Chicago Microfinance Conference

Alex Counts is President and CEO of Grameen Foundation, a dynamic Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization focusing on enabling the poor, and especially the poorest, to create a world without poverty, utilizing the tools of microfinance and technology. GF has grown to a global network of microfinance and technology partners in more than 25 countries. Counts became Grameen Foundation’s first chief executive in 1997, after ten years of working in microfinance and poverty reduction, including six years living and working in Bangladesh.

A 1988 Cornell University graduate, with a degree in economics, Counts’ commitment to poverty eradication deepened as a 1988-9 Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh, where he witnessed dire poverty as well as the innovative solutions that had been developed and applied on a wide scale by the Grameen Bank and other members of the Grameen family of companies. He trained under and worked closely with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank, and the co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

Counts founded Grameen Foundation (www.grameenfoundation.org) in 1997 with a mere $6,000 in seed capital and a charge from Dr. Yunus. This new organization was to play the role of catalyst, channeling human, financial and technological resources in the United States to support the growth of the poverty-focused microfinance movement internationally.

Grameen Foundation’s annual budget has grown in each year of its existence, from $100,000 in 1997 to over $22 million ten years later, and since inception it has mobilized more than $200 million* in support of its poverty-reduction programs. Its breakthrough impact has been chronicled in the Economist and elsewhere.

Counts has propelled Grameen Foundation’s philosophy and approach through his writings on poverty and microcredit for the poor. His latest work, Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World, was published by John Wiley & Sons in April 2008. He is also the author of Give Us Credit: How Muhammad Yunus' Microlending Revolution is Empowering Women from Bangladesh to Chicago, which was published by Random House in 1996. The Indian edition of this book was the inspiration behind the establishment of Grameen Koota, a microfinance institution in Bangalore, India, that was serving 110,000 women as of June 2007. He has been published in the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Christian Science Monitor and elsewhere.

Counts serves on the Board of Directors similar governing bodies of many poverty-focused institutions. He chairs the board of Project Enterprise in New York City, and is vice-chair of the board of Fonkoze USA, which supports microfinance in Haiti. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion International and is Co-Chair of the Microenterprise Coalition, a network of U.S.-based organizations working to promote more supportive policies for microfinance.

In addition to working with Grameen Bank in 1988-89 and 1992-1994, he served for three years as the legislative director of RESULTS, an international grassroots citizen's lobbying group working to create the political will to end hunger that has played a leading role in advocating for increased funding and better targeting of resources to support global health, education and microfinance initiatives. He also served as a regional project manager for CARE-Bangladesh for two years.

In 2007, he received the Horace Mann Alumni Association's Award for Distinguished Achievement.

Counts speaks Bengali and lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Emily and cat, Seymour.

Kathleen Odell teaches economics in Dominican University’s Brennan School of Business and co-directs the Brennan School’s Center for Global Peace through Commerce which studies the role of business and commerce in promoting peace, economic development, and human rights. Her recent research has focused on impact assessment in economic development with a focus on microfinance.

Robin joined Accion Chicago in June 2012. She combines more than twenty years of experience in strategic planning, operations, marketing, and consumer services with a passion for economic justice. As Vice President at Working Assets, Inc. (aka Credo Mobile) in San Francisco, CA, she helped grow the company into a successful $150 million social enterprise. Most recently, she was a Managing Partner in Greiner, Schonberg & Associates, LLC where she provided business development expertise to start-ups and private investors. At Accion, Robin is responsible for Accounting & Operations, Development & Communications, and Programs & Impact. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Smith College where she double-majored in Economics and Government. Robin has been active on several boards focused on education, health and the environment.

Robert Gertner is Deputy Dean for Part-time Programs and Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Strategy and Finance at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is also Faculty Co-Director of Chicago Booth’s Social Enterprise Initiative. His research focuses on issues in strategic decision-making, corporate finance, organization structure, theory of the firm, and social enterprises. He has published papers in numerous scholarly journals including the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies, and the Yale Law Journal. He is co-author, with colleagues Douglas Baird and Randy Picker, of Game Theory and the Law. Rob teaches courses in strategic decision-making, entrepreneurial strategy, and social entrepreneurship.

Rob is a board member of the Interfaith Youth Core, a trustee of NORC, a member of the Evaluation Advisory Council of the Chicago Public Education Fund and the Faculty Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion International.

Rob received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1981 and a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1986.

