Social Business and Microfinance
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Speakers
Conference Speakers
| Muhammad Yunus was born in Chittagong, a seaport in Bangladesh. The third of fourteen children, he was educated at Dhaka University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University, where he earned a PhD. He returned to Bangladesh in 1972 and served as Chairman of the Economics Department at Chittagong University before devoting his life to providing financial and social services to the poorest of the poor. He is the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank and the author of two bestselling books: Banker to the Poor (1999) and Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism (2007).Yunus and Grameen Bank are winners of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. According to RESULTS, Muhammad Yunus revolutionized how we fight poverty by creating a system of microfinance for the poorest people in Bangladesh. His contribution to helping us build a world of free of poverty was acknowledged when the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that “lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Microcredit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.” |
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John Hatch is the founder of FINCA, one of the world’s leading microcredit institutions with programs in 23 countries and over one million low-income families assisted since its inception in 1984. John is also known as the father of “village banking”, a group loan methodology now replicated by over 800 micro-credit programs in 60 countries. In addition to his management duties at FINCA, John directed field research for 10 years by summer interns armed with Palm Pilots who interviewed over 3,000 clients per year to document their poverty levels, business profitability, and rising living standards. John also continues to serve as co-founder and executive committee member of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, a global effort to reach 175 million of the world’s poorest mothers with self-employment loans by the year 2015. He has given microcredit workshops and lectured widely at universities in the US and abroad. John earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1973. John’s economic development career spans 44 years, during which time he was a Peace Corps volunteer and staff member, Fulbright scholar, economist, and a consultant to small farmer development projects in some 50 countries. Following his retirement in 2007, John now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he pursues a lifelong interest in water coloring, has finished a screenplay, continues his public speaking activities, and actively campaigns for an end to global poverty by the year 2025. |
Other Confirmed Speakers and Organizations:
| Emmanuel Faber
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Co-Chief Operating Officer of Groupe DANONEAfter education in finance and management, he started his career in 1987 with Bain & Company, as a management consultant. He then joined Baring Brothers, the London-based investment bank for 4 years, where he held various positions advising clients on corporate finance and mergers and acquisition projects. In 1993, he joined Legris Industries, a French main board listed company specializing in mechanical engineering, as Chief Financial Officer. In 1997, he joined Danone to head the M&A and corporate strategy departments. He was appointed to the executive committee of Groupe Danone,as Executive Vice President and CFO late 1999, and was subsequently elected a Director of the board of Groupe Danone in 2002. On July 1st, 2005, he was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of the Asia Pacific World Wide Business Unit.On January 1st, 2008, he has been appointed Co-Chief Operating Officer of Groupe DANONE. Mr. Faber holds seats on the board of various French and Asian companies. |
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Alex Counts
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President and Founder, Grameen Foundation The Grameen Foundation is a dynamic nonprofit, Washington D.C.-based organization that has grown to a global network of 46 microfinance partners in 25 countries. Today, under Alex’s leadership, Grameen Foundation impacts an estimated 20 million lives in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Arab World. Prior to founding the Grameen Foundation, Alex worked for ten years in microfinance and poverty reduction, primarily with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. He trained under and worked closely with Prof. Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank, and the 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Alex has written numerous articles and book chapters on poverty and microcredit for the poor. He has also authored a book entitled Give Us Credit: How Muhammad Yunus’ Microlending Revolution is Empowering Women from Bangladesh to Chicago, which was published by Random House in 1996. Alex is a 1988 Cornell University graduate, with a degree in economics. Alex speaks fluent Bengali and lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Emily and cat, Seymour. |
| Anthony Curci
