2020 Virtual Summit

Alana Aldag Ackerson

Dr. Alana Aldag Ackerson is an entrepreneur, board member and investor in industries including fintech, asset management, microfinance and theology. She is currently writing a book on the intersection of technology and faith. Her other areas of interest include refugee crises, human longevity, and venture philanthropy.

Alana is currently a VP at SoFi, a modern finance company that is fueling the shift to a bankless world. Previously, she served as CEO of The Thiel Foundation, where she led the organization’s efforts to support the next-generation of entrepreneurs and to promote radical scientific and technological innovations. As CEO she was responsible for setting strategic priorities; overseeing grant-making; operating internal programs focused on education and technological innovation; and developing effective approaches to venture philanthropy.

Alana is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the Board of Directors for Opportunity International, the Board for the Association of Women in Alternative Investing, and the Board of Trustees for San Francisco Theological Seminary. She has sat on the Board of Directors for Stanford Student Enterprises, the Executive Committee of Breakout Labs, the Leadership Council for Classy Awards, and the Organizing Committee for International Justice Mission.

Alana holds a B.A. with Honors in Science, Technology and Society from Stanford University, an M.A. in Philosophical and Systematic Theology from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and a Doctorate of Ministry with a focus on technology and faith from San Francisco Theological Seminary, where she also earned a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction.

She lives in San Francisco with her husband and three daughters.

David Allman

Mr. Allman is Owner & Chairman of Regent Partners, a Real Estate Investment and Development company based in Atlanta. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1976 Magna Cum Laude and with Distinction in Economics.

Mr. Allman has been in the commercial real estate business since 1980. Regent Partners has developed or acquired more than $2.5 billion in real estate assets including its acquisition of the $500 million, 2.2 million square foot Concourse Complex in Atlanta and its acquisition and development of the 2.5 million square foot Tower Place complex in Buckhead, including The Sovereign, a 50-story mixed use project in Buckhead and the tallest building to be built in Atlanta in 25 years.

Mr. Allman is active in numerous real estate, civic, and ministry initiatives. He currently serves as Founding Chairman of the Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID). He is a national Trustee for Urban Land Institute, is a member of its America’s Executive Committee and is the past Chairman for the Atlanta District Council of ULI.

He also serves as Chairman of the Eleazar Wheelock Society at Dartmouth College, Chairman of Opportunity International Nicaragua where he has spearheaded efforts to establish new models for holistic alleviation of poverty, and as Chairman for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. He is also a Trustee for the J. Bulow Campbell Foundation and is a Trustee of The Lovett School. Heserves on theBoards of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and the Metro Atlanta Chamber. In addition to this, David also sits on the Board of Councilors at the Carter Center.

He has been married for 38years (Donna), has four adult children and twelve grandchildren. He and Donna are native Atlantans.

Geoff R. Andersen

After completing degrees in Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, Geoff worked for an agricultural consulting company.  He then worked in the agriculture technology field for ten years, including roles with AGRIS and Farmland Industries.   

He became Director, John Deere Information Systems in 1999 and led that business for seven years.  In 2006, he assumed the leadership of John Deere’s Frontier business unit.  In 2009, he accepted additional responsibilities for establishing strategic partnering units in Deere markets around the world.

He moved to Deere’s Citizenship group in 2012, and led the globalization of their programs to align with the company’s growth aspirations. A significant focus area was creating self-sustaining agricultural development models in Sub-Saharan Africa. In November 2017, he assumed the newly created position of Director Regional Ag Strategic Planning.  In this role he is responsible for Africa business development, and public affairs.

Katéy Assem

Katéy Assem serves as Executive Director of Chicago State University. Previously, he was Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the North Carolina Central University Foundation, Vice President for Advancement and Research at Fort Valley State University and as CEO of the FVSU Foundation where he completed a $62 million bond program to build a new residential and academic village. Through his university career, Katéy has been responsible for public and private fundraising activities, development, investment and oversight of endowments and the disbursement of funds for student scholarships, faculty research support and university-wide technology and infrastructure support.

Katéy received his BS in Statistics from the University of Ghana, Legon and Masters of Social Work from the UNC at Chapel Hill and holds a Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFRM) from Indiana University-Purdue University Fundraising School. He was a Fulbright Scholar with the Council of International Programs in Chicago. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles and two books on working with children and families in foster care and adoption. He is currently completing a manuscript on Rites of Passage. He is the father of three grown sons and has three grandsons and two granddaughters.

Steve Bartlett

Ward Brehm

Ward Brehm was appointed Chairman of the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) by President Bush in 2004 and in 2010 he was reappointed by President Obama...and he continues to serve under President Trump.

2008, Ward was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal – the country's second-highest civilian honor – for his work in Africa at an Oval Office ceremony.

Ward brought his message as an advocate for the poor in Africa to the 2008 National Prayer Breakfast, and was the first person from the business community to ever be asked by Congress to address this annual gathering in Washington DC. Ward also serves on the board of directors of The American Refugee Committee and is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations.

In addition to Bigger Than Me, Ward Is the author of Life Through A Different Lens and also White Man Walking.

