Value chain summits

[chris macrae]

cracking the nut is arguably the most interesting value chain summit on agriculture especially as www.feedthefuture.gov seems to be the area of greatest advance obama admin has made in field of foreign assistance

unclear whether this is 2011's or 2012's line -up http://www.crackingthenutconference.com/speakers.html

COMPANIES REPRESENTED

ACDI/VOCA

African Union Commission

AZMJ

Boulder Institute of Microfinance

BPI Globe BanKO, Philippines

BRAC Uganda

CARANA Corporation

Cardno Emerging Markets

CARE USA

Chemonics International

Chevron Corporation

CRDB Bank PLC, Tanzania

Catholic Relief Services

DAI

Deloitte Consulting

Ecom Trading

EmVest

Fair Trade International

Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Nigeria

Fintrac

FOMIN

General Mills / Partners in Food Solutions

GIZ

Grameen Foundation

Greylock Capital Management LLC

Grupo Calleja/Super Selectos Supermarkets

ideas42

INCOFIN Investment Management

Inter-American Development Bank

Karisimbi Business Partners, Rwanda

LAPO Nigeria

MEDA

Mercy Corps

Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock, Honduras

NABARD, India

Netafim

Olam Americas Inc

Opportunity International

Oxford Policy Management

PepsiCo

Project Gaia

Red River Foods

Fundacion Sembrar, Bolivia

Social Enterprise Associates

Syngenta

TechnoServe

Unilever

Unispice, Guatemala

USAID

Walmart

West Africa Trade Hub

WOCCU

Yes Bank, India

 

environments and set the direction for their country’s transformation.
Cracking the Nut 2012 will share competitively selected best practices through five focused themes:

1. Expand to New Markets. With soaring population rates and rising living standards, agriculture and agribusiness are poised for unparalleled global growth. There is rising demand from growing and increasingly urban populations in developing countries. Sessions under this theme will show you how to identify and serve new markets that offer significant growth and income potential.
2. Tap New Sources of Supply. With increasing consumer awareness of fair trade, organic and specialty foods, many firms are realizing that sustainable sourcing from aggregated small-scale agricultural producers not only appeals to consumers, but also reduces risks in the supply chain and stabilizes prices. Learn how to tap new sources of supply, certify quality, increase productivity and reduce costs while contributing to sustainable production.
3. Create Effective Partnerships. Agribusiness success relies on knowing the market, where and how to source affordable and reliable inputs, and access to financial services in a timely manner, especially in the face of complex economic, environmental and social challenges. This theme will highlight how innovative public-private partnerships can overcome obstacles and facilitate access to information and services in a cost-effective manner.
4. Make Finance Work. Finance and impact investing are expanding in ways that serve rural and agriculture markets, creating competitive, financial and social returns. However, many companies still struggle to make finance work for their suppliers. This theme will showcase innovative approaches to sustainably increase access to finance and investments for rural and agricultural supply chains. Come see how an increasing number of impact investors are designing innovative approaches to sustainably support rural and agricultural markets by combining guarantees, insurance and technical assistance funds to reinforce financial and social impacts of their funds.
5. Leverage Positive Government Support. This theme will demonstrate how to work with governments to create enabling environments that provide proper incentives for players to invest in rural and agricultural businesses and its supporting infrastructure.

What’s the Return on Investment?

• Gain expert insight from industry leaders who want to share their knowledge and experience with you!
• Understand the power of public private partnerships to maximize business growth and stability in local and global markets.
• Learn how to create successful partnerships in emerging markets that produce triple bottom-line results.
• Network and do business with 300+ decision making professionals who have strategic relationships with governments and donors, creating trend setting business development ventures.
• Forge new business deals and partnerships to improve your profile, profits and impact

Shailee Adinolfi

Manager, FS Share Project, Chemonics International

Ms. Adinolfi is an economic growth specialist at Chemonics International with 10 of years of experience in ICT and private sector development. Her areas of specialization are micro, small and medium enterprise finance, and mobile technologies for development. She is currently the technical coordinator for USAID’s $6 million, Financial Sector Knowledge Sharing project (FS Share) providing direct support to USAID’s EGAT office in Washington, DC and USAID missions globally. Conducted mobile phone banking assessments in Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania, and provided backstopping to mobile money research and action plan development in Afghanistan, Indonesia and Malawi. Her publications include, FS Share Enabling Mobile Money Interventions.

Girish Aivalli

Country Head of Food and Agribusiness Strategic Advisory & Research, YES BANK, India

Girish Aivalli is Country Head – Food and Agribusiness Strategic Advisory and Research at YES BANK. YES BANK undertakes advisory projects in the areas of Food Processing, Dairy Sector, Large Scale Farming in Africa, Agri-Infra, Supply Chain Management, Modern Terminal Markets and Agro Food Parks. Girish has also worked with Cargill in India, and was heading their procurement and operations for the grains and oilseeds business. Girish also worked in Indonesia and Ivory Coast with Olam International. Girish is well recognized thought leader in the Food and AgriBusiness industry and a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Council on Agriculture.

Cinar Akcin

Manager, Economic Growth, Cardno Emerging Markets

Cinar Akcin has 10 years of business development and client service experience for private and public sector entities. As a Manager at Cardno Emerging Markets, Mr. Akcin provides technical assistance and project management on international donor projects in the areas of small business growth, local economic development and financial sector reform in Angola, Zambia, Bosnia, and Serbia. He has served as Cardno’s Project Manager for the Zambia PROFIT Project. In that capacity, he also worked with one of Zambia’s largest banks on improving its distribution network to provide access to finance for the rural poor. He holds a Master degree in International Economic Policy from Columbia University

Sukhwinder Arora

Principal Consultant, Financial and Private Sector Development, Oxford Policy Management, UK

Sukhwinder Arora works as Principal Consultant, Financial and Private Sector Development at Oxford Policy Management, UK. He has 30 years of experience in international development programmes. He has worked on design, as well as delivery and review of policies and programmes to enable poor people to participate in and benefit from financial and other markets. This work included 10 years in direct delivery of development programmes to the poor in India and 11 years as DFID private sector development adviser in India, UK, and Bangladesh. He contributed to the seminal book ‘The Poor and Their Money’ with Stuart Rutherford.

