Biographies
Tuesday 21 March
Wednesday 22 March
Thursday 23 March
Friday 24 March
Ana Santos
Ana Santos is the Secretariat Coordinator of the Banking with the Poor network and works on microfinance programs at the Foundation for Development Cooperation, an independent, non-profit organisation committed to action research, policy development, advocacy and capacity building for sustainable development and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific. FDC is based in Brisbane, Australia. Ana worked for ten years in European banking institutions in both personal and commercial finance, and for five years as director of development programs for the Aga Khan Foundation, Portugal, before focusing on the field of microfinance. She holds advanced degrees in economics and international development, a first degree in Economics, has completed the Boulder Microfinance Training program, and is fluent in English, French and Portuguese. Ana has taken primary responsibility on behalf of FDC for organising the conference program for the Asia Microfinance Forum in Beijing, 2006.
Tuesday 21 March
Madam Wu Xiaoling
Feb. 2000
Deputy Governor, People's Bank of China
Nov. 1998
Vice President, People's Bank of China Shanghai Branch
April 1998
Director, State Administration of Foreign Exchange
1995
Deputy Director, State Administration of Foreign Exchange
1994
Director, Research Bureau, People's Bank of China
1991
Deputy Director, Financial Reform Dept. PBC
1988
Deputy Chief Editor, "Financial Times"
1985
Deputy Director, Office for Applying Theory Research, Research Institute of PBC
1984
Graduated from Graduate School of PBC, MA in Economics granted
Md. Shafiqual Haque Choudhury
Md. Shafiqual Haque Choudhury is the founder and President of ASA, an MFI in Bangladesh, which covers 4 million poor households, 5.8 million savers through a sustainable program of providing cost-effective financial services. ASA is known globally as the most cost-effective and quick growth organization.
Md. Shafiqual Haque Choudhury obtained his Masters Degree in Sociology from Dhaka University in 1969. Before founding ASA, he served at Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development as a trainer.
At present, he holds the status/position of:
- Team Leader of the International Technical Service Providers (ITSP) of UNDP MicroStart Program for the Philippines and Nigeria.
- Member of the Social Development Fund (SDF) board - a World Bank funded project in Bangladesh.
- Member, Govt Housing Revolving Fund - for low interest loan to NGOs for Housing project.
- Member of NGOs Foundation in Bangladesh for assisting NGOs in various sector of their growth.
- Board of Director of Catalyst Microfinance Investors company (Register in Manila) - an equity investment company to accelerating the development of microfinance in Asia and Africa.
- Was a member of Policy advisory group of CGAP/WB.
- He was a faculty member of Microfinance training in Boulder, USA and also a visiting fellow in Coady Institute at the Saint Xvier University.
Wednesday 22 March
Chandula Abeywickrema
Current Chairman of BWTP, is attached to the Hatton National Bank Ltd, which is the largest private commercial bank in Sri Lanka. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Special) Degree from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka and currently functions as the Deputy General Manager – Personal Banking & Network Management. In his capacity as a Deputy General Manager he overlooks a wide sphere in the key areas in the bank which includes micro financing & agricultural banking, personal related credit facilities, marketing, network management, credit cards, leasing and pawning. He has also obtained professional exposure overseas in the field of Credit Analysis, Marketing, Business & Leadership Skills and Finance & Banking in South East Asia.
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is Managing Director and CEO of Citigroup Asia Pacific Corporate and Investment Banking. He serves as a member of the Citigroup Operating Committee, Management Committee, and the CIB Planning Group. Mr. Morse also serves as a member of the Salomon Smith Barney Capital Partners and Citigroup Venture Capital Asia Investment Committees.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Morse served as Head of Global Investment Banking. Earlier, he held a variety of investment banking management positions. During the period 1997 - 1998, Mr. Morse served as Chief Executive Officer of Salomon Smith Barney Asia-Pacific.
Mr. Morse joined Salomon in 1985 as a Vice President, was appointed Director in 1989 and Managing Director in 1992. Prior to joining Salomon, Mr. Morse worked briefly at Richard Ellis, Inc., a real estate management firm, and at Lehman Brothers.
Mr. Morse is a 1977 graduate of Yale College (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and a 1981 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and the Harvard Law School (cum laude). Mr. Morse also serves on a variety of charitable organization boards.
Beris Gwynne
Ms Gwynne was appointed Executive Director of FDC in May 2000 and has had first-hand experience with the challenges of development policy and practice on every continent in the world. With a career spanning some 25 years, Beris worked as a career diplomat with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade before joining the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) managing Australia's relations with the OECD's Development Assistance Committee and the Federal Government's program of technical cooperation with the People's Republic of China.
Under Ms Gwynne's leadership, FDC has embarked on a number of new programs and extended its capacity to engage in research and advocacy on a range of development issues through the addition of a number of consulting associates.
Renaud Meyer
Renaud Meyer has been appointed Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in China in August 2004.
Before joining the China UNDP Office, Renaud Meyer was Special Assistant to the Associate Administrator of UNDP in the Office of the Administrator in New York. He started his UNDP career in 1998 in Lebanon as Programme Officer before being assigned to UNDP Headquarters in New York in 2000 where he served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Bureau for Development Policy of UNDP.