Jeff Dykstra

Jeff is passionate about bringing together unusual partners. In the case of Partners in Food Solutions that means six leading international food companies and nearly 1,000 promising food companies across Africa, as well as the US Government, committed donors, NGOs, impact investors, and talented employees, all partnering to do much more together to improve food security, nutrition and economic development than they could on their own. Jeff has spent half his career in business and the other half in relief and development, including two years living and working in Zambia, and he has worked for both global organizations like Cargill and World Vision as well as several start-up ventures.

What Jeff likes most about his job is working with a strong international team — a whole network of people in the US, Europe, and Africa, coming together to accomplish something significant. For his work with PFS he was recently named an Ashoka Fellow, an honor reserved for leading social entrepreneurs around the world. Outside work, Jeff loves time with family and friends, biking/running/skiing in wild, beautiful places, and good conversations that get to the heart of the matter. He lives in Edina, Minnesota with his wife Molly, where he loves, encourages — and writes tuition checks for his three young adult children, Mackenzie, Clara, and Bennett.

Nathan Byrd

Focusing on areas with the potential for high-impact sustainable solutions that can reach hundreds of millions of people, Nathan oversees the organization’s portfolio in education, agriculture, health and digital financial services, including focusing on innovative and integrated delivery and promoting sustainable approaches to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. In this role, Nathan works closely with the executive leadership team on strategic planning, portfolio management and coordination across the organization’s global activities. He also works across the organization and with external partners and donors to provide a clear vision, build commitment and establish technical processes to shape the organization’s current and future work and ensure program alignment with client needs. Nathan also served as Head of Education Finance for Opportunity International from 2012 to 2017, where he was responsible for developing education-related financial tools for schools and families, forming strategic partnerships in the education sector, and expanding Opportunity’s four-country pilot program. Nathan has provided invaluable strategic direction and leadership for the Education Finance initiative, designing cross-border systems and structures and managing multinational field operations across developing countries.

Prior to joining Opportunity International, Nathan was Deputy Director of Operations for the International Rescue Committee in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was responsible for a budget of $21.5 million and oversight of all functions, including human resources, financial planning, procurement, logistics, safety and security, field management and new product development.

Previously, Nathan served as vice president of Strategic Development at Covenant House, an organization that helps 60,000 children around the world emerge from homelessness, abuse and trafficking through comprehensive services, including education. Nathan started his career as director of their Latin America operations.

Nathan holds a Master’s in global management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, an MBA from Indiana University and a Bachelor’s in Spanish and English from Saint Louis University. He currently resides in London.

Lina Guzman

Lina Guzman is the Chief Operations Officer of Opportunity Colombia. She leads commercial banking, overseeing the performance and results of individual branches. She is also responsible for compliance within the organization’s operational goals, including portfolio growth and accordance with the social mission and strategic guidelines as defined by Opportunity in Colombia.

Prior to her current role, she served as the CEO for AGAPE, Opportunity’s NGO in Colombia. She joined Opportunity in 2011. She has a wide variety of experience in strategic planning, budgeting, and management. She holds a Bachelor’s of Economics from the Universidad del Rosario in Bogota and a specialization degree in Risk Management from the Universidad de Los Andes.

Scott Jackson

Scott Jackson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Impact. Global Impact’s mission is to grow global philanthropy and build partnerships and resources for the world’s most vulnerable people. It has raised $1.8billion since inception. A global development, fundraising and marketing veteran, Jackson has held leadership positions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including the global health and development nonprofits PATH and World Vision. He has worked in more than 60 countries, and his global relief and development efforts have taken him to remote villages in Africa and Asia, to the heart of the Holy Land, and inside some of the most powerful institutions and governments around the world. Jackson has worked with global leaders, including four U.S. presidents and their administrations, and he has represented international development issues with the offices of U.S. Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Hillary Clinton.

Jackson was a founding nonprofit member of The ONE Campaign to “make poverty history” and has worked on initiatives with Bono and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a member of several national boards and advisory committees, including the Clinton Global Initiative, YourCause, Global Justice Center, International Center for Research on Women, National Development Committee of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Global Washington, World Trade Center Seattle and CEO Connection’s Leadership Committee for Social Impact. He currently works closely with the leadership of more than 100 nonprofits around the world, such as Save the Children, CARE and Heifer International.

He is the author of “Take Me with You,” released in March 2017, a moving personal story written to inspire people to take action and find the “charity within”—Jackson’s personal philosophy of making a choice to live in a way that improves life for others. He was recognized by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement as a 2016 winner of the Gelman, Rosenberg and Freedman EXCEL Award, which recognizes leadership achievement in the areas of innovation, motivation, community building, ethical integrity and strategic leadership.

Before taking leadership roles in the global development humanitarian sector, Jackson founded TRADEC (Trade and Development Consortium), one of the first marketing and communications firms in North America to specialize in international trade and development, which later became part of APCO, a worldwide communications firm. During his early career, Jackson served as assistant to a U.S. congressman, and he held a number of roles in national politics. He has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post.

Jackson received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Edinburgh School of International Business. He also holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Puget Sound, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in history. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Ashley Luse

Ashley Luse is a fifth generation family member at Luse Holdings, Inc., serving in a strategy and business development role. She joined the family business after spending seven years in the financial services industry, having gained experience in investment management, investment banking, and mid-market mergers & acquisitions.

