War Stories From Microfinance - Behind The Scenes With The Founder of MicroVest, New York, NY

Location: BRAC USA, 11 East 44th Street, Suite 1600, Near Madison, New York, NY Cost: $10 (appetizers and drinks provided, discussion will start promptly at 7pm) Register: http://events.som.yale.edu/index.php?eventid=963 (registration deadline October 28th) We invite you to a discussion on the future of Microfinance by Gil Crawford, founder and CEO of MicroVest. Mr. Crawford will discuss the unique situation of Microfinance as a "Finance First" Impact Investment. Impact investing seeks a double bottom line return to investments (both financial and social/environmental). Finance first investors are unwilling to forgo market rate risk-adjusted financial returns in order to achieve that goal. The event is graciously hosted by Malik Rashid '04. About Gil Crawford: Gil Crawford is the founding CEO of MicroVest, an investment advisory firm that mobilizes capital for investment in low-income finance institutions across a broad geography, with the objective of building capital markets that work for individuals at the base of the economic pyramid. Mr. Crawford draws on over 25 years experience with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and capital markets in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to position MicroVest as a leader in impact investing. MicroVest manages a family of private investment funds and vehicles which over the last eight years have provided over $328m in capital to 75 institutions in 32 countries. Previously, Mr. Crawford worked for the Latin American Financial Markets Division at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), focusing on microfinance and low-income financing operations. In 1991 he founded and ran Seed Capital Development Fund, a US-based non-profit involved in creating financial instruments and funds to capitalize microfinance institutions in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Mr. Crawford received his bank training at Chase Manhattan Bank after working in Africa for the Red Cross and State Department. He is a graduate of SAIS at Johns Hopkins University and Bates College, and was recently been invited to join the SAIS Johns Hopkins University faculty to present a practicum on investing in microfinance. Mr. Crawford serves on the Steering Committee for the Agriculture Finance Support Facility, a World Bank initiative supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Additional Information

• Contact

  Adelma Lilliston '07 adelma.lilliston@gmail.com

• Location

  11 East 44th Street New York, New York USA