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Mr Craig Wilson (Executive Director)
Craig Wilson joined FDC as its Executive Director in January 2007. He is an economist with extensive international development experience. Craig joined FDC from the International Finance Corporation, where he worked for the previous two years in Bangladesh managing an investment climate program in South Asia. Craig has worked with numerous international development organisations in various countries since 2000. During the 1990s he served as a diplomat in Australia's foreign service. He recently co-authored two books which focus on opportunities for private sector involvement in developing country poverty reduction. One (with Professor George Lodge of Harvard) is entitled "A Corporate Solution to Global Poverty"; the other is "Make Poverty Business" (with Peter Wilson from the UK). Craig grew up in Brisbane and has degrees from Griffith University (Brisbane) and Columbia University (New York).
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Jamie Bedson (Asia Regional Representative)
Jamie is current working on the Citi Foundation and Banking with the Poor Network programme to advance the partnership approach in microfinance, as well as undertaking research into the emerging issue of energy and microfinance. His past research and professional work has focused on community development issues including microfinance, refugee resettlement and water and sanitation. He holds a Master's degree in Social Science (International Development) and a BA in International Relations.
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Luse Kinivuwai (Pacific Regional Representative)
Luse was the Director of Microfinance Unit of the National Centre for Small and Micro Enterprise Development [NCSMED] from 2002 to 2008. She has worked in developing microfinance services in Fiji for nearly 8 years which involved policy formulation, methodology development and managing the partnership arrangements with 9 microfinance institutions. Luse has worked in concert with several international organizations in policy formulation for the Fiji Microfinance Policy Framework and SME related work. Prior to that she worked in various positions in the Fiji Development Bank for 12 years from 1998 to 2000. Luse is the current chair of the Microfinance Pasifika Network but will relinquish this in the near future as she takes the Lead Coordinator role for the Network of which FDC is the Secretariat. She holds a Bachelor of Agriculture and Masters in Business Administration from the University of the South Pacific.
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Katrina Crawford (Senior Operations Officer)
Katrina holds a Bachelor of International Relations from Griffith University (Brisbane) and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in International and Community development at Deakin University. She is currently working on the Banking with the Poor and Microfinance Pasifika network as well as being actively involved in maintaining FDC's website. Before joining FDC, Katrina had previously worked in the retail sector for over seven years.
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Jack Whelan (Head - Private Sector Engagement)
Jack has a strong background in environmental policy, corporate responsibility, sustainability, public affairs and communications. He has extensive international experience at the interface of business, government and civil society. In his recent position as IBLF Director, Jack managed a team responsible for relations with member companies, stakeholder organisations, the United Nations, NGOs and the media. Previously Jack worked as senior environmental policy manager at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) headquarters in Paris. Jack coordinated business representation at UN negotiations on environment, energy, climate change, water, biodiversity and sustainable development, including the business delegation at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, with Chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart. From March 2007, Jack acted in an advisory capacity for a variety of organisations, including the International Hydropower Association, UNESCO and the Star Alliance airline network. At FDC Jack is currently working on developing partnerships with the private sector, to demonstrate new and innovative approaches to international development which may be replicated by others elsewhere. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Master of Science.
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Dr Vladimir Pacheco (Senior Training Coordinator & Research Fellow)
Dr Vladimir Pacheco is FDC's Senior Training Coordinator and Research Fellow. Before joining FDC Vladimir worked as a lecturer at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and at Monash University in Melbourne. Vladimir's doctoral dissertation, completed in 2003, analysed the process of financial deregulation in Costa Rica from 1980 to 2000. Since then Vladimir has conducted research on microfinance entities in Vanuatu.
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Melanie Aube (Senior Operations Officer) - On parental leave
Mélanie has extensive experience on business development projects focussing mainly on capacity building, business development and structured finance. She combines formal training in international finance and strategic consulting in enterprise, with practical experience to help solve problems of business management, development and growth; to implement market research; and to assess financial potential/opportunities. She applies a participatory leadership style when leading large project teams. She has worked successfully in different settings and combines rigorous scientific training with cultural acuity and fluency in 4 languages i.e. Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, French and English. Melanie has a degree in International Finance from University of Montreal - HEC (Canada) and hold a post-graduate Master’s degree in Strategic consulting from Complutense University (Spain).
