WAM international

Emily Allen

Emily Allen is an entrepreneur with over seven years of experience in social entrepreneurship and international development, including economic analysis, market research and project management. She first worked in international development in the Mexico-US division of an international NGO, where her economic and market research informed the department's economic development projects in Latin America. There she was introduced to microentrepreneurship and microfinance as her department supported former factory workers in opening their own textile manufacturing factory in Mexico. Emily enjoyed the entrepreneurial aspects of the project and soon started a translation business contracting with translators in low-income regions throughout Latin America.Emily studied finance and economics at the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania and holds a B.A. from Haverford College. She speaks Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. She is on the leadership board of Net Impact, where she also serves as a consultant providing pro-bono services to socially-oriented local businesses.

Denitza Andjelic (Marketing)

Denitza Andjelic is an international development professional with over seven years of experience in research, evaluation, and project management in areas including international health, microfinance, rural business, and small enterprise development. She currently works as an independent consultant in monitoring and evaluation of international health and economic development projects supporting organizations such as International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs at Columbia University and, previously, BRAC USA. While working at Pro Mujer in Bolivia, Denitza became convinced that poverty alleviation cannot be tackled effectively without providing adequate access to health services to poor and vulnerable populations. As such, she remains involved in activities that address both economic development (including access to financial services) and health in developing countries. Denitza holds a Master's in Public Affairs, with a focus on international development, from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and a B.A. in Economics from Smith College. Denitza joined the WAM-NY Steering Committee in January 2011.

Alicia Delia

Alicia is the President and CEO of Greater Good Giving, LLC, a fundraising firm that mobilizes resources, funding and partnerships for social entrepreneurs. She is also the Director of External Relations at Shared Interest, a nonprofit social investment fund that invests in low-income South African townships and rural communities. Throughout her careers, she has raised over $6 million for local, national and international organizations by assisting organizations to develop and implement strategies for effective philanthropy. Prior to her work with Shared Interest and Greater Good Giving, she held a number of positions within the public and private sector focusing on organizational development, fundraising and poverty eradication. Her work in community economic development and corporate social responsibility has brought her to Latin America and Africa where she spent several years working with institutions including the United Nations, the Government of the Dominican Republic and FINCA International. She is currently on the board of directors for the Global Press Institute, Women Advancing Microfinance-the NY Chapter and the Jersey City Food Co-op.

Rebecca Feinberg (Secretary)

Rebecca Feinberg, Grant Writer of Pro Mujer International, is a non-profit professional with 6 years of experience in international economic development, rural development, microfinance and social entrepreneurship. Rebecca has previous experience as an independent consultant on projects including poverty assessment and data analysis in Mexico for FINCA International, small business management, and micro-insurance program development in Central America. She has a Master's of Public Administration from NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where her focus was in international development and microfinance. During her studies, she worked as a consultant to the United Nations Capital Development Fund and interned at Pro Mujer International and the Financial Access Initiative. She also has a Professional Certificate in Fundraising from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University in international relations and Spanish. Prior to joining the Pro Mujer team, she was a paralegal at Legal Services NYC Bankruptcy Assistance Project assisting low-income New Yorkers file for bankruptcy. Rebecca has four years of private sector experience in retail banking and online advertising. She is on the Steering Committee of the New York chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) and also a member of the Microfinance Club of New York (MFCNY).

Anna Kanze (Secretary)

Anna Kanze is an Investment Officer at Grassroots Capital Management, leading the investment monitoring and reporting, industry research, and social performance measurement functions in collaboration with colleagues based in Southeast Asia and Latin America. She is also responsible for due diligence, the evaluation of debt and equity investments, and has been active in the co-creation of regional funds. Prior to Grassroots, Anna spent three years working at Citi Investment Research in Equity Research and the Global Capital Markets groups, creating and maintaining financial valuation models, and writing published industry and company research reports. Anna has a BA in International Relations and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. She is on the Steering Committee of the New York chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) and also a member of the Microfinance Club of New York (MFCNY).

Danielle LeBlanc (Marketing)

Danielle LeBlanc is the Director, Programs and Grants at the microfinance nonprofit, Grameen America. She has previous experience providing capital loans to nonprofit organizations. Prior to that she provided grants for capacity building and capital projects. Her first encounter with microfinance was when she did an analysis of microfinance provision in the Philippines for Catholic Relief Services. She has a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Bachelors degree from Brown University. She is on the Steering Committee of the New York chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM).

