Rural and Agricultural Finance (RAF)

Farmers Access to Credit in Honduras. Assessed ACDI/VOCA’s Farmers’ Access to Credit Project to identify the key elements in the design, implementation and evolution of the project and extracted lessons learned for stakeholders interested in delivering or facilitating expanded access to finance for horticultural producers.

Using Rural and Agricultural Finance to Support Food Security. Organized workshop and developed primer, case studies, diagnostic checklist and model scope of work on “Rural and Agricultural Finance for Food Security” under Chemonics’ USAID-funded FS Share project.

Financing Agricultural Value Chains in Central America. Conducted study of dairy and horticultural value chains and their access to finance in Nicaragua and Honduras for the Inter-American Development Bank. Presented findings at Agricultural Value Chain Finance workshop in Costa Rica.

Rural Access Fund. Assisted in the design of a rural and agricultural finance investment fund for ACDI/VOCA. Advised on fund structure and policies, drafted investor and investee term sheets, and marketed the Fund to potential investors. Designed and trained staff on how to perform effective due diligence. Oversaw Fund Manager recruitment.

Program Progress Review of MFIs in Afghanistan. Conducted progress reviews of FINCA Afghanistan and World Council of Credit Unions Afghanistan (WOCCU), which included on-site due diligence with a focus on institutional, financial and operational performance. Interviewed senior management, staff, and donors and discusses plans for sustainability. Provided USAID/Afghanistan with recommendations on how to deal with capital disposition and verified compliance with AED’s memorandum of understanding and sub-agreements.

Program Progress Review of Apex Institution in Afghanistan. Conducted a review of the Microfinance Investment Support Facility of Afghanistan (MISFA), a wholesaler investment fund that lends to financial institutions, including a financial and operational review, as well as an assessment of its social performance and impact. Review included on-site due diligence as well as interviews with management, staff, partners, donors and board members. Also, provided USAID/Afghanistan with recommendations on how to deal with capital disposition and verified compliance with AED’s memorandum of understanding and sub-agreements.

Lending System for Trade School. Designed microfinance-inspired system to provide loans to the students of the Professional Massage Training Center, Springfield, Missouri, to fill the gap left by Sallie Mae in response to the global financial crisis. Set up risk management and internal control systems to ensure on time repayment, used activity based costing to set interest rates and assisted in the design of the lending forms, policies and procedures. Advised on how to improve business classes, integrating financial literacy training.

Financial Literacy Training. Designed and delivered training on “Building Financial Literacy in Youth” at youth center in Montevideo, MN and at Parenting Oasis in Minneapolis, MN.

Training of Trainers: Building Analytical Skills for Microfinance Decision Making. Designed and delivered training of trainers to MFI managers, network and support organizations to build analytical skills in MFI senior/mid-level managers, for improved risk management and decision making in this time of global economic crisis. Included modules for analyzing financial, operational and social performance, as well as portfolio quality.

Agricultural Value Chain Finance and Warehouse Receipts Workshop. Designed and delivered trainings for USAID EGAT staff on agricultural value chain finance and warehouse receipts for Abt & Associates.

Agricultural Value Chain Finance Workshop in Mali. Designed and delivered participatory workshop on agricultural value chain finance, including the participation of several bankers and value chain actors, in which participants designed medium term loan products and risk reduction strategies for rural finance. The workshop was organized for USAID/Mali.

Enterprise Development

Youth and Enterprise Development in Eastern Congo. Provided lead technical input for project managed by the Education Development Center (EDC) for USAID-funded Cross-Sectoral Youth program. Supported one year holistic project to improve employment opportunities and enterprises for youth in Eastern Congo, including design of market-driven training and coaching programs, as well as monitoring and evaluation system to measure the financial and social performance impacts. Designed and delivered four trainings on “Basic Accounting and Cash Flow Management to 100 young entrepreneurs and their coaches. Also, facilitated youths’ access to finance by promoting financial literacy and savings mobilization. Conducted and analyzed two performance assessments, which found that the young participants had significantly improved incomes, increased food and health expenditures and indicated reduced likelihood of behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS contraction.

Youth Development Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa. Advised United Nation’s Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) on the design of a holistic approach to support youth’s development, including access to demand-driven financial services and non-financial services via linkages with Youth Service Organizations (YSOs). Assisted in the review and revisions of a funding proposal for MasterCard Foundation.

Due Diligence and Research

Institutional Due Diligence for Calvert Foundation. Conducted over 30 due diligence and financial analysis to underwrite loans to microfinance institutions and investment funds. Provided backstopping support to the Microfinance Portfolio Manager and Investment Fund Manager, while they were on maternity leave. Represented Calvert Foundation at investors meeting with the Government, investors and MFIs in Nicaragua.

CGAP Microfinance Funder Survey. Collecting and analyzing the data from over 60 microfinance funders and investors to present a broad picture of cross-border funding flows into microfinance for 2009.

Interest Rates and Implications for Microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean. Conducted a research study for the Inter-American Development Bank on interest rate structures and implications for microfinance institutions in Latin American and Caribbean Countries. The research surveyed 35 Latin American and Caribbean MFIs over four years on their financial data.

Review of Financial System Design in Afghanistan. Conducted a research study for the Academy of Educational Development (AED) under its USAID/Afghanistan-funded ARIES program, resulting in a paper entitled, “Designing a Financial System from the Ground Up: Review of USAID Financial Sector Programs in Afghanistan from 2002-2009.” The paper documents the role that USAID has played in building Afghanistan’s financial sector within a conflict environment. The research includes a comprehensive review of all relevant publications and USAID projects in Afghanistan.

Separating Financial Services Development from Enterprise Development in Afghanistan. Conducted a research study for AED under its USAID/Afghanistan-funded ARIES program, resulting in a paper entitled, “Pros and Cons of Separating Financial Services Development from Enterprise Development: Review of USAID Programs in Afghanistan from 2002-2009.” By comparing the approaches and results of several USAID/Afghanistan funded programs, this paper highlights the pros and cons of separating versus integrating financial and business development services in Afghanistan.

Social Performance Management (SPM)

Researched and authored SPM Guide. Conducted research and guided participatory process involving more than 50 microfinance practitioners, which resulted in the design of a Social Performance Management Guide for Microfinance Institutions entitled, Putting the ‘social’ into performance management: A practice-based guide for microfinance. Presented the key findings at Social Performance Task Force meeting, as well as at SEEP Network Conference.

Integrating SPM into Middle Eastern and North African MFIs. Managing project for Sanabel Network aimed at providing guidance, tools and technical assistance to develop comprehensive social performance management systems in Sanabel Network MFIs. Activities include an action planning workshop with regional consultants, SPM training for 20 MFIs, follow-up technical assistance and a training to build analytical skills for improved decision making.

Integrating SPM into Microfinance Capacity Building. Managed project for the Imp-Act Consortium, aimed at “Integrating Social Performance into Microfinance Capacity Building,” which included creating and managing an Advisory Committee of leading SPM specialists, working with microfinance networks and service providers, such as Microsave, and the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, to improve their training materials by integrating a “social lens” into all aspects. Developed a framework for SPM capacity building and produced related summaries on technical topics, including strategic business planning, governance, risk management, internal control, and staff incentives.

Progress Out of Poverty Index at Negro Women for Tomorrow Foundation. Rewrote and edited case study on applying Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) to improve social performance management at an MFI in Philippines, NWTF for the Grameen Foundation.

SPM Policy Templates. Collected draft policies from MFIs related to social performance management and converted them into generic templates to guide MFIs in setting SPM-related policies for the SPM Task Force via Alternative Credit Technologies.