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 Harold Rosen, Director Harold Rosen is the Director of the Grassroots Business Initiative (GBI). Prior to that, he was Director of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) department, a joint IFC/World Bank department created in March 2000. The department grew considerably, and played a major role in expanding and improving IFC’s SME Project Development Facilities, building on and learning from best practices of SMEs and micro-enterprises, and a number of new World Bank Group initiatives aimed at small business development.
Harold joined the World Bank Group in 1978 through the Young Professionals Program. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a bachelors and masters in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania. |
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 Pascale St. Jean, Team Assistant Pascale joined the GBO team in May 2004. She provides administrative support to the director Harold Rosen and the rest of the team. Two years prior to coming to IFC, she worked as an Administrative Assistant with the Haitian Peace Corps. |
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 Agnes Dasewicz, Program Manager Agnes is responsible for managing the portfolio of GBI projects. She has extensive experience in SME and small business financing, in developing and transition economies. Through her work with the Institute for SME Finance, Agnes focused on the development of SME risk capital funds in sub-Saharan Africa, before joing the IFC. Prior to her work in the development field, Agnes financed projects ranging from telecom companies, to retail chains, as an investment officer for one of the top private equity funds in Eastern Europe. She holds a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University, and an M.B.A. from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. |
 Angelita Yacat, Program Assistant Angie joined the Department in August 2004. She has 8 years of working experience in the World Bank Group. Prior to that, she worked as an accounting officer for the US Army for more than 5 years. |
 Ana Belen Barbeito, Program Officer Belen is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the GBI portfolio. Additionally, she is involved in the supervision and implementation of the GBI's projects in Latin America. She has more than 8 years of working experience in Spain, Latin America and the United States. Her work has always been related to SME's development, specifically in the areas of finance and business development services. Belen holds an M.B.A. from American University. |
 Belisa De las Casas, Consultant Belisa joined IFC in 2007 to work on the CraftNetwork Initiative. Her has several years experience working for non-profit organizations in the US where she has been involved in providing business and market access to low income artisans in developing countries. Prior to her work in the NGO sector, Belisa managed an international trade company for more that ten years, and later on became an entrepreneur by founding and managing her own marketing consulting company in Peru. During a brief period, Belisa was recruited to implement a liaison and public relations office at the Ministry of Agriculture in Lima, Peru where she set up and administered a corporate image/ public relations unit. Belisa holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BA in Business from the University of Lima. She is also the co-author of “Guide to Exporting to the U.S.: A Guide For Small Foreign Exporters”. |
 Eliot Marcus, Consultant Eliot joined IFC in 2007 to work with GBI in communications. Before coming to the IFC, he worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council on communications and research in its Beijing office. Eliot holds a B.A. in History from the University of Chicago.
 Florence Navarro, Consultant Florence joined IFC to work on GBI’s retail portfolio. She has 12 years of international development experience with the UN (UNDP & UNCDF), mostly in the field in Poland, Rwanda and Ethiopia, and has worked extensively on decentralization in Eastern and Southern Africa. She has specialized in local economic development and environmental protection. She most recently was a business advisor for a woman owned company selling green lifestyle products and services in the Hudson valley. Florence holds an M.A. in International Relations form the SAIS, Johns Hokins University and a Sloan M.S in Management from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
 Jin Li, Program Assistant Jin joined IFC in 1998. She is currently responsible for GBI's department HR and resource allocation, and co-managing the IFC's retail store project. Prior to GBI, Jane worked in the Director's front office in the SME department and as Executive Assistant in the IFC China country office. She holds a B.A. in English and International Studies from the Foreign Affairs University in China, and an M.B.A. from the Robert Smith School of University of Maryland. |
 Lilian Kastner, Consultant Lilian joined IFC in 2007 to work in Communications for GBI. Prior to joining IFC Lilian was involved as a consultant in Knowledge Management projects for UNICEF in India, West Africa and the New York Headquarters. She holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, with a concentration in Economic and Political Development.
 Marjorie Pavia, Program Analyst Marjorie Pavia has been working at IFC for 14 years. Prior to joining GBI, she worked with the SME department, where she was heavily involved in its startup. |
 Natasha Barantseva, Consultant Natasha joined the GBI team in May 2006 as a monitoring and evaluation intern. She is currently working on the group’s Latin American portfolio. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the International University in Moscow, an M.A. in Liberal Arts with concentration in Latin American Studies from Dartmouth College, and will be graduating with an M.B.A. from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in May 2007.
 Naoko Miyamoto, Intern Naoko joined GBI in May 2007 as the Outreach Coordinator and intern for the Pangea Artisan Market and Cafe. She is responsible for marketing and outreach for Pangea and assists with communications for GBI. In May 2008, she will be graduating with a BSFS in Comparative Studies of Latin America and Asia with a concentration in Economic Development from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
 Pierre Berard, Intern Pierre worked for 8 years in corporate finance in the private sector, both in Europe and in the US, before deciding to shift to development in low income countries. He is currently completing his M.A. at SAIS Johns Hopkins University. He is interested in micro and small enterprise development as a means to alleviate poverty.