Gulce Askin

Project Coordinator, Project Gaia

Gulce is the current Project Coordinator at Project Gaia, Inc. Gulce coordinates communications, finance and logistics between Project Gaia's administrative office and its various field sites. She has worked to secure funds to expand Project Gaia's international work. Gulce has field-experience in Ethiopia and research experience in social-impact technologies and public-private cooperation for clean energy development. Gulce holds Bachelor's degrees from Gettysburg College in Political Science and Globalization Studies and is fluent in Turkish and Spanish.

Naty Barak

Chief Sustainability Officer, Netafim

Naty Barak is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Netafim, A pioneer and the world-leading provider of Drip Irrigation solutions. Prior to his current position, he served in a number of managerial posts including Director of Marketing, Executive VP of Netafim USA, and President of Netafim South Africa. A member of Kibbutz Hatzerim, Naty studied International Relations and Political Science at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at Tel Aviv University's Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration. Netafim is the largest player in the global irrigation industry, combining comprehensive in-house agro-knowledge with professional engineering expertise.

Max Baumann

Planning Officer, GIZ

Max Baumann was born in Heidelberg, Germany and studied political science and business administration. After first work experiences in the area of development aid at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and in Agriculture at a consultancy for the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, he joined GIZ (German International Cooperation) in March 2009. Since then he has been working as Planning Officer on several PPP-projects in the field of agricultural extension and education in Africa and Asia.

Saurabh Bhat

President & Managing Director, Development & Sustainable Banking, YES BANK, India

aurabh Bhat is the President & Managing Director – Development and Sustainable Banking (DSB) at YES BANK. Saurabh is also responsible for developing YES BANK’s Knowledge Management practice in the Development Banking Space and, as part of his overall leadership, has a Business Consulting team focused on the Food & Agri space. Prior to joining YES BANK, Saurabh was the Country Head – Structured and Project Finance at Barclays Bank, India. He has over 14 years of experience in various capacities in leading organizations like Citibank, Rabobank, Calyon Bank and ICICI Limited. Saurabh holds an MBA Degree in Finance from XLRI, Jamshedpur and a B.Tech (Chemical) from IIT Bombay.

Russell Brott

Director, Food Analytics, Fintrac

Russell Brott is the Director for Food Analytics at Fintrac Inc, a leading US-based agriculture consultancy. In this capacity he manages the company’s portfolio of projects and activities focused on commercial market analysis, food security analysis and analysis of the enabling environment for agriculture. Russell led the development of USAID’s AgCLIR diagnostic, a tool widely used by the US Government for understanding strengths, weaknesses and priorities for legal, regulatory and institutional reform in the agriculture sector. He has previously worked and lived in Africa and Latin America.

Roger Brou

Director of Finance and Business, West Africa Trade Hub

Roger T. Brou joined the Trade Hub as the Business & Finance Director, bringing expertise in agribusiness financing, project finance, and bank-to-bank finance. Brou taught mathematics and science in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, before moving to the U.S. to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and an MBA. Roger was as an investment officer and then regional manager for HSBC in West Africa and was based in Abidjan. Roger later joined Phoenix Capital, an equity firm, as Project Director with a focus on Energy. Before joining the Trade Hub, Roger founded his own agribusiness and logistic company which is was running in Cote d’Ivoire.

David Browning

Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, TechnoServe

David Browning is a Senior Vice-President at TechnoServe and head of TechnoServe’s global coffee practice. David joined TechnoServe in 2003 and has served as Regional Director for Latin America, Vice President for Business Development, and Senior Vice President, Coffee Initiative. He currently manages TechnoServe’s Strategic Initiatives. Prior to joining TechnoServe, David worked for McKinsey and Company. Before McKinsey, David held positions in the manufacturing, petroleum, and retail industries. David holds an MBA from Yale University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, and a Master’s degree in Advanced Finance from the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia.

Mark Cackler

Manager of Agriculture and Rural Development

Mark is Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank. He joined the World Bank in 1981, after working as an Overseas Representative for John Deere Intercontinental, Ltd., based in Thailand. In 2000, he was appointed Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development for Latin America. In 2007, Mr. Cackler was appointed Manager of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank, where he oversees the World Bank’s global programs for rural poverty alleviation, agriculture and natural resources management. He has economics degrees from Oberlin College and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Anita Campion

President, AZMJ

Anita is President and Founder of AZMJ, a global consulting firm that specializes in rural and agricultural finance and enterprise development in developing countries. Anita is an agricultural finance and value chain specialist with more than 20 years of experience in international finance and private sector development. Previously, she worked for Chemonics International, managing projects related to SME finance, leasing and bank restructuring, as well as prudential regulation and supervision of microfinance institutions. She also led research on agricultural value chains and designed training tools as Director of the AMAP/Knowledge Generation project.

Saugato Datta

Vice President, Ideas42

Saugato Datta is a Vice President at Ideas42. He works with partners to design, test and scale policies and products that use behavioral economics to benefit poor people in developing countries. He is also responsible for Ideas42's broader education and dissemination activities. Before joining Ideas 42, Saugato spent 3 years writing about economics at The Econimist in London. Prior to this, he was a researcher at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He has published papers on development and labor markets, and is the editor of "Economics: Making Sense of the Modern Economy", the Economist's guide to economics, published in 2011.

