The Community Enterprise Solutions team and workshop sponsors invited a select group of practitioners, solutions providers, social entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and advisors to Antigua, Guatemala to accelerate the application of the MicroConsignment Model around the world.
Who came? Check out the list below:
Christopher Adkins, The College of William and Mary
Allison Archambault, EarthSpark International
Hanae Baruchel, Ashoka
Paula Cardenau, Ashoka
Emily Coffin, Camino Seguro
Bob Dillman, Sistema Biobolsa
Heather Fleming, Catapult Design
Gustavo Gennuso, ETV
Roberto Giminez, Fundación Paraguaya
Casey Green, Brigham Young University
Paul Guggenheim, Riecken Foundation
Denise Lorenz, Camino Seguro
Cynthia Loria, Avina
Sean McCormick, CES Board of Directors
Douglas McMeekin, Yachana Foundation
Caroline Misan, VisionSpring
Anita Moura, Solar Ear
Katie Mulligan, Miami University
Mauricio Osorio, Lemelson Consultant in Peru
Melissa Paulsen, The University of Notre Dame
Aminta Perez-Gold, IADB
Alexander Remy, E+Co
Royce Riddle, Brigham Young University
Albina Ruiz, Ciudad Saludable
Pedro Rodriguez, Seres/Haddock Invention
Luis Fernando Sanabria, Fundación Paraguaya
Abby Sarmac, The Lemelson Foundation
Heidy Serpas, VisionSpring
Dr. Brett R. Smith, Miami University
Denise Spranger, Miami University
Scott Stoll, Camino Seguro
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Christopher Adkins is Director of the Undergraduate Business Program at The College of William & Mary (Mason School of Business) in Williamsburg, Virginia. In his research and teaching, Chris seeks to develop innovative educational programs that are rooted in cognitive neuroscience, social psychology, and developmental psychology. He has worked extensively with the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) program, to adapt their widely acclaimed MBA-level ethical leadership curriculum for undergraduate students, and is currently leading the GVV initiative for sustainability. With sustainability consulting firm Saatchi S, Chris developed the first personal sustainability program at a university. In 2010, he co-founded the Corporate & College Collaborative for Sustainability, a new partnership of business leaders, faculty and students for innovation in undergraduate sustainability education. His research has been selected for the national conferences for Academy of Management, AACSB, Ashoka, Society for Business Ethics, the Association for Moral Education, Society for Research in Adult Development, the American Counseling Association, and the Jean Piaget Society. Current projects include: an empathy-based model of ethical leadership in business; enhancing the role of memory and emotions in analytical and intuitive decision-making; the psychology of sustainability and implications for inspiring individual and communal actions. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree and PhD from The College of William & Mary, and a Master’s degree from Boston University.
Allison Archambault, serving as EarthSpark’s President, oversees all aspects of the organization’s day-to-day operations and management. Allison is also a founding principal of Fresh Generation, LLC, a consulting firm working with companies, non-profits, and governments toward widespread and efficient adoption of sustainable energy solutions. Prior to her work with EarthSpark and Fresh Generation, Allison served as Business Liaison Director for 3TIER, leveraging 3TIER’s resource forecasting and mapping to expand renewable energy siting and integration insights around the world. Allison also led the renewable energy partners program for GridPoint, a leading clean tech company in the smart grid space. She has a background in US grid-tied residential solar and residential demand management and in rural solar electrification in the Caribbean and West Africa. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and Economics from Tufts University.
Hanae Baruchel has been working at Ashoka for the last three years. Originally from Canada, she began her involvement with Ashoka there and later moved to Washington DC to work with the Global Venture Fellowship team with a focus on North and South America. She is now working with the US Program on the Fellow selection process. Hanae has a background in the intersection of conflict resolution and citizen sector involvement. Before joining Ashoka, Hanae completed a Specialist degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto where she was involved with facilitating and organizing inter-religious dialogues and researching civil society movements relating to the Group of Eight. Hanae speaks English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. She teaches and studies Afro-Brazilian percussion in her spare time.