 Rawong Rojvanit, Program Analyst Rawong Rojvanit is responsible for structuring and managing GBI projects in East Africa. Before moving to the GBI department, Rawong worked as a Business Development Analyst in the SME department, on the joint IDA-IFC initiative for micro, small and medium enterprise development in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining IFC, she worked at the Export Import Bank of Thailand. She holds a Masters degree in international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. |
 Ratha Panh, Program Officer Ratha is responsible for (i) monitoring GBI’s compliance with donor agreements and GBI’s policies/procedural requirements (ii) monitoring and tracking GBI’s financials and (iii) preparing all donor, grant and cooperation agreements. Ratha worked in the IFC Legal Department for over 6 ½ years before joining the Grassroots Business Initiative in 2006. Prior to joining IFC, Ratha worked as an attorney at the law firm of Dirksen, Flipse, Doran and Le in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her experiences include (i) assisting in the structuring and negotiating of complex loans and equity investments, (ii) advising on legal requirements and compliance with operational policies and procedures and (iii) preparing of legal documents reflecting the terms and conditions of IFC loan/equity investments. Ratha is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association and has a Juris Doctorate degree from Brigham Young University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Utah. |
 Shawndra Herry, Intern Shawndra joined GBI in October 2007 to provide support to the West Africa Portfolio as well as the Youth and Informal Business Initiatives. Prior to joining GBI Shawndra worked in West Africa with the Peace Corps as a Small Enterprise Development Advisor, where she worked on NGO technical assistance and capacity building, women empowerment issues, training of incoming advisors and taught a course at the local university. Shawndra is currently working towards her Masters in Sustainable Destination Management from The George Washington University. |
 Vanessa Ferragut, Event and Outreach Coordinator Vanessa Ferragut joined IFC full time in January 2006. She is responsible for the events and outreach initiative of Pangea, Artisan Market & Cafe opened at the IFC building in Spring 2006. Previously, Vanessa worked at an international bank in New York City as the Corporate Affairs Officer. Her primary duties included supporting and executing internal/external events, conferences, communications and marketing for the entire Americas Region. She holds a B.A. degree in International Business and Spanish from Mount Saint Mary's University.
Bolivia:
 René Sergio Pereira, Senior Program Officer René Sergio joined GBI in May 2004. Prior to joining GBI, he worked for the Government of Bolivia as Viceminister of Financial Services and Commercial Societies, Ministry of Finance. Under his leadership, the Government of Bolivia launched several initiatives to strengthen the productive and financial private sectors in the country, i.e. "Ley de reestructuración Voluntaria de Empresas" ID card for micro and small Enterprises. Before that, he worked as CFO of Banco Mercantil in Bolivia, consultant for IFC's SME Department and LAC Capital Markers Department, and other management positions in private companies and public institutions. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the ITESM - Mexico, M.Sc. Agricultural Economics from N.M.S.U. and M.P.A. from the KSG at Harvard University."
Cambodia:
 Chee Chung Tham, Program Officer Chee Chung co-ordinates the activities of GBI in Southeast Asia, specifically in Cambodia. Prior to joining IFC, Chee Chung worked as a venture capital investment manager in Singapore. He first came to Cambodia as a full-time volunteer serving in Grassroots Business Organizations assisting them with raising financing and strengthening their internal systems. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, as well as a B.Sc. in Computer and Information Sciences from the National University of Singapore.
India:
 Kaushik Barua, Operations Analyst Kaushik joined GBI in March 2007 and is currently responsible for the coordination and supervision of GBI's portfolio in India. Prior to joining IFC, Kaushik was working with the National Knowledge Commission, a government think-tank in New Delhi. He has also worked with the World Bank, where he was involved in research on poverty reduction strategies and constraints to economic mobility for the poor, especially in South Asia. He holds a Masters degree in Political Economy from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics from Delhi University.
Kenya:
Lydia Murimi, Consultant
Lydia co-ordinates GBI's East Africa portfolio. Prior to joining IFC Lydia held various management positions with a number of blue-chip private sector organizations where she was charged with building compelling brand and corporate value propositions. More recently, she has undertaken consultancy work in private sector development, with various development partners. She remains interested in contributing to the development of business through the provision of services that would assist them develop a much stronger, and more sustainable, competitive advantage. Lydia holds an MBA in Business Strategy, Applied Industrial Economics and Public Sector Management, from the University of Leicester [U.K.], and an Advanced Diploma in Marketing from the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
GBI's work in the field is also supported by IFC's Project Development Facilities:
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