diego.
In addition to his teaching, Dr. Spich has been named as Faculty Program Director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at UCLA Anderson. He recently co-authored a four year renewal of this grant. CIBER works to facilitate the internationalization of curriculum, research and outreach programs at the Anderson School. Two main programs under his charge are the International Management Seminar programs which bring foreign Executive MBA students for a week of classes and field visits to UCLA, and the Advanced International Management Program which allows MBA students to internationalize their degree with work experience abroad, research projects and coursework. In addition, Dr. Spich is a member of the GAP Entrepreneurship faculty which works on developing business plans for new high technology companies in six GAP partner countries.

As a consultant and trainer Dr. Spich has worked with such companies as Hughes Space and Communications, Northrop-Grumman, The Governor's Principle Leadership Institute at UCLA, ENEL of Italy, Amgen, Akzo-Nobel, Disney, Isabella Fiore, Sierra Systems and the Getty Conservation Institute of the Getty Museum. He is also an invited reviewer of entrepreneurial proposals for state funding for the CalTIP Program of the California Technology and Trade Agency. In addition he is presently working with Austrian institutions in Graz to set up an international management training program for southeast Europe.

In the past two years he has authored two web-based modular strategic management training courses for the Global Windows Partners at UCLA. His most recent writings are a chapter on international business negotiations for book on culture training in business education.

PRESENTERS

Burcu Guvenek Arasli

International Development and Microfinance Expert

Ms. Güvenek Arasli is a seasoned microfinance expert with 17 years experience in banking and financial research/credit analysis, with profound knowledge on the Turkish banking sector, and on microfinance in the emerging markets.

Ms. Arasli worked as the UNDP Microfinance Programme Manager amongst other assignments. She has designed numerous microfinance projects for implementation for several CIS countries and for Turkey. In addition to the microfinance programmes she build up from a sector development approach, she also developed micro credit and microfinance programmes for many banks. Additionally, Ms. Arasli is an renowned lecturer in microfinance, working at the faculty of business administration at Middle East Technical University.

Prabhat Labh

Senior Technical Advisor, CARE USA

Prabhat Labh is a microfinance practitioner with close to 14 years of work experience in international development. He is a management graduate and am presently working as Senior Technical Advisor for CARE USA’s pan-Africa microfinance program called ‘Access Africa’, responsible for facilitating linkage between savings-led informal microfinance groups and financial institutions across several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and Rwanda). In Mr. Labh’s 14 years of work, he has been engaged in the sectors of enterprise development and microfinance. Mr. Labh specializes in the area financial linkage, strategic planning, institution development, capacity building, financial analysis and investment management in microfinance. For last seven years, he has been working with CARE USA.

Prior to this, Mr. Labh worked with AXIS Bank (India) and with Entrepreneurship development Institute of India.

David Roodman

Research Fellow, Center for Global Development

David Roodman is a research fellow at the Center for Global Development currently focusing on microfinance. He is writing a book on the subject through an "open book" blog, through which he shares chapter drafts. He has been architect and manager of the Commitment to Development Index since the project's inception in 2002. He has written several papers questioning the capacity of common cross-country statistical techniques to shed light on what causes economic development. David previously worked at the Worldwatch Institute, where he wrote three monographs on environmental issues, and one on debt, Still Waiting for the Jubilee: Pragmatic Solutions for the Third World Debt Crisis. He authored the bookThe Natural Wealth of Nations: Harnessing the Market for the Environment. The Japanese edition garnered him a selection as one of "The Outstanding Young Persons" of 2003 by the Osaka Junior Chamber, which included an audience with the Emperor and Empress.

Urmi Sengupta

Vice President, Knowledge Exchange, ShoreCap Exchange Corporation

Urmi Sengupta is Vice President, Knowledge Exchange for ShoreCap Exchange (SCE). She is responsible for designing and disseminating tools, strategies and programs that bring together portfolio company bankers in peer exchanges, specifically in the areas of small business lending, human resources and risk management. Ms. Sengupta manages knowledge exchange activities to strengthen portfolio companies and impact the field. She has dual roles with ShoreCap Management and SCE. Ms. Sengupta joined ShoreCap in 2004 after completing a graduate degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. After completing her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore in 1998 with a concentration in finance, Ms. Sengupta worked with Bank of America for four years. Her roles, ending with Assistant Vice President, Portfolio Management, included credit and relationship management of domestic and multinational corporations in Delhi and Chennai, specific credit administration duties for the bank’s Asia-wide portfolio and relationship management for a select group of financial institutions. Ms. Sengupta received her undergraduate degree from the University of Delhi in finance and accounting.

Ling Sun
UCLA Anderson School of Management

Ling Sun is a full time MBA student at UCLA Anderson focusing on finance and strategy. She currently serves as the VP of Finance of the Greater China Business Association (GCBA) at UCLA Anderson and is the Director of the Woo China Business Conference 2010. She received a BS in chemical engineering and a BA in English from Tianjin University in China. Prior to UCLA Anderson, Ling worked as an engineer for Procter & Gamble, and later transferred to a mainstream newspaper in Beijing where she worked in the marketing and advertising department. She quickly adapted to the new position and became an expert in Marketing, honing her communication skills through extensive communication and negotiation with advertising agencies and clients.

Lisa Thomas

Vice President, Capacity Building and Operations, ShoreCap Exchange Corporation

Lisa G. Thomas is Vice President, Capacity Building and Operations for ShoreCap Exchange (SCE). She is responsible for assisting in the development and management of client one-on-one capacity building relationships. She also oversees all of the operations of SCE and supports the President of SCE in fundraising and strategic activities. She has dual roles with ShoreCap Management and SCE. Prior to joining ShoreCap, 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 Graduate School of Business with concentrations in international business and economics. Before beginning her MBA, Ms. Thomas was an associate in research for CRT Capital in Connecticut covering companies with distressed debt and equity and an investment banking analyst for Merrill Lynch in New York focusing on retail and consumer products firms. Ms. Thomas holds a BS (Honors) in Finance from the University of Oregon.

Andrew Wright
UCLA Anderson School of Management

Andrew Wright’s academic interests are in finance and operations. He graduated with a 1st Class MA in Russian from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and spent a year living and working in Odessa, Ukraine. Andrew began his career in audit with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, going on to work as a management consultant before becoming a business analyst for e-commerce company GroupTrade.com. Prior to attending UCLA Anderson, he headed an international team of analyst developers for the banking consultancy Thomas Murray, designing analytical services and managing relationships with many of the world’s largest institutional investors and banks. Andrew is the president of UCLA Anderson’s International Business Association.