Before joining the United Nations, Renaud Meyer worked in Tunisia for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A French citizen, Renaud Meyer holds a Master in International Relations and Development Studies from the University of Strasbourg and graduated from the “Institut D’Etudes Politiques” of Strasbourg. He also completed a one year studies programme at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University in Washington DC, USA.
Robert Peck Christen
Mr. Christen worked for the past 6 years as Senior Advisor to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor where he took the leading role in the area of placing microfinance into commercial banks, agricultural microfinance, regulation and supervision, and creating transparency in the marketplace. Mr. Christen has worked for 25 years in the field of microfinance, in over 40 countries, and with NGOs, cooperatives, banks, governments and development organizations and has written several leading publications. He has worked closely with a number of the leading microfinance institutions in Latin America in developing products, strategies, and financial management capacity, including Banco do Nordeste in Brazil, and Banco del Estado, in Chile.
Mr. Christen founded and is President of the Boulder Institute of Microfinance, a non-profit educational organization that offers the Microfinance Training Program (MFT) which has brought together dozens of the top industry leaders to train over 2,000 individuals from 130 countries in the latest techniques, models, and advances in providing financial services to the world’s poor. He founded the MicroBanking Bulletin, the industry benchmarking publication for financial performance, and continues to chair its Editorial Board. He also was a one of the founders of the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) and the Microfinance Management Institute (MMI) and served on their Boards of Directors for a number of years. The later is dedicated to promoting microfinance in top business schools in the developing world.
Aloysius Fernandez
Mr Aloysius Fernandez is the Executive Director of MYRADA, a major NGO covering 900,000 rural poor, and sits as chairman and/or board member of several major NGOs including AME, PRADA (India) and PADEK (Cambodia). He is also a member of the advisory committee of NABARD, the trustee of the Gramin Vikas Trust established by KRIBCO and DFID and adviser to various Governmental committees in several states of India. Mr Fernandez was the founder of several NGOs and development organisations in India, has formulated and supported microcredit programs in Indonesia and Myanmar and has designed micro-credit programs for IFAD in 9 Indian states. Mr Fernandez has conducted training programs for Government and development banks and has formulated participation strategies and methodologies in relation to all aspects of program implementation (planning, budgeting, implementation and management) in a range of sectors but most commonly for micro-watershed management, arid zone development and public health programs. Mr Fernandez has also undertaken extensive consultancy work for the World Bank, DFID, CIDA and IFAD in a range of programs with a focus on natural resource management, rural development and micro-credit. Mr Fernandez' publications have covered the topics of microcredit, natural resource management and rural management systems. Mr Fernandez has a Master of Arts from the University of Karnataka, a Special Diploma in Development Studies from the University of Oxford and a Diploma in Sociology and Research Methodology from the University of Louvain, Belgium.
Syed Aftab Ahmed
Senior Manager, Global Micro and Small Business Finance Group
Aftab Ahmed is the senior manager in charge of IFC’s Global Micro and Small Business Finance unit. He has led the development of IFC’s over US$350 million investment in over 65 micro and small business finance institutions globally. Aftab has been instrumental in defining IFC’s microfinance strategy and in 1996 he designed a new institutional model for greenfield commercial microfinance banks which has successfully been replicated in many countries. Recognized for his contribution to the growth of the commercial microfinance industry, Aftab has been invited to speak at several international conferences on expanding the frontier of sustainable microfinance.
Aftab joined IFC in 1989 and has held several managerial positions within the corporation. Prior to joining IFC, Aftab held several senior management positions in a number of top-tier financial institutions in Pakistan, including Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment (PICIC) and Investment Corporation of Pakistan (ICP).
Maria Pagura
Rural Finance Officer, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy. Ms. Pagura has 14 years experience in rural and micro finance and small enterprise development in Africa and Asia. The current thrust of her work a rural finance office at FAO is managing the global study on financial linkages. In addition to this she helps design and implement programs and projects in rural finance. Provides advice to FAO member countries on appropriate financial sector policies, especially those influencing service provision in rural areas. Provides technical backstopping to FAO field projects, field experts, consultants, and networks of rural financial institutions. Develops guidelines with regard to financing of investments, inter-linked credit arrangements, trade finance, and risk management. She has worked extensively in Mali on microenterprise and microfinance issues. Has facilitated project evaluation workshops in South Africa and Uzbekistan and reviewed microfinance institutions and sectors in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Peru and Rwanda. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics, Masters in Economics, Bachelors in Finance from The Ohio State University.
Robert A. Annibale
Citigroup Global Director of Microfinance
Bob Annibale is Citigroup’s Global Director of Microfinance. He leads Citigroup’s commercial relationships with microfinance institutions, on a multi-business and multi-product basis, providing financing and product partnerships to institutions that serve the poor and the unbanked.
He joined Citibank in 1982 and he has held a number of senior treasury, risk and corporate positions in Citigroup in Athens, Bahrain, Kenya, London and New York.