Mike's responsibilities as a Social Performance Analyst include collecting and analyzing social performance data from MFIs around the world, as well as training MFIs and networks on social performance reporting, coordinating various IT initiatives, and presenting MIX’s research at conferences around the world. He began at MIX in July of 2009 as an Associate Financial Analyst but switched his focus to social performance in 2010. Before coming to MIX, Mike did work for Search for Common Ground, an international conflict resolution non-profit based in Washington, DC. He holds an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. He speaks French and German in addition to his native English.

Tamra Thetford is a Program Manager at the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program where she heads FIELD’s microTracker program. MicroTracker is a national program performance measurement and client outcomes tracking project for the microenterprise industry. With microTracker, she oversees primary data collection and compilation, provides written data analyses and feedback on data use to microTracker subscribers, 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.

Alicia S. Menendez is a Research Associate (Associate Professor) in the Harris School and the Department of Economics, and a Principal Research Scientist at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). Her research interests include development economics, education and health, labor markets, 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 wellbeing 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.

As a Senior Associate at the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), Maria stewards new and existing partnerships in the public, private and nonprofit sectors to strengthen CFSI’s position as the leading authority on financial services for underserved consumers. Maria also supports CFSI’s strategic programs, including the FinCapDev Competition—a nationwide challenge to develop new mobile apps that will help working Americans make smart financial choices and receive better access to financial services.

Prior to CFSI, Maria worked with the Center for Economic Progress (CEP), which operates one of the largest free-tax preparation programs in Illinois. At CEP, Maria managed an asset-building pilot to leverage the tax-time moment as an opportunity to move low-income consumers closer to financial security. Through this experience, Maria developed a deep understanding of the financial services needs of low-income consumers and a passion for building a more vibrant financial services marketplace.

Maria graduated magna cum laude from Beloit College with a B.A. in Economics and Sociology.

Dennis sets the institutional and corporate donor fundraising strategy and provides oversight for the grant and equity funding placed in Opportunity's operations in over 20 countries. He also serves on the board of MicroEnsure, Opportunity's insurance subsidiary, and is a board member of Opportunity’s financial institution in Colombia. Dennis joined Opportunity in 1992 as vice president for programs and served as vice president for planning and development before moving into his current role. Previously, Dennis was founding president of Exodus World Service, a humanitarian agency devoted to mobilizing community groups, families and individuals on behalf of refugees settling in the US. From 1980-1986 he was World Relief Corporation's director of program services in the Refugee Services Division, and vice president and director of the Refugee Services Division from 1986-1988. Dennis holds an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a BA from Evangel College.

Bhagwan Chowdhry is a Professor of Finance at UCLA Anderson where he has held an appointment since 1988.

Professor Chowdhry has also taught at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Indian School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. He also has an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Iowa and a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology.

His research interests, on which he has published several papers in finance and economics journals, are in International Finance and Corporate Finance and Strategy. He has been on the editorial board of a number of finance journals. He teaches International Finance, Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions at Anderson. He has also organized and taught Executive Education programs on Financial Derivatives, Corporate Risk Management and Valuation in Los Angeles, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.

Microfinance has been his recent teaching, research and applied interest. He has supervised several MBA student projects in Microfinance in the last several years and has taught an undergraduate seminar class and an MBA elective on the subject. He has developed a new model for "Franchising Microfinance" on which he has written a research paper and is studying the feasibility of implementing the model with a Microfinance Institution.

Professor Chowdhry has recently proposed Financial Access at Birth (FAB) initiative in which every child born in the world is given an initial deposit of $100 in an online bank account to guarantee that everyone in the world will have access to financial services in a few decades.

As the Portfolio Manager for North America, Maika is responsible for developing and maintaining Kiva's growing portfolio in the US market. Prior to working in microfinance, Maika first gained her financial analysis skills while analyzing corporations under Piper Jaffray's Financial Restructuring Group. Working in-depth with companies in financial distress or bankruptcy has allowed Maika a strong eye towards recognizing both strengths and hidden weaknesses in non-traditional organizational settings. Maika also provides a unique familiarity with the US microfinance market. After leaving her investment banking post, she followed her interest in microfinance to begin working directly with US micro-entrepreneurs at ACCION USA. While at ACCION, Maika was charged with developing, servicing and maintaining a healthy portfolio of US entrepreneurs. Her experience at ACCION also led Maika to work extensively with technical assistance, partnership development, internal operational projects and training. Maika holds a B.S. in both Finance and International Business as well as a minor in Spanish from New York University.

