About the Team
IRIS CenterIRIS is a non-profit policy research and advisory center dedicated to facilitating economic growth and improving governance in developing and transition countries. Located in the Economics Department at the University of Maryland, College Park, IRIS partners with international donors, foundations, reformers, and scholars to conduct research, design and implement programs, and promote the sharing and application of innovative ideas. Based in economics, but taking an interdisciplinary approach, IRIS focuses on the role of institutions--the formal and informal rules by which individuals organize economic, political, and social activity. IRIS's main areas of expertise include economic and institutional analysis, enterprise development, governance and civil society, and legal and regulatory reform. For more about IRIS, check out www.iris.umd.edu. Learn more about the University of Maryland, College Park, at www.umd.edu, and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at www.bsos.umd.edu.
Microfinance Opportunities
Microfinance Opportunities is a client-driven microenterprise resource center that seeks to increase poor people's access to high-quality financial services through action-research, training, and technical assistance to microfinance institutions. A non-profit established in 2002, Microfinance Opportunities focuses on financial education, risk management innovations including microinsurance, and client assessment, which includes market research and impact assessment. To achieve its objectives, Microfinance Opportunities forms partnerships and works collaboratively with a range of local and international partners, including Freedom from Hunger, The MicroInsurance Centre, and MicroSave. Microfinance Opportunities is based in Washington, D.C. Find out more about Microfinance Opportunities at www.microfinanceopportunities.org and www.globalfinancialed.org.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to promote greater equity in four areas: global health, education, public libraries, and support for at-risk families in Washington state and Oregon. The foundation joins local, national, and international partners to ensure that advances in these areas reach those who need them most. The microfinance grants are part of the foundation's Strategic Opportunities division, which includes special opportunities and potential new areas of giving. Based in Seattle, the foundation was created in January 2000, through a merger of the Gates Learning Foundation, which worked to expand access to technology through public libraries, and the William H. Gates Foundation, which focused on improving global health. Led by Bill Gates' father, William H. Gates Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the foundation has an endowment of approximately $31.7 billion. Learn more about the Gates Foundation at www.gatesfoundation.org.
About the Experts
Dr. Dennis Wood, Project Director and IRIS Executive Director
Dr. Wood has been with the IRIS Center for 12 years, over which time he has applied his extensive experience in the reform, design, and evaluation of policies and projects in a variety of sectors, from legislation to securities markets. He currently serves as Executive Director of IRIS, as well as Director on this project. Dr. Wood holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland.
Dr. Wood has also served as manager of the PPC IDEAS project, providing USAID with leading expert opinion on key policy issues, the SEGIR Legal and Institutional Reform IQC, Chief of Party for a Cooperative Agreement in Bangladesh, and director of two cooperative agreements in Indonesia. As Director of Field Programs at IRIS, Dr. Wood previously oversaw projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Former Soviet Union.
Dr. Monique Cohen, Project Director and MFO's Founder and President
Dr. Cohen is a recognized expert on client assessment and market demand for microinsurance. Dr. Cohen is a member of the CGAP Donor Working Group on Microinsurance, heading the demand sub-group and previously chairing the CGAP Working group on impact assessment. She is also an authority on the poor's use of financial services and has pioneered financial education for poor people in developing countries. As co-director of the "Listening to Clients" project, she developed a series of visual and interactive market research training tools in both English and Spanish. While serving as Senior Technical Advisor in the Office of Microenterprise Development from 1994-2002, she designed and led USAID's "Assessing the Impact of Microenterprise Services" project.
Dr. Cohen has published extensively on microfinance and the informal sector. She is co-author with Jennefer Sebstad of Microfinance, Risk Management, Poverty and Reducing Vulnerability, the Demand for Microinsurance. She has taught at the Boulder Microfinance Training Program held annually in Turin, Italy and the University of Southern New Hampshire's Microenterprise Development Institute. Dr. Cohen has a Ph.D. in economic geography from Clark University, a M.A. in geography from McGill University, and a B.A. geography and economics from Victoria University in New Zealand.
Dr. Geetha Nagarajan, Quantitative Research Director
Dr. Nagarajan has extensive experience with financial services for the poor and with IRIS. In addition to her work with IRIS, she has carried out assignments for USAID, the Ford Foundation, ILD, ADB, World Bank and DFID. A university professor, she has taught Microfinance at American University and Georgetown University for five years. Geetha has led many multi-disciplinary teams drawn from different institutions and stakeholders. She is skilled in applying quantitative and qualitative tools to address issues. Geetha's specialization includes the design and evaluation of financial institutions and programs with emphasis on rural and remote areas, agriculture, crisis affected areas, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). She has worked in 20 developing countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Geetha is widely published and has made many conference and seminar presentations. She is co-author of the book Rural Finance in Asia: Paradigms, Policies and Performance, published by Oxford University press. She holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from The Ohio State University.
Jennefer Sebstad, Qualitative Research Director
Jennefer Sebstad is the primary consultant on the qualitative portions of this assessment, and serves as Senior Advisor to Microfinance Opportunities. Formerly the Senior Advisor to the AIMS (USAID) project, Jennefer is a highly-regarded expert in microfinance impact assessment with over 15 years' experience in this area. Ms. Sebstad was responsible for developing the frameworks that have guided numerous AIMS and other high-quality impact studies in different countries in Africa and Asia. She has worked on impact assessment projects for USAID, Institute for Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester, World Bank/CGAP, DFID, and the Ford Foundation. She is co-author of the book, "Microfinance, Risk Management and Poverty," and has a M.A. in urban and regional development planning from UCLA.
The Team
Sarah Adelman, Graduate Research AssistantSarah Adelman is finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland and drafting the impact questionnaire for Malawi.
Dr. Michael Ferguson, MFO Program Officer
Michael Ferguson is carrying out Financial Landscape and Financial Diaries research in Malawi, Peru, and India.
Jeff Flory, Graduate Student Research Assistant
Jeff Flory is leading the data collection effort and baseline data analysis in Malawi in 2008.
Jerry Grossman, Legal and Regulatory Specialist
Jerry Grossman, together with Patrick Meagher, is conducting the Enabling Environment studies.
Christina Le, MFO Project Assistant
Christina Le is supporting the efforts of the entire qualitative research team at MFO.
Anthony Leegwater, Data Analyst
Anthony Leegwater conducts data analysis and creates poverty assessment tools.
Elizabeth McGuinness, MFO Senior Project Manager
Liz McGuinness manages the project for Microfinance Opportunities and is leading Financial Landscape research and other qualitative inquiries in Malawi, Pakistan, and India.
J. Patrick Meagher, Legal and Regulatory Specialist
Patrick Meagher, together with Jerry Grossman, is conducting the Enabling Environment studies.
Sara Roswurm, Project Assistant
Sara Roswurm provides research and management assistance to the project.
Diana Rutherford, Project Manager
Diana Rutherford manages the project and provides evaluation and survey expertise.
Arthur Shaw, Data Analyst
Arthur Shaw conducts data analysis and creates poverty assessment tools.
About the Logo
The logo represents a combination of the microfinance triangle (see Manfred Zeller and Richard Meyer, The Triangle of Microfinance: Financial Sustainability, Outreach, and Impact) and a pyramid, where people can move "up the road" from the base to the top. It also reflects the triangular efforts between the two research organizations and the donor, represented in the colors.