Bob competed his BA degrees in History and Political Science at Vassar College, New York, and his Masters Degree in African Studies (History) at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
Bob represents Citigroup on the Board of the Microfinance Information Exchange, the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds and the Microfinance Network. He also serves on a number of other external boards and councils, including the University of London, University of Oxford’s St. Anthony’s College (Centre for the Study of African Economies), and has served on the Africa Policy Group for the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Stuart Mathison
Stuart Mathison is Program Manager, Information and Communications for Development at the Foundation for Development Cooperation, an independent, non-profit organisation committed to action research, policy development, advocacy and capacity building for sustainable development and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific. FDC is based in Brisbane, Australia. Stuart has a background in computer systems engineering, and his since built broad ICT, microfinance and development skills. He worked for five years in Cambodia and Vietnam as project manager for non-profit organisation – specialising in the delivery of microfinance in communities affected by HIV/AIDS - and has undertaken both long and short term assignments in several countries in Asia and the Pacific. His educational qualifications include Master of International and Community Development, Master of Theology, Graduate Diploma of Applied Computing and Bachelor of Engineering. Stuart has experience in strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, organisational development, and project management.
Ali Ahmad
Ali Ahmad is the CIO at the First MicroFinanceBank Ltd, Pakistan. He has a Master’s Degree in Computer Sciences and an MBA. Ali has been associated with the microfinance sector for the last 9 years, which includes working with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) that has been running a successful program in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. A large part of Ali’s experience has been in the area of designing and developing technology solutions for microfinance. Ali also holds expertise in the business processes reengineering of Microfinance and Banking.
Peter Bladin
Vice President, Grameen Foundation USA and Director, Grameen Technology Center
Peter is the founding director of the Grameen Technology Center, an initiative of Grameen Foundation USA. The Technology Center's focus is to bring information and communication technology opportunities to microfinance institutions as well as its borrowers and to do so in a financially sustainable way. He started his career in the information technology field in 1987 when he came to the U.S. from Sweden to work at Microsoft Corporation. During his 10 year career with Microsoft, he worked on a variety of projects, always with a focus on the international side of the business and with progressively larger teams. He left to pursue a focus on how ICT can help those less fortunate, especially the poorest people in the world. Peter has a degree in Mathematics, with minors in Programming and Economics from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He is a board member of MTN villagePhone in Uganda, a joint venture between GFUSA and MTN Uganda aimed at bringing affordable telecommunications to poor people in rural Uganda. He is active in various pro-poor and technology focused non-profits in Seattle, Washington and is currently the board chair of Npower Seattle (www.npower.org). Peter is also a partner at Social Venture Partners.
Gabrielle Harris
Gabrielle Harris recently started working with the team at PlaNet Finance's China office in Beijing. Gabrielle is a long-time student of Chinese and resident of China, where she has personally witnessed the country's transformation over the past 25 years. She was formerly a consultant with IDC (China) Ltd and with Kamsky Associates, and she also owns a small manufacturing company in China. Since joining PlaNet Finance, she has supervised an MIS implementation, in China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and has already been involved in the design of several Microfinance Plus projects.
John V. Owens
Chief of Party
MABS PHILIPPINES
A lawyer with more than 18 years of experience in microenterprise development and microfinance, Mr. Owens has worked in Jamaica, the Eastern Caribbean, Bolivia, Peru, Tanzania and the Philippines. Mr. Owens specializes in helping banks set up profitable microfinance departments. He has managed several projects and has written and lectured on various aspects of microfinance. He is currently working for Chemonics International as the Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Microenterprise Access to Banking Services (MABS) project in the Philippines which provides technical assistance to more than 80 rural banks. The MABS program created a systematic approach for introducing microfinance to rural banks which has facilitated the rapid expansion of commercial microfinance in the Philippines. In Bolivia, he focused on overseeing technical assistance to microfinance NGO’s that were in the process of transforming into regulated financial institutions and supervised technical assistance provided to the Bolivian Superintendent of Banks in order to improve the regulatory environment for microfinance institutions. For USAID/Jamaica, he managed the Microenterprise Development Project that provided support to various microfinance institutions including one of the first commercial banks to enter the microfinance market. Mr. Owens was also a small business volunteer with the US Peace Corps in Jamaica. J.D., University of Notre Dame Law School; B.A., Accounting & Philosophy, Gustavus Adolphus College.
Md Abdul Awal
Md. Abdul Awal was born to a farmer’s family in 1955. An honours graduate in Agricultural Economics from Bangladesh Agricultural University, he joined Sonali Bank, the largest commercial Bank, as a senior officer/ Rural Credit Officer in 1980. Over a period of 23 years with Sonali Bank in different senior positions, he innovated NGO-Commercial Bank Credit Linkage Programme and Credit for Urban-women Micro Enterprise Development Programme (CUMED). He left Sonali Bank in 2003 and before joining CDF as Director in 2004, he worked with Palli-Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), an apex funding organization created by Bangladesh Government, for some time as Microenterprise Specialist. Mr. Awal attended training courses universities/ training institutions in UK, USA, Kenya and participated in Microcredit Summits in India, New York, Jordan & Bangladesh and many microcredit conferences in Netherlands, India, Indonesia. He traveled to France, Belgium, Germany, USA, UK, UAE, Jordan, Singapore, India and some other countries.
Rolando B. Victoria
Rolando B. Victoria is the founding Executive Director of ASKI. In July this year ASKI has been around for 19 years.
As well as this Rolando is one of the founding board of Alliance of Philippine Partners in Enterprise Development (APPEND), a founding board of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) and a former bank manager. From 1994-1999 he was also the president of APPEND, a network of 10 Micro finance institutions and one micro finance oriented thrift bank.