Paula Cardenau leads the Social Business Initiative in Ashoka, a platform that supports Ashoka Fellows with market-based approaches to scale up their social impact. Since she joined Ashoka in 2001, Paula has played different critical roles: she was Latin America Integrator and Ashoka Southern Cone Director. She built the Ashoka Support Network in Argentina, a group of high net worth individuals that committed with funds and expertise to support Ashoka Fellows. She launched Citizen Base Initiative in Southern Cone and played a regional role for this program in South America. Before joining Ashoka, she worked for several years in Argentina’s Social Investment Fund, which channels resources to community-based, demand-driven projects, in extremely poor selected districts in Argentina. Paula holds a licentiate degree in Politics and Post-Graduate Studies in NGOs and Social Development.
Bob Dillman has been in lease financing for over 20 years. In addition, he has gotten more involved in Climate Change and Development issues over the last ten. His intense desire to create climate equity for developing nations led him to earn a Master’s Degree in Environmental Resource Engineering from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA in 2010. His thesis focuses on matching microfinance payments for small biodigesters with the avoided firewood costs by using these small, rural renewable energy systems. Also, it shows how the aggregation of carbon credits can be used for community-focused capacity building with projects in renewable energy. It can be found here. Bob manages the Western Region for FFCSI and is a founding investor and strategic adviser for Sistema Biobolsa, which manufacturers small-scale biodigesters for rural farmers in Mexico.
Heather Fleming is the CEO of Catapult Design, a product strategy firm designing tools and technologies for disadvantaged communities worldwide. Catapult Design’s clients are organizations working in impoverished communities addressing needs such as: rural electrification, water purification and transport, food security, and improved health. Before starting Catapult, Heather worked for several years as a product design consultant in Silicon Valley, designing products for a diverse range of clients. In 2005, she co-founded and led a volunteer group focused on social impact design work through a professional chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) in San Francisco. The team’s work was featured in a variety of media and publications, including Newsweek, WIRED.com, ABC News, and PRI’s The World. Heather was named a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader for her work with EWB and Catapult Design. She is also a Staff Writer for NextBillion.net, an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University, and Senior Lecturer at CCA in San Francisco. Heather has a degree in Product Design from Stanford University.
Sean McCormick is currently the director of research and an analyst at Millgate Capital, a New York-based investment company focused on publicly traded companies outside of the United States. The firm’s strategy relies on in-depth research to identify companies that are likely to be successful investments over a multi-year period. After receiving an MBA from New York University in 1997, Sean joined Millgate and helped grow the firm from a staff of four to one of nearly thirty. He also holds a BS in Accounting from Lehigh University.
Douglas McMeekin worked as a cultural and environmental consultant to the oil industry in the Amazon Region of Ecuador from 1986 through 1992. Frustrated with the treatment of the indigenous peoples by the companies, he left that position and formed The Yachana Foundation in 1991. In 1995, looking for a way for the Foundation to be self-sustaining, he created the Yachana Lodge Company, which provides visitors with a window into the life of the people living in the Amazon Region. In 2005, seeing the lack of relevant education for the youth from the Amazon, he started the Yachana Technical High School and in 2010 Douglas signed an agreement with the Inter American Development Bank for the creation of the Yachana Technical Institute, a two-year post high school training and education program. Constantly concerned with the destruction of the rainforest, the Foundation now owns 4,300 acres of forest that is designated as a protected forest and has created a conservation program that is an integral part of the high school curriculum. In June 2008, Douglas was selected as an Ashoka Fellow. In December 2009 he was chosen as an Ashoka–Lemelson Fellow for his work in using technology and invention to help the poor.