Sarah Leshner (Event Advisory)

Sarah Leshner has more than 10 years experience in emerging markets and microfinance. She is currently a Senior Vice President in Latin American Fixed Income at HSBC. Previously she worked at BlueOrchard Finance as a Senior Investment Analyst managing the Firm's Social Performance activities and covering Mexico and Central America for the debt business. Sarah has also worked at Women's World Banking, Endeavor, Bear Stearns, and Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). She is fluent in Spanish and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance and an MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Praveen Prasad (Co-Chair)

Praveen Prasad is the Development Director with TrustAfrica- a leading Pan-African foundation that focuses on democracy, governance, and development. Praveen is also the Co-Chair of the New York chapter of Woman Advancing Microfinance (WAM-NY). Originally from the Fiji Islands and Australia, she has worked for over 10 years in International relief and development with a background in conflict/post conflict program management, micro-credit, gender equity, and philanthropy. Her field postings and experiences have included working in 17 countries in Africa. Prior to being based in New York, Praveen was based in Sudan and in Liberia overseeing multiple large-scale relief and development programs. She previously held positions with the World Health Organization in Geneva and International NGOs. Currently, she is also leading the "Africa for Haiti" initiative. She is a fellow with the Council on Foundations in its Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy Program and holds a MA in Political Science and a MA in International Relations. In her spare time, she enjoys sports, photography and exploring history of world cultures.

Stacey Rivers (Sister Chapter Liaison)

Stacey is new to the Steering Committee this year and will act as Chair of Fundraising for the Committee. She is currently an Associate Project Manager for JPMorgan's Private Bank, where she has been for four years. She graduated from the State University of NY at New Paltz with a B.S. in Finance. She became active in microfinance after participating in the Women's World Banking (WWB) Annual Microfinance Conference competition, where she worked with an MFI in Egypt to optimize their capital structure.

Rebecca Ruf (Event Advisory)

Rebecca Ruf is a Senior Associate with WWB's Capital Markets Group (CMG). In this role she supports the CMG team with the origination of new commercial funding and capital markets structures to increase the supply of local currency capital to WWB network members as well as the financial analysis and due diligence related to securing new capital. Her responsibilities include capital introduction, due diligence facilitation, structuring and investment documents negotiation. Rebecca is also a qualified trainer of the WWB Financial Risk Management program and plays a critical role in delivering Financial Risk Management trainings, Investor Readiness assistance, and managing WWB's network member capital needs and international investor surveys, and monitoring WWB network member performance.

Prior to joining WWB, she worked as an independent consultant for a start-up private equity fund analyzing potential microfinance equity investments and developing models for analyzing MFIs' operational & financial performance. She was also a project management consultant in the Micro and Small Enterprises Division at the Inter-American Development Bank. Before transitioning to microfinance, Rebecca worked for seven years in international real estate investment, including as a Senior Manager for Starwood Hotels & Resorts and as a Senior Associate for HVS International. In both capacities, she performed due diligence and underwriting for potential acquisitions and dispositions, equity investments, and mezzanine financing of real estate assets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Rebecca has a Masters degree in International Development and International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Hotel Administration from Cornell University. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the New York chapter of WAM International (Women Advancing Microfinance).

Rebecca is a national of both Ecuador and the United Kingdom. She speaks English and Spanish fluently, is proficient in French and Italian and understands basic Hebrew and German.

Susan Salerno (Sister Chapter Liaison)

Susan Salerno has been involved in microfinance for several years in both professional and volunteer capacities. As an independent consultant, Susan has worked with a well-known microfinance network to develop their first proposed private equity microfinance fund and has developed business plans for new self-sustaining microfinance ventures. Susan has given presentations about microfinance and has written a published article about institutional investing in microfinance for Microfinance Insights magazine. Susan has also served as Director at UBS Private Banking where she developed private equity funds for a global client base. Previously, Susan was an analyst and project manager for large-scale commercial real estate developments, and analyzed real estate financing and investment opportunities.

Susan presently serves on the Grameen America Advisory Board, the Direct Loan Committee of Project Enterprise, the Board of the Microfinance Club of New York, and the microfinance committee of High Water Women. Susan holds an MBA and a B.A. in Economics.

