Who we are

Our People
• Staff
◦ Alex Counts, President
    ◦ Salvatore Pappalardo, COO
    ◦ Partner Services and Geogr
    ◦ Capital Mgmt & Advisory
    ◦ Grameen Technology Center
    ◦ Social Performance
    ◦ Partner Technology Support
    ◦ Monitoring and Evaluation
    ◦ Development
    ◦ Finance
    ◦ Marketing
    ◦ Operations
    ◦ Strategic Planning Center
    ◦ Si White, Acting CFO
    ◦ Human Capital Center
    ◦ Human Resources
• Board Members
• Committees and Councils
• GF Advisory Council

Our Supporters

Our Grameen Heritage

Values

Awards and Recognition

Partnerships

Contact information

Grameen Foundation : Who we are : Our People : Staff : Partner Services and Geogr

Partner Services and Geographic Programs

Heather Henyon, General Manager of Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Limited
Malini Tolat, Regional Director for Sub-Sahara Africa
Kate Druschel, Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia
Chandni Ohri, Regional Director for South Asia

Mohammed Nurul Alam, Program Officer
Jill Chen, Senior Program Advisor
Erin Connor, Program Officer
Mike Getubig, Senior Program Officer
Julie Peachey, Senior Program Advisor
Cameron Rosenthal, Program Officer
Viviana Salinas-Lanao, Program Officer
Brian Slocum, Program Officer
John Ikeda, Program Officer
Ally Bellage, Sub-Saharan Africa Program Assistant
Namita Koppa, Asia Program Assistant

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Heather Henyon
General Manager of Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Limited

Heather is the founding General Manager of Grameen-Jameel, a social business jointly owned by Grameen Foundation and Abdul Latif Jameel Group. Grameen-Jameel delivers microfinance products and services to its microfinance institution partners across the Middle East & North Africa in order to increase access to financial services by the poor. Grameen-Jameel currently has partnerships with 12 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. Grameen-Jameel is incorporated in Cyprus with a branch office in Dubai’s International Humanitarian City. Heather resides in Dubai.

Heather left Wall Street in 2004 to venture into the nonprofit sector. Previously, Heather worked for Standard & Poor’s as a corporate bond ratings analyst in the capital goods and auto supplier sector. She has seven years of business experience in banking, project finance, and telecom consulting. Heather has lived and worked in Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine, and she speaks Arabic and French. She is a member of Arab Bankers Association of North America, Net Impact, 85 Broads and Angels Abroad. Heather holds an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University, where she was a Park Leadership Fellow, and a BA from Oberlin College.


Malini Tolat

Regional Director for Sub-Sahara Africa

Malini is the Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa with Grameen Foundation. She has a Masters in Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in Business Administration specializing in Finance. With over 10 years of work experience in economic development and corporate finance, prior to joining Grameen Foundation she worked as a development consultant in South Asia providing expertise in the areas of strategic planning, financial management, institutional strengthening, project design, monitoring and evaluation with a special interest in gender based initiatives. She has worked on a variety of rural development projects with clients such as Danish International Aid Agency (DANIDA), Department for International Development (DFID), World Health Organization (WHO) and CARE International. She previously worked in the private sector both in India and overseas primarily in corporate financial management with a short stint in the financial services sector.

Mohammed Nurul Alam
Program Officer

Mohammed Nurul Alam, Technical Officer Grameen Foundation USA was born in Bangladesh and received a Masters Degree in Sociology in 1983. He has been working with Grameen Foundation since 1999. Before joining Grameen Foundation Alam worked for Grameen Bank Bangladesh for 16 years in different management level positions. Alam has been providing Technical Assistance to Grameen Foundation partners and non-partners since the beginning. In addition to that, Alam works as a consultant to organizations that are interested in launching Grameen Bank style microcredit programs. He has worked in over 12 countries around the world in order to provide technical and training support for the Grameen Foundation's partners.

