Microfinance in the Balance at the 2011 Skoll World Forum
Video Description
A panel of three microfinance experts discussed Large Scale Change in Action: Microfinance in the Balance at the 2011 Skoll World Forum opening plenary.
We are living in a “backlash of over-promise,” said Alvaro Rodriguez (Compartamos Banco). Moderator, Jonathan Lewis (Microcredit Enterprises) pointed out the elephant in the room: do you have to trade off profit for social impact? The answer from Roshaneh Zafar (Kashf Foundation) was “it’s not about numbers but about lives.”
Speakers
-
Ms. Roshaneh Zafar is the founder and managing director of Kashf Foundation which is Pakistan’s first specialized microfinance institution catering exclusively to women. Through her work, Ms Zafar has demonstrated the business case for investing in women led microfinance and shown that a scalable impact driven program can work in Pakistan. Ms. Zafar started her career as a Women in Development specialist for the World Bank and soon realized that to truly change womens lives economic access was pivotal which led her to founding Kashf Foundation. Ms. Zafar sits on several board and committees where she advocates gender mainstreaming and client centricity. Ms. Zafar has been recognized for her work via multiple awards and accolades including the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Skoll Award, Schwabb Foundation Award, Vital Voices Award and others. Ms. Zafar holds a Masters degree in Development Economics from Yale University and a Bachelors degree in Finance and Economics from the Wharton Business School.
-
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, IGNIA Partners, LLC
Álvaro Rodriguez Arregui is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of IGNIA. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Compartamos SAB de CV and Compartamos Banco, Latin America's largest microfinance organisation. Alvaro has formerly served as CFO of Vitro, Chairman of the Board of ACCION International and Chairman of the Board of Unidos Somos Iguales. Forbes recently named Alvaro as one of the 30 Top Social Entrepreneurs of the world. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.
-
Founder, MCE Social Capital
Author, The Unfinished Social Entrepreneur (June, 2017). Bio: http://www.jonathanclewis.com/the-author/