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Shawn Hunter (Senior Project Officer)
Shawn has joined FDC in 2008 and is supporting the work of the BWTP Network as well as operations relating to the Singapore office. He is also supporting the development and implementation of the Asia Pacific Regional Initiative – Access to Energy for the Poor. Before joining FDC Shawn worked as an instructor for the University of Queensland. His past research and professional work has focused on development issues throughout Asia and the Pacific and includes, disaster mitigation, water and sanitation and Asian cities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours - Geography and English) from the University of Queensland.
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Carly Stephan (Project Officer)
Carly is currently project manager of the FDC-led Bottom-up Governance Leadership Program for Women in the Pacific, a project which seeks to increase women’s knowledge of governance and leadership in the Pacific and support bottom-up governance initiatives by women in their local communities. Carly has previously had experience as a project coordinator for programs ranging from environmental sustainability to governance and law & justice. Carly combines her project management background with extensive researching and teaching experience in the areas of: teaching methods, refugees and security, and international development success and efficacy. Carly speaks Bahasa Indonesia at an intermediate level and holds a double degree in Political Science and International Business, a first class honours degree in International Relations (University of Queensland) and a Masters of Development Studies (University of Sydney).
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Jack Lord Rubillar (Assistant Coordinator of BWTP)
Jack Lord formerly worked as a Programme Officer for Research with the Mindanao Microfinance Council of the Philippines. He has a strong background in conducting socio-economic research and business development while working with Non-Government Organizations and Private Corporations for the past years. Jack earned his Bachelor's Degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Davao University and pursued his Masters Degree in Economics and Business Administration at the same university. He is currently working with FDC as Assistant Coordinator of BWTP in Singapore.
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Xia Zuzhang (E4ALL Chief Technical Officer)
Xia Zuzhang began his professional career in 1985 focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency in rural settings of developing countries. He holds a B. Sc. degree in rural energy development (HAU, China) and an M. Eng. degree in energy economics and planning (AIT, Thailand). In his recent positions as the program manager and director of The Nature Conservancy's China Program, he initiated a rural alternative energy program and spent eight years gradually scaling it up in southwest China. Under his management and coordination, more than 12,000 installations ranging from fuel-efficient stoves and household biogas digesters to solar water heaters and micro-hydropower generators were completed in more than 400 remote rural communities. He also coordinated and supervised the implementation of an UNEP-sponsored micro-credit for rural energy project and a USEPA-sponsored alternative energy for clean indoor air project. In the late 1990's, he worked for five years in Bangkok, Thailand; firstly as a research associate working on energy-environment planning and policy studies, and later on as an energy specialist at a consulting company working on energy auditing to evaluate technical and financial potentials for energy conservation investment in factories and buildings. Xia has hands-on experience with various kinds of small-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency facilities, and has also been heavily involved in teaching at university level and conducting research projects. Xia will be working for the Partnership as a full-time E4ALL Access to Energy Coordinator and will be primarily engaged in overseeing the management of the secretariat as well as providing support to the working groups.
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Lira Razak (Project Officer)
Lira has worked within the healthcare sector for the past few years. As a medical social worker working within a fast-paced hospital environment, she worked with patients and families in need of psychosocial assistance. This included case management, supportive and grief counseling, and providing resources and a network of social support to the patients. She moved on to work for a Singaporean government board in health promotion, handling nation-wide programmes and projects, with a focus on workplaces and migrant communities. She has experience in administration, marketing, communications, event management and promotion of programmes, and combines her knowledge and background in social work and business when working with companies to promote advocacy of workplace health policies and awareness. Lira graduated with a Bachelor in Social Sciences (Social Work) from the National University of Singapore, and is currently undertaking further studies for a Master in International Business from Grenoble Graduate School of Business (France). As E4ALL Administration Officer, Lira will looking after the partnership's knowledge management, as well as providing administration support to the E4ALL team.