Erin Connor
Program Officer

Erin manages the relationships with our tsunami partners in India and Indonesia. Prior to joining Grameen Foundation in June 2005, Erin worked with FINCA International in Washington DC, and the People’s Action Movement, a grassroots organization promoting dalit rights in Tamil Nadu, India.

Erin grew up in Southeast Asia, and returned to the U.S. for university. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, with a B.A. in Chinese Studies. After a few years working in the private sector and in Latin America, Erin received her M.A. in International Development from American University, where she was a Merit Scholar.

Jill Chen
Senior Program Advisor

Jill Chen joined Grameen Foundation in January 2007 and brings over 15 years of experience in finance and commercial banking. Previously, she was Director/Group Vice President in ABN Amro’s Cross Border Structured Finance and Project Finance in Chicago and Hong Kong, where she originated and structured financings for emerging markets projects in transportation, oil & gas, telecom, tourism and power. Jill also worked as Investment Officer with the International Finance Corporation’s Asia Department in Washington, DC and Beijing. Before IFC, she was Manager with Pepsico World Trade in countertrade/barter and Senior Consultant with Deloitte & Touche in mergers and acquisitions. Jill speaks Mandarin Chinese and holds a MBA in finance from the Wharton School and a BA in Political Science and Comparative Area Studies from Duke University.

Kate Druschel
Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia

Kate Druschel oversees Grameen Foundation's work in China, East Timor, and the Philippines. Prior to this, Kate worked with the IRIS Center at the University of Maryland, serving as Associate Director of the Enterprise Development Group. While there, she developed an analytical framework for assessing how and when to implement regulatory reform for microfinance and consulted with country governments on their legal frameworks affecting microfinance and commercial investment in microfinance. She has published several articles on these issues. In addition, Kate has worked with USAID to develop country-level poverty assessment tools for implementation by MFIs and with the World Bank to develop a rural finance strategy in China. A fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker, Kate has lived and worked in China and had short-term assignments in Bosnia, Croatia, Georgia, Uganda, the Philippines, Vietnam, and India. She holds an MA in International Development from American University and a BA from Kenyon College.

Mike Getubig
Senior Program Officer

Mike Getubig earned his Master's Degree at Virginia Tech, and his doctorate in Agricultural Economics at the University of Hawaii as a Fulbright scholar and, subsequently, as an East-West Centre scholar. He was a professor of agricultural economics at Xavier University, Philippines, and joined later joined the Asian and Pacific Development Centre, a regional development organization based in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, as a coordinator of the Poverty Alleviation and Employment Program. Mike spent a good part of his 13 years at APDC pilot-testing the Grameen Bank Approach in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Nepal and Vietnam. He was instrumental in setting up CASHPOR, the first regional network of programs patterned after the Grameen Bank approach, and served as its first executive director. Mike currently serves as Senior Program Advisor at Grameen Foundation.

Chandni Ohri
Regional Director for South Asia

Chandni is a development professional with a keen interest in poverty alleviation. Chandni completed her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India and worked in the corporate sector for some time. She then completed a Masters in International Studies with a major in International Development from the University of Washington, Seattle. Chandni works with our partners in India and Pakistan. She is a native of India and is fluent in Hindi, Punjabi and conversational Urdu.

Julie Peachey
Senior Program Advisor

Julie currently serves as Senior Program Advisor at Grameen Foundation. She joined Grameen Foundation in November 2002 and most recently served as Regional Director for Asia Programs. She was instrumental in setting up Grameen Capital India http://grameencapital.in/ and represents GF on its board of directors. Her prior work experience includes more than ten years in the field of finance and accounting, with positions at KPMG, Hewitt Associates and a technology consulting firm where she was Director of Strategic Initiatives. She began using her skills and experience acquired in the corporate world on international development efforts by helping start a school in Honduras, where she lived for two years. Julie holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BBA in Accounting from Southern Methodist University.

