Don't miss an event. Join our Mailing List. Click Here
The Financial Women's
Association Of San Francisco
Presents
"Microfinance: It's Happening in Your Backyard"
An Industry Leadership Series Event
on
Thursday, April 16th
Bangladesh's Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Muhammad Yunus helped elevate the profile of microfinance
worldwide, but what impact can this economic development
strategy have domestically? In California - with an
estimated two million microentrepreneurs in business - can
microfinance play a role in turning around the recession?
Join leading Bay Area micro-lender, Opportunity Fund, and
their investors in a discussion about economic development
at the local level and what the shifting landscape of
microfinance means for California in the long-term. Learn
how banks, nonprofit lenders, and individual philanthropists
are bringing credit and savings programs to those outside of
the financial mainstream. Come and meet the women who are
using these programs to build a future for their families.
About the Speakers
Gwendy Donaker Brown is the IDA Program Director at
Opportunity Fund, one of the nation's largest
matched-savings providers. As Program Director, Gwendy
oversees the programs of 700+ active savers and is
responsible for all aspects of the IDA Savings process,
including financial education, program operations, strategic
partnerships, impact evaluation, and new product
development. In her tenure, Gwendy has helped develop and
launch several new IDA Projects including "Saving for
Citizenship," which finances immigrants in becoming U.S.
Citizens, and WANDA, a donor circle supporting single
mothers. Prior to joining Opportunity Fund, Gwendy worked at
non-profit organizations in New York City, Los Angeles, and
Caracas, Venezuela, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
She graduated from Pomona College with a Bachelor's
degree in Public Policy & Economics and from NYU's Wagner
School of Public Service with a Master in Public
Administration. She is a mentor for a 14 year-old in Redwood
City, CA.
Evelyn Huang is the Small Business Loan Program Director
at Opportunity Fund, one of the largest microlenders in
California. As Program Director, Evelyn overseas the
program's $3.4 million revolving loan fund and is
responsible for all aspects of the microlending process,
including marketing and outreach, strategic partnerships,
underwriting, portfolio management, and technical
assistance. In her tenure, she has increased client service
capacity by 280% and achieved 200% growth in loans closed
for the program. Evelyn has deep knowledge of the challenges
facing small business owners in California and has
personally worked with hundreds of borrowers. She is
well-versed in the growth potential and challenges of the
domestic microfinance field and is a member of the Aspen
Institute's Scale Academy for Microenterprise. Prior to
joining Opportunity Fund, Evelyn was an Associate with
Summit Partners, a growth private equity and venture capital
firm. She graduated from Stanford University with a
Bachelors degree in Public Policy, with Honors. She has
worked in technology startups, youth organizations in South
Central LA, and is an active Board Member of the California
Junior Miss Scholarship Program.
Since its founding in 1995, Opportunity Fund has
originated $9.8 million in loans to small businesses and has
invested more than $130 million into needy communities in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Opportunity Fund's leadership
team has received the Skoll Award for Innovation in Silicon
Valley, the Wachovia Impact award, the James Irvine
Foundation Leadership Award, and the SBA Financial Services
Advocate of the Year. In addition to the Small Business Loan
Program, Opportunity Fund operates one of the largest
matched-savings account programs in the country and is a
leader in providing innovative financing to community real
estate projects in the Bay Area.
Susan Kokores has been a Founding Member since 2007 of
WANDA (Women's Achievement Network and Development
Alliance), a donor circle partnered with Opportunity Fund
and Women's Foundation of California, dedicated to financial
literacy and IDAs (matched savings) for low-income single
mothers in San Mateo. Prior to that she was a Founding
Member of Women Leading Change, a donor circle of United Way
Silicon Valley, dedicated to financial literacy and IDAs
(matched savings) for low-income single mothers in Santa
Clara County.
She is currently the Director of Development for the
Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. For the
five previous years, she was the Major Gifts Director for
the United Way of Silicon Valley.
Susan is active in the community as a member of the 2007
class of Leadership California, and as a trustee of
Castilleja School and Co-President of the Castilleja School
Association. She has a BS in Nursing from the University of
California, Berkeley and UCSF Medical Center, and an Master
in Public Administration from San Jose State University.
Mona Masri is the Statewide Initiatives Director
for the Western Region Community Relations Division,
Citibank. In this
role, she creates strategic partnerships with a diverse
array of local and statewide non-profit organizations to
identify and address pressing community development needs
affecting low- to moderate-income communities. Mona
coordinates and leverages Citi's vast resources - including
investments, products and services - throughout California
to help meet the bank's Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
obligations. She also covers the Silicon Valley Region in
her capacity as Community Relations staff for Citi.
Mona joined Citibank in March 2003 from the Small
Business Administration (SBA), where she served as the
Founding Director for the San Jose Entrepreneur Center, a
unique collaboration between the public, private and
non-profit communities to expand economic development
opportunities in Silicon Valley by centralizing business
support services to stimulate small business creation and
expansion.
Mona has over 10 years of experience in the field of
Economic Development, in both the private and public sector
as well as internationally. Her international experience
stems from her work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria
where she worked to support the burgeoning small business
sector by providing technical assistance through local
chambers of commerce.
Mona currently serves on the Board of California
Jump$tart. She has a Certification in Project Management
from UC Berkeley Extension, a Master of Urban and Regional
Planning, International Development from the University of
Southern California, and a BS in Business Administration
(Finance) from the University of Southern California.
Shaolee Sen is the Director of Marketing and
Communications at Opportunity Fund, the largest microfinance
organization in the Bay Area. Shaolee was responsible for
the re-naming and re-branding of Opportunity Fund (formerly
Lenders for Community Development) in 2008, and is the
principal organizer of Microfinance, CA - the first
statewide conference on domestic microfinance.
Prior to joining Opportunity Fund, Shaolee worked at a legal
and social service nonprofit organization in New York City,
where she founded and directed a Family Court advocacy
project. She graduated from Barnard College with a
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and from the Haas
School of Business at UC Berkeley with a Master of Business
Administration.
Sunny Suppa is the Owner and Founder of
5ft2in, a clothing
company that caters to professional petite women who are
5'2" and under. She started her company in 2007 with savings
from her IDA account, a Micro Loan, and business grants.
Sunny has a degree in Fashion Design at the International
Academy of Fashion and Technology (IADT) and a degree in
Apparel Manufacturing Management from the Fashion Institute
of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). Prior to founding 5'2",
she also worked for several apparel companies - including
Gap Inc, BCBG, and a private label company that makes
clothes for Arden B., Anthropology, and Hot Topics.
In addition to running her business, Sunny works part-time
as the Inventory Coordinator for Wardrobe for Opportunity, a
non-profit organization in Oakland that provides clothing to
low-income job seekers. She is also actively involved with
C.E.O. Women Alumni group and UrbanFIRE, an Oakland-based
entrepreneurship program. Since its launch, her company,
5ft2in, has been featured in several petite blogs, the
San Jose Mercury News, Asian Week, and written about on
Yelp.
Return to: FWA, P.O. Box 26143, San Francisco, CA 94126
or fax (415) 586-6606
For any questions regarding the above program call (415) 586-8599 or email
cut
here