Loïc De Cannière

Managing Director, Incofin Investment Management

Loïc De Cannière joined Incofin Investment management as CEO in 2001. Before joining Incofin, Loïc worked for 6 years at Dredging International, one of the largest marine engineering companies in the world, where he was responsible for structured finance operations. He also served as chief of staff of the Minister President of the Government of Flanders (Belgium) and vice-chief of staff of the Minister of Public Works of Belgium. Loïc studied economics at the University of Louvain and philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Munich. He is fluent in English, French, Dutch, German and Spanish.

Jennifer Denomy

Director, Youth & Financial Services, MEDA

Jennifer Denomy is the Director of Youth and Financial Services at MEDA.. She manages projects in Egypt, Morocco and Afghanistan, supporting non-formal education, workplace safety initiatives and access to decent work for youth. She also facilitates the SEEP Network’s “Innovations in Youth Financial Services” Practitioner Learning Program. Prior to joining MEDA, Jennifer worked as a pedagogical manager of a teacher training center in Germany and a curriculum designer for BRAC’s Nonformal Primary Education Program in Bangladesh. Jennifer holds an M.Ed. in Comparative, International and Development Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and an MA from McGill University.

Joe Dougherty

Technical Director, Economic Growth, Cardno Emerging Markets

Joe Dougherty has been a trusted advisor to leading financial institutions, governments, corporations and non-profit agencies for twenty years, during which time he has worked in thirty countries. Early in his career, Joe worked with an agricultural export company in Costa Rica and then with Bank of Ireland’s Agribusiness Unit. More recently, he served as Senior Financial Sector Advisor on USAID’s landmark PROFIT project in Zambia and he currently oversees the AusAID-funded Market Development Facility in Fiji. An essay he wrote on sustainable agricultural development in Africa was published in USAID’s Frontiers in Development in May 2012.

Fleming Duarte

Financial Specialist, ACDI/VOCA

Fleming Duarte in an international consultant in project management and microfinance, and is currently Project Director on USAID/Paraguay Productivo. For the last 15 years, he has performed as senior investment and management roles in the private sector as well as with multilateral organizations. He has worked for the last ten years in providing banking advisory services to SMEs in México, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Chile, Brazil and Paraguay. Previously, he has been Project Director for the IADB Global Microcredit Program at the Central Bank, a Program Analyst for the Private Sector Development Program at UNDP, and an SME operations specialist at IADB.

Henry Dunlop

President, Ecom Trading

Henry is President/CEO of Atlantic (USA), as well as a Managing Director of the parent company Ecom AgroIndustrial Co., a leading global merchant in coffee, sugar, cocoa and cotton. He joined Atlantic in 1988 and has guided the firm to be the most successful physical coffee and cocoa merchant in North America. Henry started his career in commodities with ACLI International after attaining a B.A. from Gettysburg College. In 1975, he moved to Colombia to be first Assistant Manager then co-Manager of Compania Cafetera de Manizales, Ltda. In 1986, he became first Vice-President and then President of Inter-Continental de Cafe, Inc. (New York), continuing his role as merchant, hedger, and risk manager.

Jeff Dykstra

Executive Director, Partners in Food Solutions/General Mills

Jeff serves as the Founding Executive Director of Partners in Food Solutions, a consortium of leading global food companies - General Mills, Cargill and DSM - who are committed to improving food security by sharing the knowledge and expertise of their employees with small and growing food processors across Africa. Jeff’s current work is shaped by having spent half his career in the business world and the other half in the development world (including two years in Zambia), leading to a unique and practical understanding of how both of these sectors can benefit from the other.

Albert Engel

Director, Division of Rural Development and Agriculture, GIZ

Albert Engel is Director of the Division Rural Development and Agriculture at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Previously, he worked as GIZ Sector Coordinator in Namibia where he was responsible for support to land reform, rural development and natural resources management. From 1995 to 2000 he worked as Adviser for rural development in Southern Africa. Before joining GTZ, he was partner at Team Consult Berlin a consulting firm specialised on project management and organisational development. Mr. Engel holds a MSc. in agronomy from University of Göttingen and postgraduate degrees in international rural / agricultural development from Technical University Berlin and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Alejandro Escobar

Senior Investment Officer, FOMIN

Alejandro is an Agricultural Economist by training, and currently leads the Agribusiness Value Chain unit with the Multilateral Investment Fund. There, he has lead multiple projects in sustainable agriculture, financing of farmer cooperatives, development of investment vehicles for agricultural finance, and rural microfinance. Previously, he worked at Du Pont in the Global Supply Chain group of Tyvek, working on the development of global demand planning and financial forecasting tools. Earlier, Alejandro worked at MEDA in Bolivia and Peru as a technical advisor in financial management with cooperatives and farmer associations in the export sector. Later, Alejandro was an investment analyst for Sarona Global Investment Funds.

Alexandra Fiorillo

Vice President, ideas42

Alexandra Fiorillo is a Vice President for International Development at ideas42, where she manages product, policy and process innovation, field project implementation and analysis for international projects. Previously, Alexandra was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MicroFinance Transparency and Associate Director at ACCION International in Global Investments and Marketing and Product Development. In her 11 year career in microfinance and international development, she has worked as a microfinance consultant to Microfund for Women in Jordan, DFID's Financial Sector Deepening Project of Uganda, and Development Alternatives, Inc./USAID. Alexandra holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts from Connecticut College.

[chris macrae]

Dennis Flemming

Project Director, Niger Delta Partnership Initiative, Chevron

Dennis Flemming has 25 years of experience in the design and implementation of community programs in developing countries. In 2000, Dennis headed the establishment of the Community Development Initiatives (CDI) Foundation, designed to implement rural development programs in Papua New Guinea, and managed it for four years. Afterwards, he worked as Corporate Responsibility Manager for Chevron in Angola, managing Chevron’s Angola Partnership Initiative. He arrived in Nigeria in 2008 to assist Chevron in evaluating social investment initiatives and negotiating with community groups. In 2010, Dennis managed the establishment of the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), a new organization funded by Chevron to support multi-stakeholder development partnerships in the Niger Delta region.