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Xenia Teo (Communications Officer)
Xenia Teo is a Project Officer with JICA Singapore for 4 years and has worked on various training courses/workshops and alumni matters of Japan-Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century (JSPP21) for government officials in developing countries. She is experienced in developing and managing training courses for diverse regions of ASEAN, African countries and Middle East. At JICA Singapore, Xenia is also involved in Japan-Singapore Regional Cooperation Meeting (JARCOM) mechanism to promote ASEAN integration and capacity building for developing countries and actively involved in updating the JARCOM website. Prior to this, Xenia was with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) where she worked on researching, analyzing and selecting interesting news report materials in Singapore for Ohayou Nippon! (Good Morning, Japan!) and News Watch 9 on NHK World Premium channel. She conducts interviews, writes scripts and reports from TV media perspective and presents stand-up reports in English. Xenia has extensive experience in training and development and is competent in research, preparation of reports and report presentations. Xenia holds a Bachelor of Arts (Majored in Japanese and Economics) and graduated from the National University of Singapore. Xenia will be working closely with the whole team as E4ALL Communications Officer each of the team to ensure that all communications are streamlined and efficient. She will also supply partners with updates and provide support to the secretariat as it gathers information from working groups and other team members.
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Kelera Finau-Elder (Assistant Coordinator of MFPN)
Kelera Finau-Elder joined the FDC Pacific Office in September 2009 as the Microfinance Pasifika Network Assistant Coordinator. She has worked for over twenty years in various regional/development organisations in Fiji. Before her appointment with FDC, Kelera worked as the Administrative Assistant for the Fiji National Provident Fund Investments Ltd. Prior to that appointment, Kelera worked with the Pacific Power Association (PPA) where she was actively involved in networking members of PPA with other energy stakeholders in the Pacific region. Kelera has also worked with other regional organisations including the UNDP/Regional Rights Resource Team, UNFPA and the British Aid Programme. Kelera has a Diploma in Secretarial and Business Studies from Fiji Institute of Technology.
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Andrew Bray (Manager - Corporate Services & Finance)
After a 16 year career in banking and finance, rising to a senior rural finance manager’s role, Andrew started working independently as a consultant in Business Management in 1999, predominately in agriculture but also several extensive commercial assignments and feasibilities. These ranged from demographic, logistic and marketing studies to full commercial project feasibility studies. He has been a key stakeholder in a number of these startup ventures, within and outside of Australia. On a number of occasions he has worked in conjunction with accounting firms in the management and restructuring of businesses in financial difficulty. Having studied through Monash University on share trading and stock market mechanisms, he went on to complete a Diploma in Financial Planning. He is currently studying Project Management. He has worked on several rural Initial Public Offerings. More recently he has taken an active interest in Carbon Credit trading and development of Carbon Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. He is a keen student and supporter of the development of carbon sequestering technologies and biodiesel technologies. During the last 10 years he has worked with different management teams to develop large scale, startup commercial projects across the Eastern States and Northern Territory in Australia, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Andrew recently designed and completed initial concept study for a substantial agroforestry, biofuel and renewable energy project in Indonesia. He has travelled extensively overseas and throughout Australia expanding his financial and rural management knowledge. |
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Sherry Chen (Administrative Officer)
Sherry has worked in the field of marketing/PR and administration for various industries such as IT, mining and recruitment. She has completed an undergraduate degree in IT at The University of Queensland and is currently undergoing post graduate studies in Business. Sherry also speaks Mandarin, intermediate Hokkien.
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Dr. John Conroy (FDC Special Consultant)
John Conroy has been a development practitioner since 1968, with extensive periods of residence in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and field experience in much of South and East Asia. While Executive Director of FDC, from 1991 to 2000, he co-authored two books on linkages between banks and MFIs. These were Banking with the Poor (FDC, 1992) and Best Practice of Banking with the Poor (FDC, 1995). He also co-authored two comparative studies, Getting the Framework Right: policy and regulation for microfinance in Asia (FDC, 1998) and The Role of Central Banks in Microfinance (ADB, 2000). John is now Special Consultant to FDC, as well as consulting independently. He has conducted studies and evaluations for the World Bank in Fiji and East Timor, for FAO in Indonesia and for the Pacific Forum Secretariat in Pacific island countries. Dr Conroy has had a long association with aspects of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) process. As Executive Director of FDC, he managed an APEC ‘second track’ initiative between 1995 and 2000. This explored the nature and potential of the APEC economic & technical cooperation process. Dr Conroy was consultant to the government of Mexico on microbanking and microenterprise development issues during that country’s chairing of the APEC process in 2002, and was keynote speaker at the Acapulco ‘High Level Meeting on Microenterprise’. Most recently, during 2008, he was associated with the ABAC ‘financial inclusion’ initiative, conducted as part of the APEC Finance Ministers’ process.
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