Ashley has a BA from Calvin College and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She has a heart for global poverty alleviation and has spent extensive time in the developing world across Latin America, East Africa and Asia. Ashley has supported Opportunity International since 2010 as a Young Ambassador for Opportunity and more recently as a member of the Board of Governors. She also spent a summer interning for Urwego Opportunity Bank in Kigali, Rwanda, working closely with the bank's CFO and interviewing Opportunity clients in the field.

Janelle Lassonde

Janelle Muntz Lassonde chaired the recent Schools of Opportunity campaign. She formerly served as Director of Credit Risk at UBS Warburg, based in London and Johannesburg, where she led the investment bank’s mining and sub-Saharan Africa portfolios.

Today she is a freelance writer with articles appearing in Maclean’s, Motor Boat & Yachting and GoNomad.com, and she is spinning her blog French Lessons into a full-length book.

Lassonde holds a B.A. from Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a Master’s in Economics from the London School of Economics. With her husband, 12-year-old daughter and poodle, she splits her home base between Toronto and Antibes (France). She is also an accomplished flutist, keen traveller,and board member of The Walrus, Canada’s long-form journalism magazine.

Bob Lupton

Bob Lupton has invested the past 47 years in inner-city Atlanta. He left a budding business career to work with delinquent urban youth. Bob and his family sold their suburban home and moved into the inner-city where they have lived and served as neighbors among those in need. His life’s work has been the rebuilding of urban neighborhoods where families can flourish and children can grow into healthy adults.

Bob is a community developer, an entrepreneur who brings together communities of resource with communities of need. Through Focused Community Strategies – a non-profit organization which he founded – he has developed three mixed-income subdivisions, organized two multi-racial congregations, started a number of businesses, created housing for hundreds of families, and initiated a wide range of human services in his community. He is the author of six books, including the best-selling Toxic Charity. Bob has a PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia.

Tineyi Mawocha

Tineyi Emmanuel Mawocha is the Chief Executive Officer of Opportunity Bank Uganda Ltd. He joined on transfer from Urwego Opportunity Bank (Rwanda) where he was CEO. Tineyi holds a HND in Hotel & Catering Management from Bulawayo Polytechnic, Masters in Business Administration from University of Zimbabwe as well as a Masters in Development Finance from University of Stellenbosch. He has worked in hospitality management in the UK and Zimbabwe, at General Management level. In 1995, he joined Nando’s, as Managing Director for Zimbabwe, then Regional Developments Director for Innscor Africa (Nando’s’ master franchisee) in 1997. Tineyi started fast food operations in Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In 2001 he joined Standard Bank South Africa as Area Business Manager, then Director Branch Network. In December 2005, he was transferred and promoted to Managing Director of Standard Bank Swaziland and served there till September 2012 when he moved back to his country of birth, as Managing Director of Tetrad Investment Bank, then Afrasia Bank Zimbabwe, before joining Opportunity International in 2014. Tineyi was Chairman of SADC Banking Association from 2009 till 2012. He is a fellow and advisor of Accion’s Center for Financial Inclusion - Africa Board Fellowship programme sponsored by Mastercard Foudation and FMO. Tineyi is married and has 3 children.

Kwame Owusu-Boateng

Kwame has 16 years professional experience which covers International Trade Finance, Banking Operations, Micro Finance, and Executive Management. He joined Opportunity International Savings and Loans in 2006 from a private International Trade Finance firm.

Kwame joined Opportunity International as the first Branch Operations Officer. By dint of hard work and his level of excellence, he was promoted through the positions of Branch Operations Manager, Branch Manager, Regional Manager and Chief Relationship Officer from 2009 to 2012. He was appointed as acting CEO in 2012 and was confirmed by the Board as the first local CEO of Opportunity International Savings and Loans in August 2013.

His key strengths are in driving sales, Operations Management, and Effective Leadership. He has the skill of building successful teams and energizing them to achieve great results and he is a people person with the ability to spot and develop talents.

He is a graduate from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana with a BSC degree. Additionally he graduated with an Executive MBA from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. Kwame has attended various executive programs, some of which includes The Boulder Microfinance Training Program in Turin, a certificate program in Strategic Management in Micro Finance from Harvard Business School, Boston, and has also attended the African Board Fellowship program organized by Accion International.

Sara Pfaff

Sara Pfaff is a Financial Advisor with UBS, specializing in multi-generational wealth transfer, rising generation and family foundations. She has been actively involved with Opportunity International since 1992, when she served as one of the founding members of the Women’s Opportunity Fund. Since then, she has continued to partner with Opportunity and has visited clients in the field on several occasions. In addition to her professional work and her service to Opportunity, she is active with the Writers Theatre of Glencoe, Ravinia Festival Women’s Board, Sustaining Fellows of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Women’s Board. She is a member of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and is the chair of their Gala of Hope 2018.

She and her husband live in Glencoe, Illinois and have two grown children who are launching their own careers in New York and Michigan. She enjoys cross country skiing, fly fishing, bird hunting, and reading.

Larry Reed

Larry Reed is the director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign. He has worked for more than 30 years in designing, supporting and leading activities and organizations that empower poor people to transform their lives and their communities. For most of that time Reed worked with Opportunity International, including five years as their Africa Regional Director and eight years as the first CEO of the Opportunity International Network.