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Senior Director for Corporate Responsibility, CrocsAnthony joined Crocs in June of 2007 with responsibilities of overseeing all the philanthropic and environmental programs. The primary initiative to be launched is SolesUnited, the first of its kind recycled footwear donation program. The program combines recycling into raw materials, and recombining with reclaimed and new material, to produce recycled shoes. The recycled shoes are donated to populations in extreme poverty due to war, disease and economic and political instability as well as to respond to natural disasters/relief efforts worldwide. Additionally, Anthony will serve as the Executive Director of the Crocs Foundation which will be launching during 2008. Prior to Crocs, Anthony was the President and CEO of SafetyMate, a consumer safety products manufacturer targeting both commercial and consumer markets. Anthony started as an entrepreneur, consultant and investors with 15 years of operating and investing experience. Anthony earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Business Administration from UCLA, a Master’s Degree in Psychology and an MBA in Finance from the Graziadio School at Pepperdine University. |
| Christopher Dunford
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President, Freedom From Hunger Christopher, President of Freedom from Hunger since 1991, is an international development specialist and non-profit organization manager with 31 years of work experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States with practitioners, technical assistance providers, and donors. Dr. Dunford provides strategic leadership, participates in program development, speaks and writes for international audiences, and leads development of partnerships for Freedom from Hunger. Dr. Dunford joined the staff of Freedom from Hunger in 1984, first as Director, Arizona Programs; then Regional Director, U.S. Programs; Director, International Operations; and Vice President for Programs prior to becoming President. Before joining Freedom from Hunger, Dr. Dunford was a program officer for the U.N. Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya and a rural development and environmental assessment consultant for the World Conservation Union (IUCN), Development Alternatives, Inc. and the University of Arizona Office of Arid Lands Studies. Dr. Dunford has a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Arizona in Tucson. |
Laura Fleischer Proaño  |
Technical Associate, Freedom From HungerLaura Fleischer Proaño, joined Freedom from Hunger in 2005 and has five years of international development experience. Ms. Fleischer Proaño develops training manuals and trains partners on savings group formation, financial literacy, and health topics for women and adolescent girls in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Prior to joining Freedom from Hunger, she provided research and technical support to state senators and communities in the impoverished region of Appalachian Ohio. Ms. Fleischer Proaño has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, where she managed savings-led community banks, trained microentrepreneurs and taught adolescents in high schools. She has also conducted research in Brazil on Brazilian microcredit programs. She holds a Master of Arts from Ohio University in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Business and International Studies. Ms. Fleischer Proaño speaks fluent Spanish and English and is proficient in Portuguese. |
| Stacy Edgar
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Founder and CEO, Global Girlfriend Global Girlfirend believes passionately that economic opportunity for women holds the promise for real change in the world; because when women have an income, they reinvest in themselves and in their children’s health, education and nutrition, building stronger families and communities over time. Many women try desperately to make a living selling their artisan quality goods but find that they have little access to market opportunities. Through fair trade practices, Global Girlfriend brings the work of these disadvantaged groups directly to you. Global Girlfriend believes in forming long-term partnerships that provide women a fair living wage with equal employment opportunities, healthy and safe working conditions, technical assistance and development strategies to foster prosperity and reduce poverty. |
Mary Houghton  |
Founder, ShoreBank ShoreBank’s shareholders and employees believe that a banking corporation can earn competitive profits by helping its customers build their own wealth and invest in their communities, and by working to create a healthier environment. Therefore, we measure our success against three bottom lines of profitability, community development and conservation. |
| Ros Tennyson
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Director, Development Partnership Solutions International Business Leader’s Forum Building on earlier careers in theatre and in the NGO sector, Ros started working with the International Business Leader’s Forum (IBLF) in 1991. IBLF is an educational charity dedicated to putting business at the heart of sustainable development – with a particular focus on social issues including health, youth enterprise and education. Ros has been responsible for developing IBLF’s leading edge work in building cross-sector partnership approaches, working in more than 40 countries – largely emerging and transition economies. She has authored a number of seminal books on different aspects of the partnering challenge (brokering, communications, institutional engagement, evaluation and more). The Partnering Toolbook is currently available on-line in 19 languages and is used worldwide by all sectors. As Director of IBLF’s global programme, The Partnering Initiative – a joint venture between IBLF and the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry – Ros has undertaken innumerable partnership capacity and skills-building programmes for a wide range of organisations at both strategic and operational levels.For more information: www.ThePartneringInitiative.org |
| Andrew Kassoy