Edzel A. Ramos
Mr Edzel Ramos is the Training Director at the CARD MRI Development Institute in Laguna, the Philippines. Mr Ramos has been working with CARD since 1995 in various positions focused on training, enterprise development and technical assistance. He has expertise in community organising, enterprise development, financial ratio analysis, grassroots and rural banking and has provided training and TOT services for other Philipino and overseas MFIs. Mr Ramos has a Masters in Entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management in Manila and a Masters in Business Administration from Trinity College in Manila.
Paul Greener
Paul Greener is Senior Program Manager at the Foundation for Development Cooperation, an independent, non-profit organisation committed to action research, policy development, advocacy and capacity building for sustainable development and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific. FDC is based in Brisbane, Australia. In this capacity he works across a range of FDC’s programs, including in microfinance and effective partnerships. Paul has more than twenty years experience in a range of development fields and has worked in over 25 countries of Asia, Africa and the Pacific, focusing on rural development, microfinance and cross-sector partnerships. Before joining FDC, he worked as independent consultant, as senior member of staff at the Aga Khan Foundation in Geneva, and at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Paul holds a PhD in Geography, a Masters degree in International Agriculture and is an accredited partnership broker. He has broad experience in program design and management, consultancy services, institutional strengthening, training, evaluation and research.
Stephen Rasmussen
Stephen Rasmussen is a Lead Specialist for the World Bank's South Asia Financeand Private Sector Development unit as well as being the microfinance resource person for the South Asia region. Prior to this he was the CEO of the Pakistan Microfinance Network and the CEO of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme when it transformed its microfinance programme into the first licensed microfinance bank
in Pakistan, the First MicroFinance Bank.
Rosalind Copisarow
After 15 years with Citigroup, HSBC and JP Morgan, Rosalind founded and developed two micro-finance institutions: Fundusz Mikro, Poland, in 1994 and Street(UK) in 1999. Both became leading organizations and examples of best practice in their respective countries. In 2005, she joined ACCION International as Senior Vice President, International Operations, to spearhead its expansion into Asia, Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe. Rosalind has co-founded, advised or served on the boards of CGAP, the Micro-finance Centre for Central and Eastern Europe, the Community Development Finance Association of the UK and several other social enterprises. She holds a degree in Human Sciences from Oxford University, an MBA from the Wharton School, and an MA in Latin American studies from the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania. In 2000, Rosalind was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Poland for her contributions to poverty alleviation and economic development.
Manish Kumar
Manish Kumar is currently working as Manager-Knowledge for Development (ICT) at OneWorld South Asia. He is also the Managing Editor of bi-monthly print publication Mainstreaming ICTs (information and Communication Technologies). His team is responsible for OWSA’s work in the area of mainstreaming ICTs into development interventions and also for linking grassroots voices into the policy process using various ICT tools. Mr. Kumar is engaged in strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships created by OWSA for working towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. He is also involved in the OWSA steered Mission 2007 initiative which aims to establish Village Knowledge Centres in India, under the visionary leadership of Prof. M S Swaminathan. Microfinance activities are one of the key focal areas under Mission 2007 and OneWorld South Asia is working towards building MSP based CoPs in microfinance sector.
Sankar Datta
Dr. Sankar Datta is a management graduate, with basic education in agriculture, who has been involved in extending professional services for rural development activities, specially focusing on livelihood support/ promotion, for over two decades. He was involved in promotion of a statewide network of primary co-operatives in Madhya Pradesh, MPOILFED, and the professional Non-Government Development Organization, PRADAN.
He worked with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), while setting up the Center for Educational Innovation, and later was a member faculty of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) between 1989-1996 and had launched the International Management Appreciation Programme specially designed to cater to the needs of NGO’s during this time.
He worked as the Vice President (Operation & Human Resources) in BASIX, a group of Companies, involved in extending financial, technical and institutional development services to the rural producers since 1996. He is presently the Managing Director of Indian Grameen Services, the research and development company of the BASIX group. He also holds the charge of the Dean, The Indian School of Livelihood Promotion.
Henri Dommel
Henri Dommel is the Rural Finance Senior Technical Advisor for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). He provides technical support to the five regional divisions, in the project development cycle, and is responsible for developing the policy / partnership and learning agendas in rural finance for IFAD.
Mr. Dommel has 15 years of professional experience spanning both the private sector and international development. Prior to IFAD, he worked at the United National Capital Development Fund as well as UNDP. As a Programme Manager with UNCDF, Mr. Dommel supervised the USD 50 million microfinance portfolio invested in 20 countries and served as Team Leader for the 1998 UNCDF Portfolio Review with CGAP. Previously, he worked in international finance with Banque Paribas, both in Paris and New Delhi, India. Mr. Dommel holds a M.A. in International Affairs from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University.
Thursday 23 March
Marc de Sousa-Shields
Marc de Sousa-Shields is a Partner and the Director of ProjectDevelopment for Enterprising Solutions Global Consulting an international development consulting firm with offices in Mexico, the US, Kenya and Canada.
Marc’s work in sustainable development has focused on social and environmental investment, microfinance and small and medium sized business development in developing countries. In addition to technical consultancies, Marc has also led a number of leading-edge research projects, including several focusing on MFI finance, social investment in emerging markets, MFI housing products, and commercial bank downscaling to microfinance.