During his time with Opportunity, Larry helped to implement a strategy for developing full-service banks that served the very poor while mobilizing hundreds of millions of dollars in savings deposits and investments. Under his leadership, Opportunity developed the first microinsurance brokerage, which now serves hundreds of millions of people around the world. Reed has taught at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance for 15 years, served as the chair of the SEEP Network, and consulted with industry-wide initiatives like the Smart Campaign for Client Protection and MicroFinance Transparency.

Larry authors the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report and has contributed to several books on finance and the poor including “The New World of Microfinance” (Rhyne, Otero, et. al., 1996), “Serving with the Poor in Africa” (Yamamori, Myers, Bediako and Reed, 1996), “Globalization and the Kingdom of God” (Goudzwaard, 2001) and “More Pathways Out of Poverty” (Harris et. al., 2006).

He is a graduate of Wheaton College and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

John F. Ross

Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with God. This passage from Micah 6:8, has been the cornerstone of the Reverend Dr. John Ross’ 14-year career as the 22nd Senior Minister of Wayzata Community Church. This 3,000-member church located in Wayzata, Minnesota, is one of the five largest UCC churches in the United States.

Under leadership from Dr. Ross, WCC has grown in membership and in its ministries; like Parables, the first church service and ministry in the Twin Cities dedicated to families with special needs, a vibrant, relational ministry for adults (K through Young Adult), and a very successful summer camp program that brings hundreds of children from all areas of the west-metro community.

Dr. Ross was the former Sr. Associate Pastor at First Community Church of Columbus, Ohio, a 4,000 member UCC church, where he also held other pastoral positions in his 13-year service at the church’s North Campus.

Dr. Ross received his B.A. degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He completed his Master of Divinity at Methodist Theological School of Ohio, and his Doctor of Ministry through the Chicago Theological Seminary. Dr. Ross lives with his wife, Sheila and their four children in Long Lake, MN.

Thami Sibiya

Thami Sibiya is the Director of Governance and Regional Director at Opportunity International. He is former Chief Executive Officer of Safika Technology Holdings. Prior to that he worked for Accenture in South Africa, UK, and USA. He has worked in different industries such as utilities, manufacturing, mining, financial services, logistics and transportation, telecommunications and government. He has conducted extensive research in many of those areas as well, in neural networks, plasma gasification, extruders and oil and gas.

Thami grew up in KZN in South Africa where he did his junior schooling. He obtained his BSc. Honours degree from University of Wales, Swansea in the United Kingdom. He did his post graduate studies at Cranfield University in the UK, Wits Business School in South Africa and has attended leadership courses at Harvard Business School. He has served on a number of boards in different industries in different countries.

Saneesh Singh

Saneesh Singh serves as the CEO of Dia Vikas, leading Opportunity International’s programs in India. Saneesh has been responsible for the development and growth of Dia Vikas’s work throughout India. Through its partner institutions, Dia Vikas reaches over nine million households, providing much needed financial products and services such as loans, insurance, savings and pensions, and catalyzing community development initiatives addressing needs such as community health, water and sanitation, clean energy, education and more.

Saneesh has over 26 years of experience in development, banking, finance, financial inclusion, MSME lending and social impact investments. He has been involved in institution building, mentoring and governance of major microfinance institutions and has wide exposure to innovative community finance arrangement and social impact investments in India and abroad.

Prior to joining Dia Vikas, Saneesh worked in various senior managerial capacities in the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a pan-India apex development finance institution for micro, small and medium enterprises. He was part of a core team that initiated its highly successful microfinance program. He was also involved in significant initiatives relating to institutional development, MSME capacity building and technology upgrades, livelihood financing and financial inclusion. He successfully implemented prestigious bilateral projects with UK Aid, IFAD, World Bank, GIZ and Swiss Aid during his time at SIDBI. He also played a key role in startup support and growth of Bandhan, the leading Indian MFI, which is now a universal bank.

Saneesh holds a PGD in Information Management and Systems Administration and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. He is also a British Chevening Scholar of Banking and Finance from The London School of Economics and Political Science. He is an associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers and an alumnus of the Indian School of Business. He has been associated as a committee member with several national-level MSME technical institutes, industry associations, business incubators and management training institutions. He is a member of Inclusive Finance India Group of Advisors and serves on microfinance institution and Small Finance Bank boards.

Timothy Strong

Timothy Strong is the Regional Agricultural Finance Adviser for Opportunity International. He is also coordinating the deployment of the Branch-less Banking initiative and the Agriculture Finance portfolio implementation throughout Opportunity's network in Africa. He has worked in Southern and Eastern Africa since 2005 and is has been based in Lilongwe, Malawi for the past ten years. Previously, he worked with a Silicon Valley start-up coordinating Lean and Kaizen project management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Peace Corps, the Clinton Foundation, and several commercial farms. He received a BSC in Biochemistry and Plant Physiology from the University of California at Davis and holds an MA in Environmental Policy and an MBA in Operations Management.

Atul Tandon

Atul Tandon, an Indian American, comes to Opportunity with a background marked by building, scaling and turning around some of the world’s best-known for profit and nonprofit enterprises. Over a 35-year career, his work has impacted financial services and consumer banking, the social sector, nonprofit management and governance, the digital economy and marketing.

Prior to joining Opportunity International, Atul founded and served as CEO of the Tandon Institute, which provides strategy, solutions and staffing to enable social sector enterprises to rapidly accelerate their impact, revenues, public engagement and organizational capacity.