Dr. Martin Fregene

Chief Technical Advisor, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria

Dr. Fregene serves as Chief Technical Advisor on Value Chains for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. He is a plant geneticist and molecular breeder with over 17 years of experience, beginning his career at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture as a cassava breeder. While there, he received a post-doctoral fellowship on genetic mapping from the Rockefeller Foundation that took him to the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia where he developed a molecular genetic map of cassava.

William Grant

Senior Principal Development Specialist, DAI

Bill Grant is a Senior Principal Development Specialist in DAI’s Economic Growth sector.  Over the past 27 years, he has concentrated on designing and implementing market driven solutions leading to broad-based, pro-poor development.  He applies systemic market development methodologies (value chain and M4P) to identify the major systemic constraints that are handicapping equitable economic growth.  He is currently advising systemic development programs for USAID, DFID, the SDC, and private corporations to link major investment opportunities into sectors with strong pro-poor growth potential, and serves as the Senior Technical Advisor for Economic Growth with the Chevron funded PIND Foundation in Nigeria.

Enrique Hennings

Manager, Global Producer Finance, Fair Trade International

Enrique Hennings is an applied economist with 15 years of international experience in economic analysis, agricultural finance and agribusiness. Currently, he is the Manager of the Global Producer Finance Unit at Fairtrade International overseeing Latin America, Africa and Asia. In the past, he worked for ACDI/VOCA as Deputy Director for a Millennium Challenge Account Project in Honduras (Farmer Access to Credit). He also worked at the Center for Farm and Rural Business Finance at the University of Illinois, the World Bank, the IDB, and the OAS. He holds a Master degree in Agribusiness and he is a PhD Candidate in Agricultural Economics (Rural Finance) at the University of Illinois.

Sabina Idowu-Osehobo

General Manager, LAPO NGO

Sabina Idowu-Osehobo is the General Manager of LAPO NGO. She obtained a diploma in Mass communication and a degree in English Language and Literature from the then Edo State University, Ekpoma.(1991,1997). Before joining LAPO, in 1999 as a programme officer, she worked with various media organizations including the Nigerian Observer and Here and There, where she was the editor. Sabina has skills in the design and implementation of social and health programmes. A highly experienced trainer, she is a foundation team member of the LAPO Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative, set up to address the neglect of the Nigerian Agricultural Sector and rural poverty.

Greg Jacobs

Director, Private Sector Development, Chemonics

Mr. Jacobs has 15 years of experience in international and local economic development on four continents in more than 25 countries. He joined Chemonics International as a Director in its Latin American region in 2010, where he oversees the $84 million Peru Alternative Development Program, as well as supporting a range of projects and proposals across the region. Mr. Jacobs also leads the company’s Private Sector Development Practice providing technical support and mentoring to 30 Chemonics projects across the globe. He was formerly the Regional Director of Latin America and the Caribbean for CARANA Corporation, and also worked for 5 years at Crimson Capital.

Dano Jukanovich

Partner, Karisimbi Business Partners, Rwanda

Dano Jukanovich is Co-founder and Partner at Karisimbi Business Partners. He has an MBA in Finance from Wharton, an MA in International Economics from Johns Hopkins, and an BS in Economics from West Point. He has been an Army officer, Director of Corporate Planning and Analysis for a Fortune 100 company, and CEO of mid-sized Construction and Real Estate Development Company. In the four years that Dano has been establishing and jointly managing Karisimbi Partners, he has worked primarily in Rwanda, but also in Uganda and Kenya. Dano’s focus has been on agro-processors – their strategic, operational and financial considerations to include high-level partnerships with government, development and financial partners.

Beth Keck

Senior Director of Sustainability, Walmart

Beth Keck is Senior Director of Sustainability for Walmart where she leads the company’s sustainable agriculture and international initiatives. Most recently, she led the strategy team that developed Walmart’s global sustainable agriculture platform and goals. In 2008, she received one of Walmart’s highest honors, the Sam M. Walton Entrepreneur of the Year Award for her contributions to sustainability. Previously, Beth lived in China where she was the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration senior representative. She has a master’s degree in International Economics and Asian Studies from Johns Hopkins and has done postgraduate studies at the University of Hong Kong

Boaz Blackie Keizire

Technical Advisor, Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), African Union Commission

Boaz Blackie Keizire is a Technical Advisor to a Pan African Agricultural Reform Program, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) at the African Union Commission in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Previously, Boaz was a head of Agriculture and Natural Resource Planning at the National Planning Authority in Uganda and a CAADP Lead Person in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries-Uganda. Boaz has written and published papers for ACODE, UNEP, FAO and UNDP among others. He holds a Masters Degree in Agricultural Economics from Makerere University - Uganda and a Post Graduate Diploma in Policy and Planning from the United Nations University Reykjavik, Iceland.

Dr. Yotsawin Kukeawkasem

Project Manager, GIZ

Dr. Yotsawin Kukeawkasem was born in Chiang Rai, Thailand and studied Agriculture (B.Sc.) and Agricultural Extension (M.Sc.). After several years of private sector experiences with international agribusiness (Cargill) and modern trade & supermarket (Carrefour), as well as working in a non-profit international development organization (Heifer International), he joined the Institute of Farm and Agribusiness Management at the Justus-Liebig University of Giessen, Germany. There he gained a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 2009. Since then, he has been working with GIZ (German International Cooperation) in the Project on Sustainable Palm Oil Production in Thailand as Deputy Project Director & Project Manager.