Marc was co-founder and the Executive Director of the Social Investment Organization in Canada, treasurer of community credit union, Director of Social Investment at a national bank in Canada, and co-founder of the Morelos Forum, an international think tank on global social investment issues.
Jean-Philippe de Schrevel
Founder and Director
Jean-Philippe de Schrevel founded BlueOrchard Finance in 2001 and is part of its management team since then. He had joined Dexia Asset Management in 2000 as the Dexia Micro-Credit Fund Manager. Prior to that, he has been successively Junior team economist in Romania for a EU PHARE technical assistance program, Field consultant in Microfinance for a Belgian NGO, an Associate with McKinsey & Co, the Operations Director of a private Microfinance Foundation in Argentina, and finally a Consultant for the UNCTAD Microfinance Unit in Geneva.
Jean-Philippe de Schrevel holds a MA in Economics from Université Notre-dame de la Paix in Namur, Belgium, and a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Dirk Brouwer
Managing Director of Sequoia and Executive Director of Catalyst Microfinance Investors
Hilversum, the Netherlands
Dirk Brouwer is the founder and Managing Director of Sequoia, an independent international corporate finance advisory and private equity firm, as well as one of the founders and an Executive Director of Catalyst Microfinance Investors, a microfinance private equity fund.
Before founding Sequoia in 2002, Dirk worked for more than 15 years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch in London, where he was Managing Director and Head of Benelux Investment Banking, and prior to this at PaineWebber where he worked in mergers & acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and private equity in London and New York. At Sequoia, Dirk has advised on various assignments with a combined transaction value of close to US$ 4 billion.
In 2005, Dirk and Sequoia established in partnership with ASA of Bangladesh and K-Rep Group of Kenya, and their respective founders and Managing Directors, Shafiqual Choudhury and Kimanthi Mutua, Catalyst Microfinance Investors, a private equity fund which dedicates itself to equity or hybrid equity investments in promising, emerging microfinance institutions (“MFI”) throughout Asia and Africa. Catalyst distinguishes itself by leveraging off the wealth of microfinance operating expertise of ASA and K-Rep Group in combination with the Anglo-Saxon corporate finance and private equity discipline brought by Sequoia.
Dirk first got exposed to microfinance in 2003 during extensive travels with his family through various parts of Latin America, Asia and Africa. While investigating a possible investment in an Argentinian MFI start-up, he realized the similarities of microfinance with the retail financial services industry in the West, the scalability of the microfinance business model, and how Anglo-Saxon finance skills could be helpful in developing the investment side of the MFI sector and thereby accelerating its growth.
Dirk holds a Masters Degree in Economics from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Graduate School of Business of Stanford University, California.
John Conroy
Dr John Conroy is special consultant to FDC, having previously served as its executive director for nine years from 1991. He is co-author of several FDC monographs on microfinance, including those dealing with NGO-commercial bank linkages and the policy and regulatory environment for microfinance in Asia, as well as a study of the role of central banks in microfinance, prepared for the Asian Development Bank.
Jim Roth
Jim's work has focused on developing financial services for the poor. His PhD at the University of Cambridge looked at the variety and depth of financial services available to the poor in a small South African Township. His subsequent work has focused on selecting, researching and promoting innovative financial instruments and institutions. He has assisted governments and donors in promoting policies conducive to financial sector development. This has included work on credit guarantee funds, microcredit and microinsurance. He specialised in microinsurance where he undertook pioneering work on developing partnerships between commercial insurers and MFIs and other institutions. From 2000 to 2004 he worked for the Social Finance
Programme of the ILO in Geneva. In 2004 he was Chief Technical Adviser on a microinsurance project in Bangalore, India. He is currently a partner in the Microinsurance Centre, a consulting firm specialising in microinsurance.
Enjiang Cheng
As a senior research fellow at Victoria University, Australia, Dr Cheng is the chief investigator of a number of studies on microfinance in China, including domestic money transfer (CGAP, 2004-2005) and NGO and RCC microfinance (Ford Foundation 2005-2006). In the last decade, Dr Cheng spent four to five months each year in China working on NGO MFIs, financing of micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs by urban and rural credit cooperatives and urban commercial banks in China.
Henrik Parl
Henrik Parl worked two years as Deputy General Manager of a Danish savings bank in London (fund management & investment banking) and 2 years as Managing Director of the savings banks subsidiary branch in Dublin (Corporate business).
Henrik Parl came to Eurogiro as Managing Director in 1997. Responsibilities include running the Eurogiro Network and co-ordinating the co-operation between 46 members of the Eurogiro payment club. Eurogiro has demonstrated strong growth as volumes are now 5 times higher than in 1997. Eurogiro Network A/S has a vision of acting as a gateway provider for its members and partners, thereby providing cost efficient links between different products, geographical regions or technologies. Eurogiro has recently signed important agreements with Federal Reserve of US, Western Union, Visa, Universal Postal Union and Swift.
Henrik Parl has a degree in Finance & International Economy from Copenhagen Business School.