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Co-Founder BCorporation Board Member, Echoing GreenAndrew is Co-Founder of B Lab, a nonprofit organization that is building the capital markets infrastructure to unify sustainable business and social enterprise through the creation of B Corporations. B Corporations harness the power of private enterprise to create public benefit by allowing entrepreneurs, consumers, and investors to distinguish “good” companies from good marketing. These companies meet comprehensive social and environmental performance standards, institutionalize stakeholder interests in their corporate articles, and create collective voice through a global brand.Andrew is dedicated to growing innovative for-profit and non-profit models for social change. He is a Board Member of Working Today and the Freelancers Union, which provide affordable health insurance and other financial services to independent workers in thirty-two states; a Board Member of Echoing Green, a non-profit venture fund that provides seed capital to exceptional emerging social entrepreneurs; an Advisory Board member of Wall St. Without Walls, a non-profit which provides capital markets and investment banking expertise to community development organizations; and an advisor to Civic Builders, a non-profit developer of charter schools. |
| Lloyd McCormick
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MED Technical Advisor, Christian Children’s Fund in Africa
Mission Statement
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| Kyle Taylor
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Kyle is a four-year veteran of Youth Venture, a program that supports young people in launching their own social enterprises. In 2003 he started his own team called Operation Outreach: Spring in to Reading and Writing in part, based on lessons learned from reading Savage Inequalities, by Jonathan Kozol. Operation Outreach works to build bridges between college mentors and elementary school children to inspire them to work hard and stay in school. Kyle is currently making his way around the world as Youth Venture’s Global Representative, meeting with young change makers on five continents while simultaneously documenting their work in words, pictures and film to bring awareness to a global movement that is reshaping our world. The North American leg is running from February 10th to March 23rd, 2008, taking him to 32 US States and 2 Canadian Provinces in conjunction with Staples, Starbuck’s and MySpace. His journey is being documented online at www.genv.net and www.yvroadtrip.org and has been covered extensively by the international press, including BBC News and The Times of India. |
| Lena Miller
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Executive Director of Development Hunter’s Point Family The Hunters Point Family (HPF) is a grass-roots, community-based, youth development agency that provides holistic educational, social, and enrichment programs to youth and their families living in the primarily African American Bayview Hunters Point community of San Francisco. The mission of The Hunters Point Family is to prepare youth to become independent, strong, and productive adults through comprehensive support services that empower them to develop their full potential |
| Lynne Randolph Patterson
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Lynne, Co-Founder and Executive Director , Pro Mujer International, spent the first part of her career in the United States as a teacher and administrator in the public school systems of New York City and Port Washington, Long Island, promoting educational programs for low income families and children. In 1990, she moved with her family to Bolivia where she joined forces with Carmen Velasco, a Bolivian psychologist, to develop training programs for women receiving donated food. Together they developed an inclusive, comprehensive program to address what the women said were their primary needs. The training programs in business development, child development, health and family planning eventually led to the founding of Pro Mujer, a microfinance and women’s development network that combines financial services with health care and other training programs so that women can build sustainable lives for themselves and their families. Pro Mujer began in Bolivia in 1991, and has since been successfully expanded and replicated in Nicaragua (1996), Peru (1999), Mexico (2001) and Argentina (2005). Lynne has degrees in Government (B.A., Principia College); Education (M.A., Teachers College, Columbia University); American History (M.A., New York University) and Educational Administration (Ed.D., New York University). |
| Catharyn A. Baird, JD
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Catharyn, is the Founder/CEO of EthicsGame.com, a company that provides a family of web-based ethics and compliance simulations that can be used for education, training, or individual professional development.
Catharyn is also Professor Emerita of Business at Regis University, where she taught law, ethics, and public policy. She has published extensively, consults in the area of ethics and spirituality in the workplace, and is a highly regarded speaker.
The author of Everyday Ethics: Making Hard Choices in a Complex World, she co-developed an assessment tool called the Ethical Lens Inventory that assists people in determining the primary ethical perspective they use to make decisions. |
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CFED expands economic opportunity by helping Americans start and grow businesses, go to college, own a home, and save for their children’s and own economic futures. We identify promising ideas, test and refine them in communities to find out what works, craft policies and products to help good ideas reach scale, and develop partnerships to promote lasting change. We bring together community practice, public policy and private markets in new and effective ways to achieve greater economic impact. |
| Rev. Michael J. Sheeran, S.J.