Prior to that, Atul served as the leader of United Way Worldwide’s 41-country International Network, helping shape and form the world’s largest network of community-based charities. He also wore a twin hat as United Way’s Executive Vice President of Investor Relations. In this role, he oversaw the organization’s worldwide donor engagement and fundraising functions, including the United States.

Responding to God’s call to serve the poor in 2000, Atul joined World Vision United Sates as Senior Vice President of Donor Engagement for World Vision United States. He served on World Vision’s executive team for nine years and led the organization through a period of unprecedented expansion, tripling revenues over his tenure. In addition to his U.S. responsibilities, he led World Vision’s global initiatives to expand its fundraising in 25 countries. He also served on the board of VisionFund International, World Vision’s microfinance network.

Prior to his leadership roles in the non-profit sector, Atul had a successful career in the global financial services industry. He helped launch Citibank’s consumer banking franchise in India, introducing services such as ATMs, credit cards, mortgages, consumer loans and remote banking for the first time in the region. Citi brought him to the U.S. in 1992, where he led the turnaround of its bank in California/West, then pioneered customer-centered relationship banking, and went on to serve as Global Branch Distribution for Citi’s worldwide operations. During his tenure, the bank grew its global consumer networks to more than 146 million accounts with $5.3 billion in income with a presence in 101 countries. Atul began his career in India, where he launched a financial services start-up, introducing innovative financial leasing to Indian capital markets.

Atul earned a master of business administration and a bachelor of commerce with honors from the University of Delhi. He holds a certificate in governance from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He is a board member for several organizations, including the Christian Leadership Alliance, the largest association of faith-based organizations and churches in the U.S, and Mission Aviation Fellowship, the largest provider of rural and remote access air services to international NGOs. He has taught at both University of Washington's School of Business and University of San Francisco’s McLaren School of Business. In addition, he is recognized as a thought leader in the nonprofit industry, being frequently quoted and published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Huffington Post, Non-Profit Times and other leading media outlets.

David M. Tolmie

Dave Tolmie is a Senior Partner with The Edgewater Funds, a private equity firm based in Chicago, IL. Dave joined Edgewater in 2001 and has helped grow the firm into a prominent private equity firm with $2.6 billion in committed capital. Prior to Edgewater, Dave was CEO of Yesmail, Inc., a marketing services provider, which he led through a successful IPO and subsequent sale. In addition to serving on the boards of numerous Edgewater portfolio companies, he is on the board of the Field Museum of Natural History, the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center, and the Illinois Venture Capital Association. Dave is also the Chairman of the Faraja Foundation Fund which supports the Faraja Primary School for children with physical disabilities in Tanzania, Africa. Dave and his wife Tracy live in Lake Forest, IL and are active members of First Presbyterian Church. They have three children who share the family’s commitment to mission. Dave is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Yineth Trujillo

Yineth Trujillo works with Opportunity as a Social Responsibility Analyst, helping to build partnerships with local public and private institutions to increase social impact with violence victims. She leads training workshops for Trust Group clients and supports Social Performance Management implementation.

Yineth is uniquely equipped to serve those escaping and recovering from the decades-long violence in Colombia. As a former combatant who escaped the militia, she brings a perspective and leadership to her team that is unmatched. She brings her history to her work, addressing the violence that has plagued Colombia for decades by encouraging connection and possibility. She hopes that her work will help prevent any other children from having to choose an experience like hers.

Kelly Wright

Andrew McCusker

Andrew McCusker joins Opportunity International as the Head of Education Finance, overseeing Opportunity’s work developing customized financial tools and programs to improve the accessibility, quality, and sustainability of education around the world. As one of Opportunity’s most innovative initiatives, EduFinance has grown from pilot projects to a robust portfolio invested in school proprietors, parents, students, and education quality. Andrew is responsible for taking Opportunity’searly learnings and scaling them into an even more comprehensive program, preparing us for a future where we will help even more students go to and stay in high-quality schools.

Prior to joining Opportunity, Andrew served in the Corporate Finance team for Bridge International Academies, working with over 500 low-cost schools across Africa and Asia. Splitting time between London and Nairobi, Kenya, he worked with both investors and education providers, helping to conduct financial impact analyses of key business decisions for these schools and lift education standards.

He began his career at Goldman Sachs, serving as Executive Director of Global Investment Research where he managed relationships with investors and built an international team working in a number of low-cost markets.

Andrew brings a diverse skill set to the EduFinance team including fundraising, finance, education operations analysis, capacity building, performance reporting, and team management. Originally from Australia, he holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Melbourne and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He currently lives in London.

Barbara K. Lupient

Barbara became involved with her family businesses in the mid 80’s when her husband and the company founder, Jim, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Prior to Jim’s diagnosis, Barbara kept busy with their young son and daughter, their church community and the greater Twin Cities community. Jim passed away in 2011. Their son, Jeff is now 40, and their daughter, Jennifer is 37. (If you want a happy conversation with Barbara, just ask about her grandchildren.)

As CEO, Barbara lead the management team of the organization, concentrating her efforts to maximize profitability by breaking down traditional silos and standardizing processes. Outside of the usual workday, Ms. Lupient served as directors for a regional trade group, a community bank, a community health system and a university. Barbara also had the distinction of serving as the first female on the National Dealer Council for General Motors.