Monique Cohen
Monique Cohen is President of Microfinance Opportunities, a non-profit founded in 2002. She is a recognized expert on the poorâ?Ts use of financial services and client assessment, including market research and impact assessment in microfinance. Dr. Cohen is an authority on market demand for microinsurance and has pioneered the introduction of financial education for the poor. She designed and led the AIMS project at USAID in Washington from 1994 to 2002. She is co-author with Jennefer Sebstad of Microfinance, Risk Management and Poverty and Reducing Vulnerability, the Demand for Microinsurance. Dr. Cohen has taught at the Boulder Microfinance Training Program and has a Ph. D. from Clark University, Worcester Mass.
Friday 24 March
Bai Chengyu
Mr Chengyu is the Director of Support and Coordination Office of UNDP/China Poverty Alleviation Program(SCO, China International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges. He also holds the position of the Secretary General of China Microfinance Association (CAM). Bai Chengyu has been working 18 years on poverty alleviation program in China, 12 years on microcredit. He has 9 years experience in NGO. He is an expert on PRA for poverty alleviation, microfinance development and NGO development.
Gabriela Braun
Since December 2004 Gabriela Braun is the head of the Section Financial Systems Development in GTZ Headquarters. Prior to this she worked as a GTZ senior advisor to the Central Bank of Uganda where she was in charge of strengthening the financial sector through the support to apex structures, the implementation of a regulatory and supervisory framework for microfinance institutions and the design of an Early Warning System in Bank of Uganda. In 2000 and 2001 she worked in a program in Guatemala aiming at strengthening the microfinance sector. From 1996 to 1999 she worked on financial systems development at GTZ headquarters. Before joining GTZ, Ms Braun worked as a freelance consultant in the field of microfinance and financial systems development. In her 14 years of experience in microfinance and financial system development, Ms Braun has worked in over 20 countries. Ms. Braun holds a Masters degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Development Finance. Besides her mother tongue German, she is fluent in Spanish and English.
Joselito S. Almario
Mr. Joselito S. Almario is a Director of the Department of Finance and concurrently holds the position of Deputy Executive Director of the National Credit Council (NCC), a body composed of both government and private sector representatives tasked with creating an enabling credit policy environment, including microfinance, in the Philippines. As NCC Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Almario was instrumental in the formulation and development of the Philippine National Strategy and Regulatory Framework for Microfinance in the Philippines. He likewise headed the various technical working groups that crafted and finalized the performance standards for cooperatives engaged in savings and credit operations and more recently, the Performance Standards for Microfinance Institutions. Mr. Almario also sits, among others, in the Board of the People’s Credit and Finance Corporation, the main wholesaler of funds for MFIs; the Cooperative Development Authority, and the Agricultural Credit and Policy Council (ACPC) and acts as the government’s focal person in the implementation of the ADB-assisted Microfinance Development Program in the Philippines. He is currently working on the Manual of Rules and Regulations for Savings and Credit Cooperatives and the necessary measures, including the passage of the enabling laws, for the effective supervision and examination of credit cooperatives.
Du Xiaoshan
Professor Xiaoshan Du is based at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) where he is a research fellow and also Deputy Director of both the Rural Development Institute and the Poverty Research Center. Professor Du was the Founder and CEO from 1994 - 2000 of the Funding the Poor Cooperative (FPC) and now sits on the Board of Directors as Chairman for the FPC. Professor Du's previous positions include Chief of Economic Unit, Research Management Bureau, CASS, Director of the International Department of the Chinese Association for promoting Country and Town Interchanges and General Secretary of the Chinese Association for Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Economics. Professor Du has undertaken consultancies in the areas of rural development and microfinance for WFP, CIDA and FAO and other NGOs, GOs and International agencies. Professor Du's major publications include papers on the topics of agricultural trade reform, decentralisation and regional development, policies and methodologies for Microfinance and the Poverty Reduction Strategy for West China.
Kate Druschel
Ms Druschel is an Associate Director with IRIS’s Enterprise Development group. Her work focuses on examining the legal and regulatory environments for increasing access to financial services in developing countries. She directs the Microfinance Regulation and Supervision Resource Center (housed on the Microfinance Gateway). Fluent in Mandarin, she has advised on the development of a regulatory framework for microfinance in China, India, and Croatia. Her most recent publication, “The Ultimate Balancing Act,” focuses on the regulatory considerations regarding private sector investment in microfinance. With colleagues at IRIS, Ms Druschel built an analytical framework for donors and other stakeholders to assess a country’s microfinance legal and regulatory environment and prioritize reform and technical assistance needs. Ms. Druschel has conducted fieldwork in China, Georgia, Uganda, the Philippines, Bosnia, Croatia, and India, and lived in China for three years.
Deborah Burand
Deborah Burand is the Executive Vice President for Programs of the Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA). Ms. Burand joined GFUSA in January 2006 and is responsible for overseeing all of GFUSA's program operations, including the Program Group, Capital Markets Group and the Grameen Technology Center.
Prior to joining GFUSA, Ms. Burand worked at FINCA International for nearly four years supporting the transformations of FINCA's most commercially viable affiliates into licensed, deposit-taking institutions, and launching FINCA's Capital Markets Group.