Laté Lawson-Lartego

Director Economic Development, CARE USA

Laté Lawson-Lartego is the Director of the Economic Development Unit for CARE USA. He has over 15 years of professional experience, specializing in microfinance, food and agriculture value chain finance and development and social enterprise development. Mr. Lawson-Lartego and his team have developed the CARE Global Market Engagement Strategy with the goal of scaling up the development of enterprises and value chains in agriculture and livestock to empower over 10 million people, especially women, to lift themselves out of poverty by 2015. He holds a Masters Degree in Economics with a major in Business Administration, an MA in Rural Social Development, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Project Planning, Appraisal and Financing.

Barry Lennon

Senior Vice President, WOCCU

Barry Lennon, Senior Vice President of Technical Services, has 40 years of experience in international financial system development. Prior to joining WOCCU, Lennon spent 26 years at the United States Agency for International Development designing, evaluating and developing financial service programs in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. He directed financial services programs of USAID’s Microenterprise Development Office for 12 years, managed a competitive grants program for micro and rural finance, and provided technical design and evaluation assistance to USAID Missions worldwide. As Financial Advisor in Guatemala and Honduras he designed and managed cooperative development programs to increase rural financial

Brady Luceno

Project Manager, Project Gaia

Brady manages the daily operations and resources of projects in Ethiopia, Brazil, Haiti, and new projects. Brady helps to lead the development of Project Gaia's strategy in its humanitarian and commercialization projects while coordinating with key partners including USEPA, UNHCR, UN Foundation and many others. She has conducted regular field assessments and works closely with field teams. Brady has research experience in social change and women-led movements. Brady graduated from Gettysburg College with a B.A. in Globalization Studies and is fluent in Spanish and conversational in Portuguese

John Magnay

Senior Agricultural Advisor for Africa, Opportunity International

Héctor Malarin

Chief, Environment, Rural Development and Disaster Risk Management, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Mr. Héctor Malarín, a Peruvian citizen, has been with the IDB since 1994.  Previous assignments at the Bank include working as Principal Project Economist in the Environment and Natural Resources Management Division and as Project Economist in the Environment and Natural Resources Management Division. Mr. Malarín has lead projects around Latin America in the areas of agriculture, natural resources management, sustainable regional development, land administration and tourism. Mr. Malarín holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis. His previous work assignments include serving as an assistant professor in the Economics Department at the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru

Bill Marquard

Director, Deloitte Consulting

Bill Marquard is a Director at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago. Previously, he has served as the Chief Knowledge Officer of a $16 billion consumer products retailer/wholesaler, and designed and ran the first-ever strategic planning process for the world’s largest retailer. His book, Wal-Smart: What it Really Takes to Profit in a Wal-Mart World, was selected as a top five business strategy books that year. He also advised the Department of Homeland Security on public/private partnership opportunities. Additionally, he has helped SMEs and NGOs to collaboratively generate value by serving major social needs, including aligning a Guatemalan farm village into the Walmart supply chain in cooperation with a local NGO, USAID, Mercy Corp

John Mennel

Director, Deloitte Consulting

John Mennel is a Director with Deloitte Consulting where he manages an economic development business delivering services to a range of clients including the development banks, donors, emerging markets governments and companies. His practice areas include competitiveness, private sector development, export and investment promotion strategies, and policy. He has worked in sectors including agriculture and agribusiness, textiles and apparel, power transmission and distribution, infrastructure, travel and tourism, and many others. Prior to joining Deloitte, John held senior positions in technology companies and worked as a consultant to the venture industry. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School

Anderson Mlabwa

Director of Credit, CRDB Bank PLC, Tanzania

Mr. Anderson Mlabwa has 22 years experience in banking sector, 12 of which he has been the Country Head (Director) of Credit of CRDB Bank Plc. Mr. Mlabwa has also participated at different capacities in several local and international loan and guarantee financing schemes, such as the UNCDF guarantee loan scheme to Mwanza labor based contractors and USAID/ AfDB guarantee scheme for bank’s SME agricultural borrowers. He has been a Member of the Advisory Committee of the African Guarantee Fund and CRDB Bank’s team leader in introducing and managing the UNHCR funded loan scheme for Mozambican refugees. Mr. Mlabwa has a BSc. Agriculture, MBA Finance, and Associateship Banking Diploma

Corey Modeste

Greylock Capital Management LLC

Mr. Modeste joined Greylock Capital Management in 2007 as a director and covers corporate and sovereign credit analysis in sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Modeste also focuses on deal sourcing, analysis and structuring for Greylock Capital’s private equity and debt transactions in the African region. Previously, Mr. Modeste was an associate director with Fitch Ratings in New York, where he worked in the Global Infrastructure Group, notably in the aviation, maritime and transportation sectors. Prior to Fitch, Mr. Modeste was head of global forecasting and logistical supply chain activities at Marin Mountain Bikes GmbH in Nuremberg and San Francisco. He received a BA in Economics from Williams College and speaks French, Spanish, and German

Benugopal Mukhopadhyay

General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), India

Benugopal Mukhopadhyay received his Masters in Organization Development from Bowling Green StateUniversity, and did his Doctorate in Agricultural Extension at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He joined as an officer at an Apex Development Financial Institution, NABARD, and served in various capacities in different parts of India. His passion is Organization Development and Change and he is trying to connect theory and practice for building up an effective and efficient rural financial sector cracking the codes of change. He was also a fellow in Asia Pacific Leadership Program at University of Hawaii. Recently, he completed a collaborative project on Financial Inclusion with University of Canberra