Lisa G. Thomas is Director of Investments, Asia for Equator Capital Partners (ECP) and shares management of ECP's Asian investment portfolio. Prior to joining the investment team, Ms. Thomas was Vice President of Capacity Building and Operations for CapitalPlus Exchange, ECP's capacity building partner. She was responsible for the development and management of client one-on-one capacity building relationships for clients in Asia and Africa. She also oversaw the operations of Exchange and provided support for fundraising and strategic activities. Prior to this work, Ms. Thomas was a manager at The Clement Group, a Chicago- based strategy consulting firm. In 2006, Lisa completed an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business with concentrations in international business and economics. Before beginning her MBA, Lisa worked in research for CRT Capital in Connecticut covering companies with distressed debt and equity and in investment banking for Merrill Lynch in New York focusing on retail and consumer products firms. In addition to an MBA, Lisa holds a BS (Honors) in Finance from the University of Oregon.

Nitika Nautiyal Chauhan manages part of the lending team at ACCION Chicago and supervises the conception and execution of special projects on strategy and operations related to credit, lending and business development. Nitika joined ACCION Chicago in 2008 as a lender, serving small businesses in the Chicagoland area through a network of financial institutions, community based organizations, educational institutions and government agencies. Her key accomplishments during her years at ACCION Chicago include her work with the City of Chicago through a Small Business Advisory Group, increased visibility for ACCION Chicago in the Asian community and developing an internship program for the lending team.

Prior to joining ACCION Chicago, Nitika worked with a range of organizations engaged in the field of financial inclusion including Self Employed Women’s Association – SEWA in India, National Community Investment Fund and (then) Shore Cap Exchange based in Chicago.

Originally from India, Nitika completed her undergraduate degree in finance from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi and Masters in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is fluent in Hindi and eager to learn Spanish. Nitika is pursuing an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Economics, Finance and International Business.

Nitika lives with her husband in Chicago and the couple enjoys movies, cooking and travelling and very recently the world of parenthood with their four month old son Nilay.

As Co-Creator and Managing Partner of Eirëne (www.eirene.com), Michael TS Lindenmayer is building highly scalable purpose driven ventures by deploying visionary capital through a tribe of family stewards in order to create a more peaceful and prosperous world.

Michael is combining entrepreneurship and philanthropy to drive radical change in the fields of education, sanitation, and aging.

Prior to creating Eirëne, Michael commenced his professional life in finance. He worked for Morgan Stanley in their institutional equities group in New York and London. He also worked in the strategy group at Charles Schwab.

After his financial service experience, Michael established himself as an entrepreneur. He collaborated with other family offices in developing and expanding a portfolio of wellness centers, real estate and social ventures in Europe, Africa and Latin America. He was an early adopter of the Grameen Bank and Room to Read, where his efforts established a network of over 10000 volunteers across 56 cities worldwide and built over 13000 libraries and reached over 7 million children.

He is the founder and chairman of the Caregiver Relief Fund (www.cgrelief.org). He is the co-chair for Eirëne’s Center for Purpose. He sits on the advisory board of the Stan Lee Foundation, World Blu (www.worldblu.com) and the Family Business Network.

Michael is a frequent speaker, lecturer and radio co-host. He has presented at University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Columbia University, Loyola and INSEAD. He has been featured in the New York Times and the Huffington Post. He is an associate fellow at the New Paths to Purpose Project at the Booth School of Business.

Michael holds a B.A. cum laude from Kalamazoo College. Michael completed academic research for Professor James P Womack during his tenure at the MIT Sloan School.

He is the co-author of the book Charity and Philanthropy for Dummies, to be published by Wiley in 2012. He is also the author of The Wisdom Flame, a work focused on helping families navigate caregiving and aging matters. He is a contributor to Forbes.com

For the past decade, Michael has divided his time between Chicago, London and Rio de Janeiro. He speaks five languages.

Urmi Sengupta is an international development finance and impact investing expert working as an independent consultant with international and domestic non-profits and foundations. She spent eight years with CapitalPlus Exchange, an international non-profit focused on enhancing access to micro and small business finance in emerging markets. In her time there, Ms. Sengupta started major new initiatives, opened and managed relationships with financial service providers across Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia and created and promoted the use of networks and peer learning in collaborations with sectoral players. She also started the first ever global community network focused on small business banking in emerging economies. She was previously a corporate banker at Bank of America in India for four years before switching careers. She is an alum of the Harris School at the University of Chicago, IIM Bangalore, India and Delhi University, India. She is involved as a mentor and guest lecturer at the Harris School at the University of Chicago. Ms. Sengupta is also an active contributor to and volunteer with local social entrepreneurs and emerging creative social programs focused on financial services.