Since leaving the daily operations of the Lupient Companies, Ms. Lupient has immersed herself in the work of Opportunity International. Barbara strongly believes in Opportunity’s mission of partnering to eliminate poverty. Ms. Lupient has served on Opportunity Boards for Nicaragua, Australia, the US and Global.

Jay Bennett

Jay Bennett of Minneapolis MN is the Chairman of the Board of The National Christian Foundation; the world’s largest faith based provider of donor advised funds serving more than 20,000 donor partners world wide and processing more than $3B of Christian giving last year. Jay practiced corporate law on a local, domestic and international basis for 35 years. He has been married to his wife, Sally, for 47 years and has three married sons and eight grandchildren; all of whom live in Minneapolis.

Peter Nelson

Mr. Nelson is Co-Founder of International Farming Corporation, an alternative investment firm that specializes in the agricultural sector. Mr Nelson has over 40 years of sales and marketing experience with the largest direct marketing company in the U.S. His leading selling initiatives have assisted his organization in attaining sales of over $800 million annually. He joined Moore Corporation in 1972 and achieved the distinction of the Life Time Achievement award in recognition of his extensive commitment and strong service on behalf of his clients. Mr. Nelson co-founded Gamble Nelson, a high end Napa Valley wine that was marketed and sold throughout the U.S. He graduated with a B.S. in Marketing from San Diego State University in 1971. Mr. Nelson serves on the boards of several organizations and is a sales strategist for start-up businesses.  

Jane Nelson

Jane serves on the Board of Directors for Opportunity International US, Opportunity Savings and Loan Limited of Ghana and Leadership Network. She previously worked at Bank of America and held senior management positions in product development, marketing and strategic planning. 

Over the past 15 years, Jane has worked in Africa with numerous organizations that provide financial services to people living in poverty. Jane has a B.S. in Marketing from San Diergo State university. She lives with her husband in Newport Beach, CA.

John Crosby

John and Laura Crosby have been at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, MN, since 1989, where he is the Senior Pastor. John received his B.A. from Wheaton College, Master of Divinity from Gordon Conwell, and a Doctorate in Ministry from Fuller Seminary. Involved in the larger denomination, John seeks to identify, encourage, and network younger leaders to build flourishing churches. He sits in the Founders Chair of the World Vision International Board, just one of the organizations that fleshes out their passion for God’s bigger world. Their "little girls" provide excuses to visit either coast (Berkeley and Washington, DC), as they change the world!

Robert Dunn

Robert Dunnjoined Opportunity International Australia in 2006 as Chief Financial Officer and was Chief Executive Officer and Director from 2008 to 2018. In 2017 he was appointed the Executive Director of Opportunity International Global. Robert is a Director of Opportunity's Indian subsidiary, Dia Vikas Capital, which has invested and lent significant funds to Indian microfinance institutions since 2008.

Robert has significant experience in corporate governance and also serves on the Boards of North East Small Finance Bank Limited, Port Authority of New South Wales, BaptistCare NSW & ACT and Logosdor Limited. Prior to joining Opportunity, Robert was the Finance Director with Patrick Corporation for 14 years. He is a memberof the Australian Institute of Company Directors and of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Deyl Kearin

Deyl Kearin lives in Santa Barbara with his wife Paige and their three young kids, Summer, Vienna and River. Deyl is co-founder of EnduravestPartners, a real estate investment firm specializing in apartment investments. In his "spare time" he has been training for the 155 mile New Zealand Racing the Planet run on March 3.

Deyl grew up in San Diego and attended Westmont College in Santa Barbara. He started supporting Opportunity International in 2002, and then shortly after joined the Board of Governors. He decided to combine his love for endurance running with his passion to help Opportunity clients around the world, so he started Run4Poverty,which has now raised almost $200,000 for Opportunity International.

Brian Olarte

Brian Olarte isDirector of AGAPE, an Opportunity International implementing partner in Colombia. During his 7-year tenure he has lead the implementation of the Customer Complaint System and the implementation of the Social Performance Management system including attaining the S.M.A.R.T. Certification for Opportunity International Colombia. For the las two and a half years he and his team bring transformational services to our clients in the areas of financial literacy and financial education, quality of life services such as home improvements and safe water for human consumptionvia bio-filters, village savings and loans associations and education quality improvement. Brian holds a master ́s degree in international business from the University of Miami. In his spare time,he enjoys biking and talking to his son Liam.

Nick Hall

Nick Hall is the Founder and Chief Communicator for PULSE as well as author of the Reset and visionary behind Together 2016. In July 2017, Nick was also named the President and CEO of the Mission America Coalition, one of the nation’s most significant conveners of Christian leaders and organizations focused upon evangelism and discipleship. Nick’s passion is to “awaken culture to the reality of Jesus.” Since 2006 Nick has shared the Gospel with more than four million students at PULSE and partnership events around the world. Nick is married to his best friend, Tiffany; they live in Minneapolis, MN. They are proud parents of Truett and Ruby.

John Magnay

John Magnay is the Head of Agriculture for Opportunity International, based in Uganda he has overseen the development of the Opportunity Agricultural Finance program in 7 African countries. Since 2009 OI has developed the methodology and delivered over 500,000 loans to smallholder farmers and SMEs and actors in the agricultural value chains including introducing mechanization with John Deere tractors in Uganda.