Elibariki Masuke Ogwa

Head of SME Banking, CRDB Bank PLC, Tanzania

View Biography

A banker specialized in Retail banking business, currently is a Head of SME Banking of CRDB Bank Plc, a Team Leader of CRDB Bank Plc to develop non conventional banking to SMEs. Prior to this, he worked with a project which developed and set Card business of CRDB Bank Plc. From 1997 to 2002, he was employed by Standard Chartered Bank (T) whereby he participated in the opening of different branches, supervising branches operations. He is a graduate of University of Dar-es-Salaam, holding a Bachelor Degree in Economics and a Diploma of SME Development and Management from Galilee College Israel. Currently, he is undertaking a Higher Diploma in Banking from Milpark Business School (South Africa

Kofi Owusu-Boakye

Investment Officer, USAID

Kofi Owusu-Boakye serves as the lead Investment Officer for USAID’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) partnerships in East Africa. The DCA is a US Congressional authorization that allows USAID to mobilize local financing to support the development objectives of the U.S. government through US Treasury-backed credit guarantees. Mr. Owusu-Boakye previously worked as the technical team leader for the DCA’s Portfolio Management unit. His prior experience in development finance includes serving as Regional Managers for the same program in Eastern Europe and South-East Asia. Mr. Owusu-Boakye has an MBA in Finance from the University of Maryland, and a BA in Economics and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia

Nicole Pasricha

Director, Inclusive Rural Finance, MEDA

Nicole Pasricha is the Director of Inclusive Rural Finance at MEDA. Since joining MEDA in 2007, Nicole has provided technical support to a variety of microfinance, value chain, and branchless banking partners in Asia, Central America, and Africa. She is a faculty member of the Boulder Microfinance Institute, offering a course on “Financing Agricultural Value Chains.” Previously, Nicole worked as a microfinance research assistant at CGAP in Washington, D.C., and as a credit supervisor at Banco ProCredit in El Salvador. Nicole holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University and a B.A. in in Business Administration from the University of Florida

Alex Pavlovic

Technical Director, ACDI/VOCA

Mr. Alex Pavlovic is a private sector development specialist with 8 years of experience designing, implementing, managing, and evaluating complex market development projects.  He has extensive experience using the value chain approach to understand economic constraints and opportunities in growing economies.  He currently works as the Public Private Partnership Advisor on a USAID funded AGP-AMDe project in Ethiopia, a flagship Feed the Future initiative.  Before that, Mr. Pavlovic served as the Managing Director for ACDI/VOCA projects in India

Dan Phipps

Red River Foods

Timothy Prewitt

Managing Director, Nigeria Markets, Chemonics International

Timothy Prewitt is the Managing Director of the MARKETS and BtM2 program, USAID-funded programs designed to increase the competitiveness of Nigerian agriculture through partnerships with major agribusinesses and the Government of Nigeria. In addition to improving on-farm productivity of rice, corn, sesame, cocoa, cassava, sorghum, and aquaculture, the program has helped provide fertilizer through a fertilizer voucher program (with IFDC), supported agricultural policy development with the Federal Government of Nigeria, and supported trade and transportation policy reform. Prior to working in Nigeria, Mr. Prewitt has managed private sector and donor funded efforts in China, Romania, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, East Timor, South Africa and 11 other countries

Maria Elena Querejazu

CEO, Fundacion Sembrar, Bolivia

Maria Elena Querejazu has worked in urban and rural microfinance for more than 20 years. She worked as a Commercial Manager at BancoSol for twelve years. She then worked at Prodem Foundation, where she developed financial technologies and methodologies for investing in SMEs. Ms. Querejazu was a board member of FFP Prodem, and remains as board member of several companies, funds and development institutions. She served as CEO of SembrarSartawi, where she designed its financial methodology used to serve small Bolivian farmers, before being appointed CEO of FundaciónSembrar, where she initiated Technical Assistance and Access to Markets services for small producers

Santhosh Ramdoss

Country Representative, BRAC Uganda

Santhosh Ramdoss currently works with BRAC USA, the US office of BRAC, the world's largest development organization. Since 2008, Santhosh has helped manage BRAC's expansion of microfinance and micro-franchising initiatives in Uganda. Santhosh is also one of the co-founders of ThinkChange India, a popular online platform tracking the field of social entrepreneurship in India. He also co-founded Profits for People, which won the NYU Stern Social Venture Competition. Santhosh holds an MBA, as well as an MPA. He was also a Catherine B. Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Lastly, he belongs to the inaugural class of Dalai Lama Fellows and also the Asia21 Young Leaders Initiative

Honorable Jacobo Regalado

Ministry of Agriculture, Honduras

Mr. Regalado was sworn in at the Presidential House, as the Honduran Minister of Agriculture and Livestock on February 10th, 2010. Previously, he has successfully chaired several private sector related organizations such as the Federation of Private Sector Institutions for Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic (FEDEPRICAP), the Honduran National Business Council (COHEP), National Federation of Agricultural and Livestock Producers in Honduras (FENAGH), and the Agriculture and Livestock Association of Sula (AGAS). He has also served in several capacities with Government of Honduras projects and institutions. He holds a Bachelor´s Degree in Agronomy from the Zamorano University and degrees in Dairy Engineering and Husbandry Engineering from Mississippi State.