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President, Regis UniversityFather Sheeran became the 23rd president of Regis University on January 1, 1993. and in August of the same year he hosted the first meeting between Pope John Paul II and President Bill Clinton at Regis University. He also served as an expert commentator for Channel 4 in Denver during World Youth Day and the 2005 election of a new Pope.Father Sheeran received his doctorate in politics from Princeton University in 1977 and joined Regis University in 1975 as Assistant Professor of History and Political Science and Director of Student Academic Services. In 1977, he was named Academic Dean of the College and became Academic Vice President in 1982. He also taught at St. Louis University and at Regis Jesuit High School in Denver.Regis University, with more than 16,000 students, continues to flourish under his leadership, earning a top school in the Western United States ranking for the past ten consecutive years from U.S. News & World Report, gaining recognition from the Templeton Guide as one of the top 100 schools in the nation for student character development, and hosting 11 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates during the past seven years. |
Dr. Michael Goess  |
Sullivan Professor, Regis University
Dr. Goess has been part of Regis University for 25 years, leading the graduate division of business, charing the MBA program and teaching finance, strategic planning, law, ethics, international business, and accounting. With more than 17 years in the for profit sector, over 10 years as small business owner and service on multiple not for profit boards of directors, Michael is now the Sullivan Professor for the John J. Sullivan Endowed Chair for Free Enterprise. Awards: Outstanding Professor in the University of Denver’s Weekend College Program in 1983. John Francis Regis award in 2001 for outstanding contributions to the Regis University community
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| Dr. Meg Thams
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Faculty, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Division of Business, Regis University
Meg Thams has taught for Regis University for over 10 years. Prior to coming to Regis, Meg worked in the medical device industry and has over 20 years experience in product management, and marketing planning and strategy. She has served on the boards of the American Marketing Association, and the Medical Marketing Association. Meg holds a Ph.D with a specialization in Marketing; an MBA from the University of Colorado, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Ohio State University. |
| Amy Luz | President and CEO, The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) is the national leadership organization and the voice of microenterprise development. By providing cutting edge training, knowledge sharing, Federal and State public policy and advocacy, and communications, AEO empowers a community of nearly 500 member organizations to be uniquely effective in serving the needs of micro entrepreneurs who do not have access to traditional sources of business education or capital. |
| Annette Richter
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Member of The World Bank’s World Development Report 2007 team- Development and the Next Generation. As a team member, Annette conducted research on education, demographics, national youth policies and micro credit. She has been closely involved with putting the Report into practice. She facilitated consultations between youth and policy makers from eleven countries throughout East Asia . She also developed facilities to support youth employment in Africa and Middle East North Africa regions. Her recent work has focused on youth and entrepreneurship development in the South Asia Region. |
| Carlos Perez-Brito | USAID-Guatemala |
| Steve Meyer
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Main Street Pedicabs has been perfecting the design of human powered pedal vehicles since 1992.The Pedicab or bicycle driven pedestrian taxi is an environmentally friendly solution to the challenges of modern transportation. Pioneering design and craftsmanship combine to provide a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine. This new layer of transportation provides many exciting opportunities such as Pedicabvertising. |
| Natasha Cassinath
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Street Kids International believes that street involved youth have the potential for transforming their own lives when given non-judgmental support in developing skills, making choices, and accessing opportunities. |
| Bruce Hutton
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Dean Daniels School of Business, University of DenverDr. Bruce Hutton serves as Dean of the Daniels College of Business, holds the Piccinati Chair in Teaching Innovation, and is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Denver. He previously served as Dean of the College (1990-1994), Director of off-site MBA programs (1986-1989), and Chairman of the Department of Marketing (1980-1985). He has received the National Park Service’s highest civilian honor, that of Honorary Ranger, and the Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2001 Faculty Pioneer Institutional Leadership Award from the World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. The award recognized Dr. Hutton’s leadership in integrating social and environmental issues into business education. He was the co-author of a proposal for enhancing MBA programs, which was subsequently funded with an $11 million dollar matching gift. A significant component of this program deals with issues of values and social responsibility, including environmental ethics and sustainable development. Dr. Hutton received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida with a major in marketing and minors in social psychology and social research methods. Dr. Hutton is active in the community, serving on a variety of nonprofit boards, and is the co-founder of the Colorado Ethics in Business Awards. |
| Jennifer Denomy
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Manager PPIC-Work Project, MEDAJennifer Denomy has worked in education and international development for 16 years and joined Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) in 2006. She focuses on youth, education and microfinance. As manager of the PPIC-Work project, jointly run by MEDA and Partners in Technology Exchange, she supports non-formal education and workplace safety initiatives with children who work in microfinance-supported enterprises in Egypt. PPIC-Work (which stands for “Promoting and Protecting the Interests of Children who Work”) is currently examining how children can more effectively learn business, life and academic skills in the workplace. Jennifer holds an M.Ed in Comparative, International and Development Education and has worked as a pedagogical manager, certified teacher trainer, curriculum designer and research analyst for a range of organizations. She has lived and worked in Bangladesh, Russia, Egypt and Germany. |