Before joining the microfinance industry Ms. Burand spent nearly half of her career in the private sector and half in the public sector. In the private sector, she worked on complex cross-border financings and sovereign debt restructurings for the global law firm, Shearman & Sterling, in New York City. In the public sector, Ms. Burand worked as a senior international banking attorney at the US Federal Reserve Board, and, more recently, as the Senior Policy Advisor for International Financial Matters at the US Treasury Department.
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Shankar Man Shrestha
Mr. Shankar Man Shrestha, 60, has been working as Chief Executive Officer of RMDC since August 1999. Prior to joining RMDC, he was Executive Director of CSD, an NGO, from August 1991 to July 1999. He is also a founder member of that national NGO. Before that he worked with the Agriculture Development Bank of Nepal (ADBN) for 25 years. In ADBN, he worked as Deputy General Manager (June'90-Aug'91), Director of Training (June'82- June'90) and Chief of Loan Department (Oct'81-June'82). Regarding academic qualification he has Master of Arts degree in Economics from Tribhuvan University (TU) Nepal in 1969. He has also completed a Special Study in Agriculture Economics from Texas A. and M. University, USA in 1971. Mr. Shrestha has participated in numerous training, workshops, seminars and conferences organized by national and international agencies on rural development, agriculture banking, microfinance, small farmer credit, etc. He also participated as consultant in the project missions of ADB, IFAD and IDRC. While in ADBN, he was involved in the implementation of Agriculture Credit Project of ADB, Small Farmer Development Project of ADB and IFAD, and other projects supported by GTZ, KFW, World Bank, USAID, CIDA, etc. Mr. Shrestha has been writing on issues of microfinance for long and are published widely in journals/magazines within the country and abroad. He has also presented a number of papers and participated as a panelist/resource person in different international conferences held on microfinance and poverty alleviation in Bangladesh, China, Turkey, Pakistan and India.
Mark Wensley
Mark Wensley is the Lead Selection Analyst for Unitus, a global microfinance accelerator. His work focuses on the sourcing, selecting, due diligence, and closing of new MFI partnerships. Unitus partners with and invests in MFIs worldwide to help them rapidly reach more clients. Mark holds a degree in Commerce from McGill University and a Masters degree in Economics of Development from the Australian National University.
Doan Anh Tuan
Doan Anh Tuan is the Asia Area Economic Opportunity Adviser with Save the Children Fund US in Jakarta. Mr Tuan has been working with Save the Children Fund since 1992 in the areas of Microfinance and Livelihoods development. Prior to his current position he worked with SCF in Vietnam in various positions including Director, Economic Opportunities, Microfinance Program Manager and Management Information Systems Manager/Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. Mr Tuan has undertaken consultancies in Asia in areas of microfinance, poverty reduction and nutrition. His publications include handbooks and manuals on microfinance programming as well as commentaries on issues relating to the regulatory framework for microfinance.
Mr Tuan is experienced in designing cost-effective lending operations, credit and savings products, performance based staff incentive schemes and MIS and accounting systems. He is also experienced in livelihood planning, including interventions in post-disaster situations. Mr Tuan has a Master of Business Administration from Henley Management College in England and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Physics from Hanoi National University.
Riza Primahendra
Riza Primahendra is the Director of the Centre for Civil Society Studies and Development at the Bina Swadaya Foundation in Jakarta. Previously, Mr Primahendra worked as the Head of Research and Communications at Bina Swadaya. He was also the founder and director of the Institute for Peace and Justice in Jakarta and founded the Indonesian Movement for Microfinance Development and the National Forum for Indonesian Youth. Mr Primahendra has published books on the topics of poverty, self reliance, microfinance, micro-enterprises, livelihoods and empowerment of rural farmers. Mr Primahendra is finalizing his Masters on Strategic Management and Approaches from PPM Graduate School of Mangement and had a Bachelors Degree in Animal Husbandry from the University of Diponogoro in Semarang, Java
Rogelio A. Encinas
Rogelio A. Encinas is currently the Manager II & Head of the Microfinance Group of Examiners for the Supervision and Examination Sector of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. As well as this role Mr. Encinas is the BSP Local Counterpart of the USAID Technical Assistance Program for Microfinance as well as a Lecturer in the basic rural/cooperative banking course of the BSP. This course is involved with Microfinance, Funds Management, Bank Planning and Financial Budgeting, Pricing of Financial Services, Internal Control, Internal Auditing, Cooperative & Rural Bank Accounting, Financial Statements Analysis
Mr Encinas holds a B.Sc. in commerce majoring in accounting and a MBA. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Phan Cu Nhan
Mr. Nhan Phan is currently the Director of International Co-operation Department at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies(VBSP). Prior to this position he had been working at head office level for the Vietnam Banks for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) as a finance and accounting specialist and as the manager of the information, accounting and finance department for the Agribank Financial leasing company.
Mr Nhan Phan holds a B.Sc. from the Ha Noi Banking University, a B.Sc. from the National Institute of Public Administration- Vietnam and an MBA from the Asian Institute of Technology.
Fabio Malanchini
Graduated with a Master’s Degree in Economics at Milan’s Bocconi University, Mr. Malanchini worked for several years at the Department of Economics of Bocconi University. Mr. Malanchini co-founded Microfinanza Ltd in association with other specialists in the field. He has a wide experience in the microfinance sector and has been working in numerous countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Malanchini is currently the director of Microfinanza Rating.