David Richardson

Senior Manager, Technical Development, WOCCU

David Richardson, Senior Manager of Technical Development for World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has over 30 years of experience working in international financial sector development. An expert in credit union strengthening, supervision, regulation, and rural credit, Richardson developed the Model Credit Union Building methodology that serves as the basis for all WOCCU development programs. While managing a $15 million financial modernization program in Guatemala, Richardson developed the PEARLS performance monitoring system which allows credit unions to monitor and improve financial performance. Most recently, Richardson has completed multiple assignments designing risk-based supervisory systems and deposit insurance schemes for credit unions

Enrique Rivas

Chief of Party, El Salvador MCA Productive Development Project (PDP), Chemonics International

Mr. Rivas, has more than twenty years of experience working in implementing successful projects in rural economic development. He has extensive experience in lead agro-economic studies, baseline assessments, project design and management, strategic planning, organizational development, project evaluation, M&E system design, and establishing strategic alliances. He began working with Chemonics in 2002; he is currently the COP for the MCA Productive Development Project in El Salvador. Prior to joining Chemonics, Mr. Rivas worked for several international development organizations, as well as private sector entities and as a private business owner

Ximena Robin

Head of Corporate Relations, Grupo Calleja/Super Selectos Supermarkets

Ximena currently serves as Head of Corporate Relations and Social Responsibility for Grupo Calleja, a Supermarket Retail, Real Estate and Financial Services conglomerate based in El Salvador. Prior to joining Grupo Calleja, she worked as Director of Communications for the Ministry of Agriculture of El Salvador. She has vast experience in strategic planning within CSR and communications across many industries including manufacturing, banking and construction. She also worked as journalist for over five years in El Salvador. Ximena holds a Bachelor of Social Communication from Jose Simeon Cañas Central American University

Ana Maria Rodriguez-Ortiz

Manager of Institutional Capacity, IDB

Ana Maria Rodriguez-Ortiz has been the Manager of the Institutions for Development Department since February 2011.  Since joining the IDB in 1991, Mrs. Rodriguez-Ortiz has occupied several positions, including Senior Advisor to the Office of the Presidency, Country Representative in Peru, Chief Advisor to the Executive Vice Presidency, and Chief of the Country Division for Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.  Previously, she served as Economic Advisor to the President of the National Banking Association in Colombia and worked at the Colombian Central Bank. Mrs. Rodriguez-Ortiz holds a M.A. in Development Economics from Williams College in Massachusetts and a degree in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota

Allan Safieh

CEO, Unispice

Safieh Charles Allan (born in San Salvador, El Savador) is an entrepreneur co-founder and current CEO of the companies forming the Group UNISPICE today in Guatemala, exporting non-traditional agricultural products to North America and Europe since 1991. Industrial Engineer by profession, he has identified trends of plants for 20 years, diversifying products with high added value to the marketplace through the highest quality field production, human capital development, and implementation of better technology plants

Santiago Sedaca

President, CARANA

Santiago Sedaca is the President of CARANA, overseeing technical services and management of all current programs. He was most recently CARANA's chief of party under USAID’s Productive Network project in Ecuador, which advises the government and the private sector there to develop key industries and producer networks. Previously he served as CARANA's vice president for the Latin America and Caribbean region, where he successfully designed and managed USAID programs in international trade, competitiveness, enterprise development, micro-, small-, and medium-enterprise, and cluster development, including the Colombia Enterprise Development project and the Guyana Trade and Investment Support project

Sashi Selvendran

Senior Project Manager, Deposit Mobilization, MEDA

Sashi is the Program Manager of the Deposit Mobilization team in MEDA, leading programming in savings mobilization and product development in West Africa, Afghanistan, and Nepal. Prior to MEDA, Sashi worked at USAID’s Office of Development Credit managing a portfolio of guarantees in Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. She specialized in technical assistance in SME finance, housing microfinance, social entrepreneurship, and water finance to 15 countries. Sashi has previously worked at CGAP, Grameen Foundation, and as an independent consultant. Sashi obtained her MSc. in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics and her BA in International Development

Geralyn Sheehan

Director, Nicaragua Community Economic Development Program, Opportunity International

Geralyn Sheehan is Director of the Nicaragua Community Economic Development Program. She is responsible for developing program capacity in Nicaragua, expanding the CED work to other sites, developing partnerships with universities, institutions and NGO’s and resource development for the program. She is also a faculty member at the Asset-Based Community Development Institute of Northwestern University. In 1992, Geralyn was awarded a Fellowship in International Development through the Kellogg Foundation and Partners of the Americas. She also received a Bush Leadership Fellowship in 1994 to study community and economic development at Harvard University. Geralyn has an M.P.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Hamline University School of Law (MN).

Leesa Shrader

Senior Director, Financial Innovations, Mercy Corps

Leesa Shrader is Senior Director for Financial Innovation at Mercy Corps, based in the Philippines. She has over 20 years global experience in microfinance, working with institutions such as CGAP, the World Bank, GTZ, KfW, Women’s World Banking, in areas including wholesale and retail microbanking, market research and product development, ratings, technology implementation and technical assistance. With an extensive background in financial product development for the poor, she is now leading Mercy Corps activities around financial and mobile technology services across the development spectrum of disaster response, health, financial inclusion and agriculture. Leesa holds a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Jefferson Shriver

Regional Technical Advisor for Agro-enterprise and Climate Change, Catholic Relief Services

Jefferson Shriver is CRS’ Latin America and Caribbean Regional Technical Advisor for Agro-enterprise and Climate Change. He is based in Managua, Nicaragua. Jefferson has led rural development programs with small farmers in Central America for the past 17 years and has technical experience in sustainable agro-enterprise, value chains, and payment for ecosystem services. He designs and provides ongoing assistance to value chain and climate change programming embracing the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. Jefferson has a BA in International Studies from Whitworth University and an MA in Global Environmental Policy from American University.