Cameron Rosenthal
Program Officer

Cameron Rosenthal, Program Officer for The Americas, manages the relationships with Grameen Foundation’s partners in Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico and the USA. Before joining Grameen Foundation in 2004, Cameron worked with the Heifer Project International where she evaluated individuals, community leaders, and NGO’s throughout Appalachia as part of their global program assessment project. Cameron first developed an interest in community development and empowering minorities through teaching English as a Second Language to Hispanic immigrants in the US and volunteering with the Association for Women’s Rights in Development. Cameron completed her Master’s degree from the Patterson School of Diplomacy at the University of Kentucky where she studied International Development and International Relations and taught introductory Spanish. Prior to that, she graduated with a B.A., Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Kentucky in International Economics and Spanish.

Viviana Salinas-Lanao
Program Officer

Viviana Salinas Lanao manages the relationships with GF partners in Mexico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Viviana joined GF in July 2006 after graduating with an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. Prior to studying her MBA, Viviana worked at Citibank del Peru for over four years as a Credit Analyst and a Relationship Manager for the Corporate Bank division. She has a bachelor degree in business administration from the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima. Viviana also has previous work experience with microfinance in Latin America. She interned with FINCA Peru in 1998 and FINCA International in 2005. As a research intern with FINCA International, Viviana conducted an impact assessment of the FINCA affiliates in Nicaragua and Guatemala. In 2005, she served as a country leader for the Dominican Republic for the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards which is organized by the UNDP, Citigroup and several schools including Harvard Business School.

Brian Slocum
Program Officer

Brian Slocum is the Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa. His primary responsibility is to manage the relationship between Grameen Foundation and Grameen-Jameel, its joint venture partner in the Middle East. Before joining Grameen Foundation, Brian graduated with an M.A. in International Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University with a concentration in economic development in the Middle East. While at George Washington, he completed a Capstone Project assessing replicable microenterprise partnership opportunities, or MicroFranchises, for FINCA International.

Prior to studying for his M.A., Brian spent more than 10 years in the private sector in marketing, communications and film and television production, including more than four years at the National Geographic Channel, where he developed marketing partnerships with other corporations and non-profit institutions. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English Literature.

Ally Bellage
Sub-Saharan Africa Program Assistant

Ally Bellage is the Program Assistant for the Sub-Saharan Africa region of Grameen Foundation. Before joining Grameen Foundation in August 2007, Ally worked as the executive assistant to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Old Dominion University. Ally completed her Master’s Degree in International Studies with a major in International Political Economy & Development from Old Dominion University, Norfolk. Prior to that, she graduated with a BA in European Politics and Spanish from the University of Leicester, U.K.

Ally grew up in North Africa and developed an interest in poverty alleviation through a number of volunteering projects, including teaching English as a Foreign Language to children in Ecuador. She is fluent in French, Spanish and Greek.

John Ikeda
Program Officer

John Ikeda is Program Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa with Grameen Foundation. Prior to joining Grameen, Ikeda managed microfinance research programs and led new business development for World Council of Credit Unions, where he worked with microfinance institutions in over 12 countries to expand access to small-scale savings and credit. He also worked for two years in Japan with the Ministry of Culture and Education. Ikeda holds a BA in journalism from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a double MBA in finance and international business from University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a Rath Foundation Distinguished Fellow.


Namita Koppa
Asia Program Assistant

Namita Koppa is the Program Assistant for the Asia region of the Grameen Foundation. Prior to joining Grameen in 2008, Namita interned with the Jane Goodall Institute’s Africa Programs and the World Resources Institute, where she conducted a field Base of Pyramid Impact Assessment of the Solar Electric Light Company of India (SELCO-INDIA). Her dedication to poverty alleviation, issues of migration, environmental justice, and women’s socioeconomic empowerment springs from formative community development experiences in Karnataka, India; Leeds, UK; and the southeastern United States. She is a 2003 graduate of Duke University, a recipient of the Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Award, and a 2005-2006 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Grameen Foundation : Who we are : Our People : Staff : Partner Services and Geogr