Ruben de Lara
Ruben C. de Lara is currently the Executive Director of TSPI Development Corporation. As well as this Mr de Lara is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines as well as a member of the executive committee of the Banking with the Poor Network. Prior to this he worked with Phelps Dodge International from 1983 – 1999. At Phelps Dodge International he became the first Filipino CFO and later on, Vice President and General Manager of Columbian Carbon Philippines Inc, a subsidiary owned by Phelps Dodge International USA. He has also been the Vice-President for Management Services for Valgosons Group of Companies from 1979 – 1997.
Mr de Lara holds a B.Ba. from the University of the East, a MBA from Ateneo de Manila University and a Masters in Business Economics from the University of Asia and Pacific.
Hussain Tejany
Mr. Hussain Tejany is the Founder President of the First MicroFinanceBank Ltd, Pakistan. He has over 35 years of experience as a banker to his credit, initially with Bank of America starting at a very junior level and leading to a very senior level, serving on various key positions. Before leaving Bank of America, he was holding one of the most senior positions with a corporate title of Vice President, Head of Financial Institution and Cash Management. Mr. Tejany has vast experience of microfinance and was instrumental to the transformation of microfinance program of the Aga Khan Rural Supports Programme (AKRSP) into a regulated MFI. His contribution towards the regulations and transparency within the microfinance sector in Pakistan is very much recognized and appreciated. Under his leadership the FMFB has been one of the most progressive MFIs that has achieved an international fame. Some of the recent awards include top winner of the CGAP transparency award 2005 and United Nations Global Microentreprenurship award, 2005. Mr.Tejany is commerce graduate and fellow of the Institute of Bankers. He has been guest speaker and resource person at various national and international conferences and workshops. He has been serving on the BOD's of various reputable institutions in voluntary capacity
Perrine Pouget
Perrine Pouget has a master degree in business with a major in finance and has worked for ADA (a Luxembourg-based NGO active in microfinance) since April 2004. ADA has been involved in the Rating Fund activities on behalf of CGAP since 2004 and Perrine has been administering it for one year and a half.
Bob Lyon
Bob Lyon was appointed Chairman of ANZ Pacific in 2006 after retiring as Managing Director, Pacific for ANZ Banking Group Limited. Bob joined ANZ in 1965 and ran ANZ’s Pacific operations from 1994, responsible for all banking operations in the region. During his time in that role, he was also responsible for ANZ’s Asian Personal Banking operations and looking after ANZ’s investment in P T Bank Panin Indonesia Tbk – an associate company. ANZ is the major Australian bank in Asia Pacific and has around 2,500 staff in over 20 countries in the region outside of Australia and New Zealand.
Bob is currently President of the Australia Fiji Business Council, Vice President of the Australia PNG Business Council and is Immediate Past President of the Australia Pacific Islands Business Council. He is also on the boards of the Pacific Economic Bulletin published by the ANU and the Foundation for Development Co-Operation (FDC).
Bob has held several positions outside ANZ including Chairman, Organisation Development and Change Management Board at RMIT, Executive Board Member Melbourne Chamber of Commerce and is a former Board member and Chairman of Melbourne City Marketing.
Bob holds a Graduate Diploma in Organisation Development from RMIT University and is a Chartered Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute and a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. In 1999 he attended the Senior Executive Forum at the Leadership Consortium.
H.I. Latifee
Professor Latifee is the Managing Director of Grameen Trust, which has provided financial and technical support to 137 Grameen replication programs in 37 countries. He also serves on the Boards of several Grameen sister companies and Nirdhan Uthan Bank of Nepal. Previously he taught Economics at Chittagong University. With three decade's experience with Grameen Bank, Grameen Trust, Grameen partners and other microfinance practitioners worldwide, he is considered an expert in the field of microfinance. In 2001 he won Business Week's Star of Asia Award for his leadership in microcredit and poverty alleviation.
Ventje Rahardjo
The Director of Microbanking of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, a public bank which internationally recognized in developing BRI-Unit system. In addition to supervise microbanking business, he also in charge in managing Retail, Consumer and Shariah Banking. Prior to BRI, he was a managing director of Bank Mandiri, the biggest commercial bank in Indonesia. He started his career at Bank Bapindo, a state owned bank which was merged into Bank Mandiri. His academic background is Master in Development Finance from University of New England Australia.
Jiao Jinpu
Jiao Jinpu is a senior economist. He is the Deputy Director-general of Research Bureau of the People's Bank of China (PBC) and the Deputy Director-general of Financial Research Institute of PBC.
Jiao Jinpu was born in 1966.He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from People’s University of China (2001), an MA in Economics from Xiamen University (1994), and a BA in Economics from Zhengzhou University in 1987.
He joined the People's bank of China in 1987 and served in positions as follows: Deputy Director of the Policy Research Department in 1995; Deputy Director of the Reasearch Bureau of PBC in 1998; Director of Financial Reform Division in 1999; Director of Monetary Policy Division in 2001; Deputy President of Chongqing Economic Commission in 2002.
He has published more than 50 academic papers and ten books, which include <China Financial Industry> published by China Intercontinental Press in 2002, <the Reform of China Commercial Bank System> published by the Economic Science Press in 2002 and <the Study on Competitiveness of China Banking Industry> published by China Financial Publishing House in 2002 etc.
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