Caroline Misan is responsible for managing partner relationships in Latin America and assisting the Global Sales & Operations team in sustainably expanding VisionSpring’s impact. Prior to joining VisionSpring, Ms. Misan worked with a variety of private and public sector organizations. Most recently, she worked for PRI Project Development, a project development and financial advisory firm, where she helped conduct feasibility studies and create business plans for Nigeria-based projects. Previously, she worked at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, DC, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Citigroup Private Bank. Ms. Misan received her B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and has lived and studied in several Latin American countries.
Anita Moura is the General Manager of Solar Ear Latin America (www.solarear.com.br). She helped to implement the business model of a social enterprise that started in Botswana in 2002 in Brazil. At Solar Ear people with hearing and physical disabilities, primarily women, are employed and trained as technicians in micro-soldering, increasing their self-esteem and confidence through their work. Solar Ear employees who are deaf manufacture affordable products such as solar powered hearing aids. Anita is also responsible for the implementation of Solar Ear administration and global strategy, including the use of the MicroConsignment Model. She has an MBA from Grenoble and is a researcher at University of Sao Paulo. She has over 6 years of business experience in the field of social business.
Katie Mulligan is the Associate Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Katie has helped to build, grow, and develop one of the top undergraduate social entrepreneurship programs in the country. Her involvement at the center includes managing Edun Live on Campus, a partnership with Bono’s apparel company and student-run business; launching the Center for MicroConsignment, a new development model that creates access to basic products and services; managing an annual lecture series that includes the founders of Edun, TOMS Shoes, and Room to Read; and leading a $160,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State to host the Institute on Social Entrepreneurship for future African leaders. Additionally, she started a new course in social entrepreneurship. The center’s work has won the Ashoka Award for Pedagogical Innovation at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and has been highlighted in Time, Business Week, Financial Times, CNN, and The Princeton Review. In addition, the center received two national innovation awards from Ashoka U. Katie received a BS from Miami University in 2009.
Mauricio Osorio has been a Liaison Consultant in Peru for the Lemelson Foundation since 2007. He is currently in charge of assisting the Foundation´s business in the region as well as overseeing and coordinating with the RAMP Peru Program, jointly implemented by NESST, CONDESAN and GRUPO-PUCP. Mauricio’s professional experience has been focused over the past years in the fields of small and micro enterprises (SMEs) competitiveness, entrepreneurship, foreign trade and local economic development. Mauricio holds a M.Sc. in Public Policy Management at Universidad Continental and Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and a B.A in Economics at Universidad del Pacífico of Lima. He also followed postgraduate studies in International Economics & Development in Taiwan.
Melissa Paulsen is Program Manager for Social Entrepreneurship at the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Center. Melissa worked with Mendoza’s Dean Carolyn Woo, franchising business leader Frank Belatti, and former Gigot Center Director, Dr. James H. Davis, to design and implement the Gigot Center’s unique undergraduate offering, the Microventuring Certificate Program. The program incorporates microenterprise development and microfinance theory along with practical skills and tools in a domestic and developing country technical assistance setting. Melissa has experience in nonprofit strategy, operations and consulting. Prior to returning to academia, Melissa worked in the insurance industry as a disability risk analyst and has previous experience in the accounting and communications industries. Melissa holds a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Administration from the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, and a BA in English and philosophy from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Alexander Remy: Prior to joining E+Co in 2008, Alexander had gathered 10 years of experience in international banking and finance. He worked as a Financial Analyst for a U.S. event-driven hedge fund and as a debt trader for one of Central America’s leading banks. He is currently a Senior Investment Officer at E+Co where he has had the opportunity to work closely with clean energy entrepreneurs in Central America. At E+Co, he has helped tailor the funding for several small businesses selling solar equipment, as well as structured the financing for several small-scale renewable energy generation projects such as small hydro and biomass plants. He has also assisted in the initial evaluations of small hydro projects in Tanzania. Alexander was born in Costa Rica and raised in Venezuela. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from James Madison University in Virginia.