Alberto Solano

Regional CEO, Latin America & Caribbean, Grameen Foundation

Harry Stokes

Executive Director, Project Gaia

Harry Stokes, Executive Director of Project Gaia Inc. has led the clean liquid stove movement in the household energy field for over ten years. He received his M.A. in Forestry and Environmental Management from Duke University. Brady Luceno is the Project Manager of Project Gaia, Inc. Brady develops and manages international projects, and has contributed her field-based experience to household energy studies and reports commissioned by groups like HEDON and the World Bank. Brady holds a B.A. in Globalization Studies from Gettysburg College. Gulce Askin is the Project Coordinator of Project Gaia, Inc. Gulce coordinates logistics, finances, and supports the development of international clean ethanol stove and fuel projects and studies. Gulce holds a B.A. in Political Science and Globalization Studies from Gettysburg College. Harry is a founder and director of Project Gaia, Inc. and principal of Stokes Consulting Group. For over two decades Harry has provided support to industry, governments, financial institutions and development organizations on resource management issues, particularly around biofuels. In 2010, Harry was recognized by the World Bioenergy Association for his efforts to pioneer alcohol fuels for cooking. Harry holds a Masters in Forestry from Duke University, and served for over two decades in county and state government. He was chair of the National Association of Counties Energy Sub-committee and vice chair in the Land Use, Environment and Energy Committee.

Dr. Robert Stone

Associate, Oxford Policy Management

Robert Stone is an Associate of Oxford Policy Management, with over 30 years’ experience of financial and private sector development at policy and institutional level. His work has focused on the structure of markets within the financial sector and their impact on growth, investment and, particularly, poverty reduction. He has developed methodologies for assessing and improving the reach and functioning of financial markets and financial institutions to ensure that financial intermediation links the effective mobilisation of international and domestic savings with the provision of appropriate financial services for rural and urban businesses and households

Teresita B. Tan

President, BPI Globe BanKO, Philippines

Teresita B. Tan is currently the President of BPI Globe BanKO, a microfinance-focused savings bank based on internet and mobile technology. At BPI, she has overseen the first ATM for 24x7 cash withdrawal and the first internet and mobile banking for 24x7 anywhere and anytime banking. She also headed the BPI Overseas Banking Group, enabling 10 Million Filipino Overseas Workers financial control while they work abroad and provide for their family back home. Her team was awarded the Hall of Fame Award as No. 1 Remittance Bank for three consecutive years by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Best Mobile Banking from Asian Banker. She graduated A.B. Mathematics from Maryknoll College, Manila, and M.S. Operations Research from Stanford University

Malini Tolat

Consultant, Social Enterprise Associates

Malini Tolat is a Senior Consultant with Social Enterprise Associates. She is an expert in micro-finance and enterprise development with over 12 years experience working in Africa and Asia. She worked with Grameen Foundation for over seven years leading the roll out of multiple new initiatives, including the establishment of an internal M&E unit. As Program Manager for livelihoods and enterprise development, she partnered with BASIX, India to conduct an action research project testing an integrated service model for extremely poor households. Ms Tolat has a Masters in public policy from the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and MBA from IMT Ghaziabad in India. She previously worked as a development consultant in South Asia

Eduardo Tugendhat

Chairman and CEO, CARANA Corporation

Eduardo Tugendhat is one of the founders of CARANA Corporation, having established the Washington area office in 1988. He is a recognized expert in competitiveness, investment promotion, and export development, and strategies for accelerating economic growth and employment creation—with particular attention to the challenges facing small, poorly situated economies in accessing international markets. He led a number of assignments that introduced competition and private investment into infrastructural services, including telecommunications, electricity, transport, and industrial parks. He has lectured and written extensively on strategies for accelerated economic growth. Prior to joining CARANA, he spent 11 years with Arthur D. Little, Inc.

---

		Nathan Van Dusen Africa Director, CARANA Corporation View Biography Nathan Van Dusen is CARANA’s Director for Africa, overseeing management of regional projects in West and East Africa. He has technical expertise in transport and logistics, market linkages, trade policy, institutional capacity building, electoral management systems, civic education and civil society development. He has provided on-site technical assistance to donor projects in these areas in 11 countries in Africa and Eastern Europe. He has authored numerous technical reports and articles on democratic and economic development. Before joining CARANA in 2007, he was Deputy Director for Africa at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). Stephen Van Schoor Chief Investment Officer, EmVest After graduating from university, where he obtained a BSc Agricultural Honours Degree, Stephen has built up a thirteen year track record in emerging market investment management in a career spanning across combination investment banks, hedge funds and private equity funds. Having become acutely aware of the value proposition presented in the regional agricultural sector and a desire to return to investing in real assets, he joined EmVest in 2010. In his capacity as CIO, he oversees the investment management of a vertically integrated portfolio of agricultural assets located across four SADC countries. Christof Walter Research Manager, Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Sourcing Development, Unilever Glenn Westley Independent Consultant Glenn Westley is an independent consultant working in the areas of microfinance and microenterprise development. He was a Senior Adviser at CGAP during 2008-11 after nearly 31 years at the Inter-American Development Bank where he was Senior Advisor for Microenterprise (1998-2007) and worked in inclusive finance since the early 1990s. During his time at the IDB, he contributed to the design of over 100 projects, especially in the area of microfinance. Glenn received a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and has published numerous books and papers in microfinance, including “Is There a Business Case for Small Savers?”, published by CGAP as Occasional Paper No. 18. Jason Wolfe Senior Household Economic Strengthening Advisor, USAID Jason Wolfe is Senior Household Economic Strengthening Advisor with USAID's Office of HIV/AIDS, where he supports PEPFAR country teams, projects, and partners to improve the economic circumstances of families affected by HIV and AIDS. Previously he served for five years with USAID’s Microenterprise Development office promoting inclusive value chain development, managing the Enterprise Development Implementation Grant Program, contributing to knowledge management and collaborative learning efforts, and coordinating special initiatives with youth, HIV/AIDS-affected households, and conflict-affected environments. Jason has 14 years of experience designing, managing, and assessing market development and technology transfer projects in 45 countries, with a particular emphasis on poor, rural, and marginalized communities Derek Yach Senior Vice President, Global Health & Agricultural Policy, PepsiCo Dr. Genzo Yamamoto Director of Knowledge Management, Opportunity International