Archana Shah (Co-Chair)

Archana currently acts as Co-Chair of the New York chapter of Woman Advancing Microfinance (WAM). She s a senior Executive Director in the Emerging Markets Derivative Sales group at Morgan Stanely, who also supports Equity for Africa (EFA), a U.K based charity that provides capital to small business owners through lease financing in northern Tanzania, and is active within the Microfinance community at Morgan Stanley. She was born in Kenya to Indian parents and raised in Hong Kong and Tanzania. She moved to the United States to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a B.S. in Finance and a B.A. in French. She continued on to New York University to receive her Master's in Economics. She is an avid cook and blogger and keeps healthy by practicing karate and pilates in her spare time. Archana and her husband, Rumit both live in New York City, where Rumit runs a boutique travel company that focuses on African travels.

Jennifer Thomson (Treasurer)

Jennifer Thomson is an Independent Consultant with over 12 years of experience in the field of microfinance and domestic community development finance. Current consultancies include Lead Facilitator of the SEEP Network Gender Working Group and Consultant with Women Advancing Microfinance International (WAM I). Her domestic work focuses on community development credit unions, having held positions at the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union (LESPFCU) and consulted with the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU). Ms. Thomson managed a loan fund of over $1 million in eight African countries while serving as the Senior Program Officer for the Africa Region of The Hunger Project. She has a Master of International Affairs (MIA) degree from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and son.

Robin Wilson (Membership)

Robin joined the WAM-NY Steering Committee in 2010, with the interest in being involved in a group of people dedicated to women and microfinance. She began her microfinance career working with ACCION USA, the largest domestic microfinance organization in the US, working in technical assistance and as a loan officer for Hispanic entrepreneurs. Since then, she has been working at LaGuardia College's Small Business Development Center, running a highly successful program in Financial Education, as well as counseling Small Business Owners, helping them to gain access to capital and provide strategic business planning advice. Prior to her career working with small businesses, she worked at a social investing rating firm, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in China. She received a B.A. in Communications from Emerson College in Boston, MA, and an M.S. in International Business and Economic Development at NYU. She is currently pursuing an MBA in Finance from Baruch College. She has traveled extensively throughout the world, including India, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. She speaks Spanish and has basic knowledge of French and Mandarin Chinese.

Microfinance and women's empowerment:
Myths, realities and ways forward

WHAT: A conference by Linda Mayoux

WHEN: Thursday, October 29, 2009
6:00 p.m.
Kindly arrive ten minutes early for registration

WHERE: MasterCard Foundation
2 St Clair Avenue East, Suite 301
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M4T 2T5

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:

Dr. Linda Mayoux is an international consultant who has worked on gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment in microfinance since 1997 for DFID, UNIFEM, ILO, Aga Khan Foundation, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, IFAD, USAID, SDC and many NGOs in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. She is the author of the Rural Finance component of the World Bank's Gender and Livelihoods Source Book and a reader on Gender and Rural Finance for IFAD. She is a global consultant for Women's Economic Empowerment Mainstreaming and Networking (WEMAN) spearheaded by Oxfam NOVIB, a global process to remove gender discrimination in access to livelihood development services and policy making, including financial services, technical support, value chain development and local/regional/national economic policy making. As part of the WEMAN process, she manages the genfinance website and the genfinance discussion group.

ABOUT WAM CANADA:

Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) Canada is an organization for men and women to advance and support women working in microfinance and enterprise development through the promotion of education, training and leadership opportunities, and by working to increase the visibility of global microfinance and enterprise development work amongst Canadians. WAM Canada is a chapter of WAM International.

RSVP: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For more information, please visit: www.wam-canada.ca

Welcome to WAM Uganda - the first WAM chapter in Africa.

About Us

Between 30-40 women attended the April 16, 2004 launch, together with a number of key men who have been important in supporting the microfinance industry in Uganda. The launch was televised locally and included remarks by the President of WAM Uganda, Clare Wavamunno, the President of WAM International, Deborah Burand, and others, including a female Parliamentarian. Representatives of WAM International also were in attendance.

A key focus of WAM Uganda is to provide women in the microfinance industry of Uganda with a place where they can mentor, inspire and renew each other - personally and professionally.

Membership

WAM Uganda's membership currently includes women from a variety of Ugandan microfinance institutions, consultants, AMFIU (the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda), and Bank of Uganda.