Albina Ruiz was born in the Peruvian jungle in the community of Moyobamba, San Martín. Thanks to a university experience working in waste in poor districts of Lima, Albina decided to study a Masters in Ecology and Environmental Management at the Universidad Ricardo Palma. Albina spent over 15 years working on local development projects, efficient water use, planning and environmental management. In 2002 she founded Ciudad Saludable. In 2006, Albina was chosen as the Environmentalist of the Year by Latin Trade magazine. Ciudad Saludable received the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Environment. In 2008, Albina was recognized internationally with the Energy Globe Award (Category Earth), which is the highest award given to social entrepreneurs worldwide who fight for the environment, awarded by the European Parliament. Currently, Albina leads the Healthy City Group, a consortium of Ciudad Saludable, PeruWaste Innovation (a social enterprise that provides consulting in environmental waste management with a focus on social responsibility), the Healthy City Office New York-USA and Healthy City International (HCI), bringing together over one hundred professionals with projects in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil and Bangalore – India.
Luis Fernando Sanabria has been working in the Micro Finance Program since 1987. He has also done consulting work for the Inter American Development Bank, Avina Foundation, and the United Nations Development Program, among others. He has been the counterpart of Acción Internacional in the application of the CAMEL instrument in Fundación Paraguaya on numerous occasions and has been an evaluator for Acción Internacional in the application of CAMEL at another local entity. Under the auspices of AVINA and representing Fundación Paraguaya he developed the Organizational Development System to evaluate development entities and is the founder and first President of the Association of Civil Society Organizations of Paraguay. Luis Fernando feels particularly proud of the expansion achieved by the institution’s Micro Finance Program over the last three years. He is responsible for ensuring the operational integration of the Fundación Paraguaya’s three programs.
Abby Sarmac joined the Foundation in April 2005 after living and working in Senegal, Ecuador, Italy and the US with several international environmental organizations, including the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Abby earned her M.Sc. in Environmental Science from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She also holds a B.Sc. in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Abby was born and raised in Virginia.
Heidy Esmeralda Serpas is the director of VisionSpring’s El Salvador program. Previously, Heidy worked for the Salvadoran Association for Rural Health (ASAPROSAR), a VisionSpring partner and one of El Salvador’s primary eye care resources for low-income people, where she focused on rural health management and eye conditions. She attended the Business Administration program at the Catholic University of the Occident in El Salvador.
Brett R. Smith, Ph.D. is the Founding Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His research interests focus on social entrepreneurship with specific emphases on scaling of social impact and new development models. His research has been featured in a number of leading academic journals including Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, M.I.T. Innovations, Journal of Small Business Management, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, and Leadership Quarterly. Smith won the ASHOKA Award for Pedagogical Innovation at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The Center for Social Entrepreneurship was awarded a $160,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State to host the Institute on Social Entrepreneurship for future African leaders and two innovation awards from ASHOKA U for a partnership developed with Bono’s company to found Edun Live on Campus and for the development of the Center for Micro-Consignment, an emerging model that creates access to basic products and service at the Base of the Pyramid. He has been invited to speak on social entrepreneurship all over the world including at the United Nations executive meetings in Paris, Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa and a number of international universities including Columbia, Duke, Harvard and Oxford. His work in social entrepreneurship has been highlighted in Time, Business Week, Financial Times, CNN, MSNBC and more than 100+ other media outlets.
Denise Spranger has worked as a videographer, web writer, and photographer for Miami University’s Farmer School of Business, and has also produced more than 70 videos for the university’s divisions campus-wide. Ms. Spranger was first introduced to social entrepreneurship when she was fortunate to interview Greg Van Kirk, co-founder of Community Enterprise Solutions, in 2008. She welcomes the opportunity to document the MicroConsignment Model (MCM) conference in Guatemala, and hopes that her work may contribute to the global effort that MCM inspires.