| Warner Woodworth
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Social Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Enterprise Mentors, HELP International, and UNITUS Microfinance AcceleratorWarner Woodworth is a social entrepreneur and professor of organizational behavior at the Marriott School, Brigham Young University. He has been a leader in the global movement to prepare a new generation of college-age social entrepreneurs for fighting poverty. Using his courses and the university as a social enterprise incubator, he has spun off over 40 humanitarian projects in the past 15 years–providing capacity-building mechanisms such as literacy, healthcare, microfinance, appropriate technology, worker-owned co-ops, etc. Over the last decade, Warner has been a founder, board chair, or director of Enterprise Mentors, HELP International, and the Unitus acceleration model that has become so spectacular, as well as 13 other NGOs that have established income-generating family microenterprises for self-reliance in 22 countries. Collectively, Warner, his students, and their associated NGOs have raised over $10 million for microfinance, trained 140,000 microentrepreneurs in small business skills, and served more than a million impoverished microcredit clients in India, Mexico, Kenya, the Philippines, and other countries—in 2006 alone. |
| Jason Fairborne
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MicroFranchise Development Initiative, Director: Center for Economic Self-Reliance, Brigham Young University Jason is in demand internationally as a consultant to many organizations on establishing microfranchises. He has served as a speaker on microfranchising at numerous international conferences and several Learning Labs. He is the author of MicroFranchising: Creating Wealth at the Bottom of the Pyramid and he has written several pieces on microfranchising. He co-authored the “MicroFranchise Handbook”, outlining various microenterprises that are being replicated around the world. He is editor and author of the “MicroFranchise Toolkit, a guide to systematize and replicate microfranchises; He also authored the articles “MicroFranchising: New Innovative Tool for Economic Development and Microfranchising. Jason has an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, focusing his research on international political economy, Africa’s informal economy, poverty, and development management. |
Fiona Macaulay |
President, Making Cents InternationalFiona is committed to creating a legacy of improved skills and economic opportunities at the individual, community, and global levels. She is the Founder and President of Making Cents International, a specialized consulting and training firm based in Washington, D.C. that equips adults with the vision, confidence, and skills to create and grow their own businesses. Under her leadership, Making Cents has emerged as a leader in the development of the youth microenterprise sector by creating learning opportunities and networks that inspire youth, practitioners, policy makers, and funders to more effectively share and develop programs, policies, and partnerships to impact youth’s economic opportunities. Fiona has more than ten years of experience in the international development sector and has worked closely with local partners in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America. Fiona is a founding member of the International Development Effectiveness Alliance (IDEA) and Chair of the Board for the Campaign for Female Education USA Foundation (CAMFED). She is also active in domestic youth entrepreneurship and women’s small business development networks and is regularly invited to speak at conferences and other learning events. |
| Joey Baum
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Founder, JB PouchesJoey Baum is a freshman at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is originally from Boulder, Colorado. He started his business, JB Pouches LLC, when he was a junior at Boulder High School. JB Pouches imports reusable grocery bags for distribution and resale. The business was started as a catalyst to reduce the large number of plastic bags used in the United States. He is grateful for the number of grocery stores that offer rebates for reusable bags. He hopes this trend will continue and that the days of “paper or plastic” are limited. |
| Carrie Magnuson
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Franchise Partner Manager, Scojo Foundation Scojo Foundation is a non-profit social enterprise that trains entrepreneurs to start their own micro-franchises selling low-cost reading glasses. Ms. Magnuson is responsible for growing and managing the Franchise Partner Channel, Scojo Foundation’s main mechanism for global growth. Scojo Foundation works with local Franchise Partners organizations to bring its micro-franchise model to South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Scojo Foundation and its partners support over 1,100 “Vision Entrepreneurs” and have served nearly 100,000 customers to date. Prior to joining Scojo Foundation, Ms. Magnuson worked in Guatemala, serving as Country Director for Community Enterprise Solutions, a non-profit organization that creates sustainable work opportunities through micro-consignment and other small business ventures. As Country Director, she contributed to the creation and growth of a locally owned business and their micro-consignment distribution system. Ms. Magnuson was responsible for in-country operations, including managing regional coordinators responsible for over 60 rural entrepreneurs selling Scojo Foundation reading glasses, seeds, water filters, wood-burning stoves and energy-saving light bulbs. Ms. Magnuson received her B.S. in Business Administration and B.A. in Geography from Miami University in Ohio. |
| Chris Naylor
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Executive Director RESULTS and the RESULTS Educational Fund Chris oversees the operations of the non-partisan, non-profit volunteer citizen advocacy organization with grassroots groups in over 100 communities across the US, and affiliates in six countries. RESULTS is committed to empowering citizens to lobby elected officials for effective solutions and key policies to end hunger and to make poverty history. Key issues impacted by RESULTS include microfinance and the microfinance summit campaign, global health focused on tuberculosis eradication, and early childhood development and education, among others. Chris Naylor comes to RESULTS with a strong background in advocacy, political organizing, non-profit management, and fundraising. At the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a national research institute dedicated to public policy issues affecting minorities, Ms. Naylor served as Vice-President for Corporate Relations and Strategic Planning. Previously, Ms. Naylor was at WAMU 88.5 FM Radio in Washington, D.C., where she served as Director of Public Affairs and was responsible for developing corporate and community partnerships, leading corporate and special event fundraising, and conducting communications outreach to extend the station’s impact.
