Governing Board

Andrew Adelson, Chairman of the Board & GBF Advisor

Andy AdelsonAndy retired from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc. (now Alliance Capital), where he served as Chief Investment Officer managing over $100 billion in client assets and developing global and local equity products in the UK, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and emerging markets. Andy also serves as treasurer on the board of the Hastings Center for Bioethics Research. More

Stephen Brenninkmeijer, Founder, Willows Investments & GBF Advisor

Stephen Breninkmeijer

Stephen is a private investor with interests in impact investing and education.  For 30 years he was involved in the family retail business.  He has been involved in impact investing since 2002 and founded Willows Investments in 2008, with the aim of supporting promising ventures with a social mission.   More

Guillermo Ferreyros: Chief Executive Officer, President, and Executive Director, Maple Energy PLC

FerreyrosRafael Guillermo Ferreyros Cannock has more than 20 years of experience in the energy and agro industrial related areas, including experience in developing greenfield projects from conceiving the ideas, project plans, implementation, operation and financing in Peru. Mr. Ferreyros serves as the Chief Executive Officer, President, and Executive Director of Maple Energy PLC in Peru. More

Mary Houghton, Co-Founder, Shorebank Corporation

Mary co-founded ShoreBank Corporation, a commercial bank holding company focused on community development and environmental protection.  She is a director of three financial institutions: Basix and BSFL in Hyderabad, India and Citizens Bank in Vancouver, B.C. and two U.S. non-profit small business loan funds. More

Mwaghazi Mwachofi, General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance

Mwaghazi MwachofiMwaghazi Mwachofi joined the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) in November 2008 and manages microfinance banks and microfinance institutions in 11 countries in South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa. More

Harold Rosen, Chief Executive Officer, Grassroots  Business Fund

Harold is GBF’s Chief Executive Officer. In 2004, Harold founded IFC’s Grassroots Business Initiative, which he managed until 2008, when it was restructured and spun off to become the Grassroots Business Fund (GBF). Prior to his work with GBI and GBF, Harold worked at with the World Bank Group for over 30 years. More

Holly Wise, Founder, Wise Solutions LLC & GBF Advisor

Through her consultancy practice, Wise Solutions LLC, Holly brings international development and public-private alliance expertise to corporations, foundations and non-profits.  She serves as a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. More 

 

Zoë Dean-Smith: Senior Director of Global Programs, Vital Voices

Dean SmithBetween 2007 and 2011, Zoë was based in her home country of Swaziland and assumed the role of Senior Director of Vital Voices’ Global Entrepreneurs in Handcrafts Program. During this time, she also worked with TechnoServe Swaziland, mentoring a number of emerging handcraft export organisations and helping to develop the country’s handcraft sector. Her activities have also included working with IFC’s Grassroots Business Initiatives across Africa and in South East Asia on handcraft development. More

 

Advisors

Max Aitken: Sr. Manager,  IFC Partnerships & Donor Relations
Michael Barth: Former Sr. Managing Director, Darby Overseas Investments

Percy Barnevik: Chairman, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) 
Judson Berkey: Managing Director, UBS

Dr. Eliot Kalter: President, Emerging Markets Strategies Inc. 
Charly and Lisa Kleissner: Founders, KL Felicitas

Serge Kremer: Co-Founder, Penguin Ventures 
Sari Miller: Investor

Iqbal Paroo, GBF Advisor 
Alan Patricof: Founder & Managing Director, Greycroft LLC

Helmut Paul: Sr. Consultant, IFC 
Kash Rangan: Co-Chairman, Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative

Sir David Scholey: Sr. Advisor to UBS AG & UK Financial Services Authority 
Jo Schwenke: Chairman, Southern African Venture Capital

Richard Stern: Managing Director, EMP Financial Advisers
Ed Tobin: Director, Global Emerging Markets (GEM) North America, Inc.

Jim Wolfensohn: Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company LLC.
Elaine Wolfensohn, VP,  Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation

Dr. Claus Peter (CP) Zeitinger: Founder, International Projekt Consult (IPC)