John was born and raised in the UK, but since graduation from Wye College, London University in 1977 has been based in Uganda, building a series of businesses in the agricultural sector including supply inputs to livestock and agro processing industries and trading & processing a range of agricultural crops into the regional markets.

John has provided consultancy services to World Bank, USAID, FAO, World Food Programme both in the East Africa region and Madagascar & Malawi. John has also lobbied on behalf of Africa on issues relating to access to markets, impact of Donor funds and national Govts. and access to Finance for smallholder farmers.

John currently sits on the World Economic Forum GrowAfrica Finance Working Group, World Bank CGAP Advisory Board and USAID Feed the Future Advisory Committee with a focus to support the rural communities across Africa.

Lindsay Lee Plack

Lindsay Lee Plack serves as Director of Government Relations at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition where she oversees the coalition’s engagement with Capitol Hill and other policymakers. Lindsay joined the USGLC from the Glover Park Group where she spent five and a half years managing government and public affairs work for a range of internationally-focused clients, including foreign governments, non-profits, and multinational corporations. She also served as a Senior Lobbyist at The Oldaker Group.

Prior to joining the private sector, Lindsay worked on Capitol Hill for Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and managed his national security, foreign policy, and related appropriations portfolios. Lindsay also has extensive campaign experience working on and managing campaigns at the local, state, and national level. Lindsay holds a bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s College – Notre Dame, and lives with her husband and son in Alexandria, Virginia.

Jeff Terry

Jeff Terry is the global head of corporate social responsibility at Amway Corporation. Jeff’s primary responsibility is to develop and guide the implementation of the company’s enterprise-wide Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, aligning the organization's capacity to effectively implement its social investment and innovation efforts around nutrition, entrepreneurialism and overall stakeholder and community engagement. Jeff joined Amway in May 2011.

His career in corporate social responsibility spans more than 18 years. Prior to joining Amway, Terry served as Director, Associate and Community Engagement for Sears Holdings Corporation. He developed the company wide community engagement strategy including redevelopment of the company Foundation, virtual giving initiatives and policies, volunteerism for 300,000 employees, and nonprofit partnership planning and negotiations.

Prior to Sears Holdings, he served as Population Services International’s (PSI) Director of Corporate Marketing where he developed and directed the global re-branding efforts of PSI. He also managed the development of campaigns focused on child survival, maternal and child health, and the prevention of AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Terry also worked at Cone Communications and Whirlpool Corporation. At Cone, he was Vice President, providing strategic counsel and direction to Fortune 500 clients on business strategy related to social and philanthropic investments, corporate responsibility, brand marketing and corporate reputation.

At Whirlpool, he was the Director of Corporate Commitments and Strategic Relationships, developing relationships with global nonprofits including Habitat for Humanity and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, creating the global CSR department and developing the corporate responsibility and integrated communications strategies.

Terry has spoken at conferences on topics including corporate citizenship, corporate-community relations and involvement, cause branding, environmental sustainability and marketing. He has authored numerous publications and lectured at the University of Notre Dame, Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Clemson University, Boston University and Georgetown University.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in economics and a Master of Science in applied economics from Clemson University.

Simona Haiduc

In her more than 15 years of service at Opportunity International, Simona Haiduc has served in a variety of roles at the organization. She currently leads the Opportunity International institutional business development team and is responsible for cultivating and creating business development strategies with government agencies, multilateral donor institutions, corporations and large foundations. Their work supports programs that unleash the power of entrepreneurs in the developing world, with a strong focus on women entrepreneurs and youth. Ms. Haiduc also served as Vice President of Program Management where she provided oversight to Opportunity US’ program and knowledge management teams. In this role she was responsible for supervising the planning, funds placement and management, monitoring, evaluation and learning activities for all major grants and partnerships with private and institutional donors. Prior to joining Opportunity in 2003, Simona managed the microfinance program for the Open Society/Soros Foundation in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She holds a M.Sc. in Management of International Public Service Organizations from New York University, Wagner School of Public Service.

Vivian Akofa Selase Mottey

Vivian Akofa Selase Mottey, Head of Transformation has 17 years of professional as a Microfinance Practitioner and Management Consultant and 20 years’ experience in the Public Service.

She joined Opportunity International Savings and Loans (OISL) in 2008 as a Branch Relationship Manager, and rose through the ranks to become the Northern Sector Area Manager, Training Manager, Senior Transformation Manager, Head of Micro Business (Southern Sector) and currently Head of Transformation.

Before joining OISL, Vivian was the Chairperson of Association of Financial NGOs (ASSFIN), Mid-Zone (Brong Ahafo/Ashanti Regions), Branch Manager of APED (now Vision Fund) responsible for Brong Ahafo/Ashanti Regions, Consulting Partner with IBS Consulting Alliance and Project Administrator/Accountant of SANKOFA Programme (rural development wing of African Centre for Human Development).

In the Public Service (Controller and Accountant General’s Department), she played several roles with prominent ones being Senior Accountant, District Finance Officer with Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, and Assistant Protocol Officer with the State Protocol Department.

Vivian holds Commonwealth Executive MBA from KNUST; B.Sc. Administration (Accounting Option) from University of Ghana; ACCA Foundation Certificate from IPS and Certificate in Financial Management from USDA Graduate School, Washington DC, USA. Vivian serves on the Board of Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) and the Board of Coalition of Prison Evangelists (COPE-Ghana) and is a Fellow of Civilian Institute of Democratic Administration (FCIDA).