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| Crickett Nicovich
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Washington DC based Grassroots Organizer for RESULTS
As a 2005 graduate of Millsaps College, Crickett was commissioned by the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church to serve for three years as a Mission Intern. The first year and a half of her service she was placed SHADE, a faith-based NGO in Cape Town, South Africa, working with the local refugee community and organizing international HIV/AIDS conferences and gender rights trainings for rural women across sub-Saharan Africa. Crickett also ran a weekly children’s program for refugee and former street children. In January 2007 she started the second half of her Mission Intern commitment with RESULTS working on the Youth in Action project and grassroots organizing for the global campaigns. Spearheading YIA, Crickett works to engage students and young adults around the United States in advocacy efforts for microcredit, HIV/AIDS/Tuberculosis/Malaria, child survival, and education for all. Crickett also served two years with AmeriCorps doing campus volunteer recruitment, worked on local campaigns, and as a case manager for the homeless population of Washington, DC. She is originally from Mississippi.
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| Nathan Burrell
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Social Entrepreneur, Founder and President The Minority E-Commerce AssociationThe Minority E-Commerce Associate, (MECA) is a nonprofit organization founded to promote economic development through the utilization of technology. MECA is responsible for instituting Community Technology Centers, Technology Business Centers, and a Technology Think Tank, a consortium of engineers and business professionals in search of innovative ideas and technology applications. Currently, Nathan serves as the Founder/CEO of the “Honey Project”, a flagship program under MECA. The “Honey Project” is an innovative, youth oriented enterprise that focuses on Youth Entrepreneurship and Poverty Alleviation. Nathan is also President and Chairman of the Board of Community Equity Partners Group, Inc., a social real-estate holding and investment company, and manager of The Burrell Group, LLC a strategic planning and consulting firm. He was formerly President and CEO of VirtuPass Corp., an alternative payment platform company that provided secure and anonymous e-commerce transactions. In this role, Mr. Burrell successfully guided the company from start-up and capital acquisition to product launch. |
| Willeen Johnson Whipple
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NTDA & The American Indian Youth Entrepreneurial Empowerment ProjectAfter administering a highly successful Credit Outreach program over the past three and ½ years, the NTDA saw the need to create a new component of the initiative that deals specifically with American Indian youth. Since our current initiative only allows us to assist American Indian youth in accessing FSA Youth Loans up to $5,000 for a modest income-producing project many of the other educational tools necessary for an American Indian youth to develop a proper business plan is still left up to the individual youth. The NTDA, on the other hand, has decided to take this one step further and are proposing to create the “American Indian Youth Entrepreneurial Empowerment Project.” The project will eventually become an integral component of the NTDA and will become a self-sustaining ingredient in our already successful credit outreach initiative. The NTDA matches qualified business mentors with young entrepreneurs to allow knowledge sharing and ensure a higher business success rate. Through entrepreneurship education the NTDA not only empowers Native youth, but assists them in seeking other financing sources for their entrepreneurial projects. |
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The YouthWorks program was launched in 1999 to offer Denver’s youth, ages 25 and under, the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship in a way that makes sense for their lifestyle and gives them the time, individualized support, and resources they need to meet their personal and business goals. |
[Material taken from http://academic.regis.edu/cat/socialbusiness/bio.html]
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