Her strength is knowledge of microfinance best practices, familiarity with microfinance methodologies; experience in portfolio management and ability to interact effectively with people of other cultures, capacities, and organizations due to her extensive international travel experience.

Vivian has strong leadership skills, ability to work collaboratively and with her strong interpersonal and speaking skills, she can present to small and large groups publicly. She also has experience in marriage and career counselling as well as managing small teams and development partners. Her passion is derived from seeing transformed lives and being sensitive to the needs of others especially vulnerable women, street girls, persons with disability and the socially marginalized. She has strong management skills and ability to deliver results on multiple priorities simultaneously.

Roger Thurow

Roger Thurow joined The Chicago Council on Global Affairs as senior fellow for global food and agriculture in January 2010 after three decades at The Wall Street Journal.

For 20 years, he served as a Journal foreign correspondent, based in Europe and Africa. His coverage of global affairs spanned the Cold War, the reunification of Germany, the release of Nelson Mandela, the end of apartheid, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the humanitarian crises of the first decade of this century – along with 10 Olympic Games.

In 2003, he and Journal colleague Scott Kilman wrote a series of stories on famine in Africa that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting. Thurow and Kilman are authors of the book, ENOUGH: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty. In 2009, they were awarded Action Against Hunger’s Humanitarian Award.

In May 2012, Thurow published his second book, The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change.

His newest book, The First 1,000 Days: A Crucial Time for Mothers and Children—And the World, chronicles the importance of good nutrition for maternal and infant health.

Warren R. Staley

Warren Staley retired as Chairman of Cargill, Incorporated on September 11, 2007. He was elected Chairman of the Board in August 2000. He held the position of Chief Executive Officer from June 1999 to May 2007, and the office of president and chief operating officer from February 1998 to June 2000.  He was elected to Cargill's Board of Directors in August 1995. 

Staley joined Cargill as a trainee in 1969 and held various merchandising and administrative positions in corn milling in the United States and in Europe. He was head of Cargill in Argentina, president of Worldwide Feed, and president of North America and Latin America. 

Staley received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Kansas State University, Manhattan, in 1965, and a master's degree in business administration from Cornell University in 1967.   

Staley served on the board of directors of U.S. Bancorp, Target Corporation and PACCAR, Inc. He served as a member of the President’s Export Council and The Business Council. He was a member of the board of the Greater Twin Cities United Way; he served as Chairman of the Board in 2004-05 and was Co-Chair with his wife, Mary Lynn, for the 2002 Campaign. They both also served on the board of governors of Eleven Who Care, a Twin Cities program that recognizes significant contributions to the local community. Staley served on the board of Minnesota’s Private Colleges Council for six years and the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF).

He currently serves on the boards of Excel Trust, Inc. and the board of the Music Academy of the West. He is a volunteer for Opportunity International and Habitat for Humanity.

He is married to Mary Lynn (Haymaker) Staley, a 1965 graduate of Kansas State University.

Krista Carroll

Krista Carroll is a natural born leader.

Spend five seconds with her and she will make you feel like all your dreams are achievable. Krista’s presence empowers others to be the best versions of themselves. She’s a mother of four, a purpose driven CEO, a loving wife and a total boss. At Latitude, Krista has crafted an environment that fosters creativity and innovation.

Jeremy Carroll

There is no grass growing under Jeremy’s feet.

Jeremy is known for his contagious energy. He has the ability to walk into a room and make everyone feel important. He has mastered the art of creating and fostering genuine relationships. Jeremy’s professional background includes 21 years in the print and production industry. He oozes passion in every endeavor and lights a fire in everyone he meets.

Muffy MacMillan

Muffy has been a board member, donor, fundraiser, and/or volunteer for more than 20 organizations such as Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation, PACER Center, Minnesota Children’s Museum, Opportunity International, Minnesota International Center, Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis, St Paul Blake School, Governor for 11 Who Care, Minneapolis Institute of Arts and several others in the past 25 years. Her passion to philanthropically make a global difference has extended to serving and volunteering her time on a Bank Board in Colombia. She is known for her hands-on approach to her involvement with organizations in which she serves. She is an active participant who enjoys being fully engaged with the organization’s mission and brings experience, leadership, energy and financial support to help other reach their goals and objectives.

Most recently she served as the Agricultural Finance Campaign Chair for Opportunity, and she continues to serve as a Director on the Board of Opportunity Bank of Colombia. Muffy has been honored to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, honoring her commitment to share her resources, talents and experiences while maintaining the traditions of her ethnic heritage as they embody the American Dream. She has also received the 2015 Pioneer Award at the United Nations which honors innovating women in business worldwide. Muffy resides in Minneapolis, MN.

Jeannie Buckner

Jeannie loves travel and philanthropy. She is a big supporter of Opportunity International, having traveled on insider trips to 8 countries. Jeannie serves on the Opportunity International Nicaragua board. She is also on many other committees and boards of various non-profits.  

Jeannie is a certified life, retirement and divorce coach; as well as a family life educator. She has 4 amazing adult children and 4 wonderful grandchildren.

WELCOME FROM CEO ATUL TANDON

William Kamkwamba Part 1

William Kamkwamba Part 2

Update from Edufinance

Update from Agfinance

Update from Digital Finance