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Conference Steering / Leadership Committee
Jeff
Keenan (Co-Chair)
Kenman Wong, Ph.D., serves
as a Professor in the School of Business &
Economics and Chair of the Microfinance
Initiative at Seattle Pacific University.
Kenman teaches courses in the Business,
Ethics & Society area, including one of the
first undergraduate level Microfinance courses
to be offered in North America.
Kenman’s research examines how business
interacts with important social institutions and
objectives such as ethics, medicine, and poverty
alleviation. He is the author of three
books and many academic and practice focused
articles.
Prior to becoming a university professor,
he was employed with the technology and
management consulting firm Accenture.
He holds a Ph.D. from the University of
Southern California
Beth Castleberry serves as Chief Development
Officer of Global Partnerships, a Seattle based
organization that
supports the expansion of microfinance by
investing capital and management expertise in
microfinance institutions (MFIs) in
Latin-America.
A development professional in Seattle for
over 15 years, Beth leads the development and
communications team at Global Partnerships.
Prior to joining GP, Beth worked on the capital
campaigns for the Seattle Symphony and the
Seattle Public Library. Most recently she served
as vice president of regional development at
Washington State University. Beth has also
served as vice chair of programming on the board
of the Northwest Development Officers
Association (NDOA) and as the fundraising chair
for Spruce Street School, an independent school
in downtown Seattle. Beth earned a bachelor of
arts degree from Washington State University and
is a graduate of Seattle’s Leadership Tomorrow
program, Class of 2001.
Tamara Cook is a Program Officer, Financial
Services for the Poor in the Global Development
Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Previously, she spent ten years working on
microfinance with the Consultative Group to
Assist the Poor (CGAP) housed in the World Bank.
Most recently, she worked on CGAP's Paris-based
Aid Effectiveness Initiative to help global
funders improve the quality of their funding for
microfinance. During her secondment to Equity
Bank in Kenya, she worked on strengthening their
credit department and reaching out to the
international community. She has also conducted
institutional appraisals, provided advisory
services to financial institutions, facilitated
trainings and workshops, monitored the
investment portfolio, and contributed to several
publications. She has an MBA from INSEAD in
France and a BA in International Affairs and
Development from the George Washington
University.
Chris Horst serves as
Craig Nolte is a Regional Manager for the
Community Development Department of the Federal
Reserve Bank of San Francisco, serving the
states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and
Hawaii. Craig leads initiatives, develops
training, and consults stakeholders on a wide
variety of community development issues. Craig
frequently collaborates with government
agencies, nonprofit organizations, lenders, to
resolve regional and national challenges, and
has participated in many small business
initiatives.
Craig’s
activities in Indian Country include the
development of the Sovereign Lending
initiative in 1994, which has helped bring
resources for community and economic development
to tribes in the Northwest and Alaska, and to
Native Hawaiians.
Prior to
joining the Federal Reserve, Craig reviewed
mergers and acquisitions, conducted financial
analysis, and served as a Compliance Examiner
for the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Craig holds
examination credentials from the Office of
Thrift Supervision and the Federal Reserve.
Craig obtained a B.A. degree in Finance from
Seattle Pacific University (1980) and is based
in Seattle, Washington.
Brad
Stave serves as the manager for marketing &
communications at VisionFund International, the
microfinance subsidiary of World Vision.
VisionFund has seen significant expansion in
recent years, with 41% growth in portfolio to
over $400 million during fiscal year 2008. In
addition, VisionFund impacted the lives of over
1.8 million children, and women comprised of 68%
of loan clients. Finally, VisionFund experienced
a 98.7% repayment rate.
Mr. Stave came to VisionFund with extensive experience in both
fundraising in development work, and an
international business background. A graduate of
International Business and German from Oregon
State University, Mr. Stave spent the early part
of the 2000s working in marketing capacities in
both the manufacturing and service sectors of
Germany and the United Kingdom, respectively.
Later, Mr. Stave worked in development for World
Vision United States, raising support for the
efforts of poverty reduction through engaging
donors, organizations, corporations and churches
with the mission of World Vision.
Seattle
Pacific University Student Members
Scott
Fillingame
Klarrisa Frank
Kristin McGunnigle
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John Terrill (Co-Chair)
Kenman
Wong, (Faculty Co-Chair) 
Tamara Cook,
Leah
Klug, Seattle Quest Church
Craig Nolte,
Klarrisa Frank is a senior
at Seattle Pacific University studying
International Business and Global Development.
She has a passion for microfinance that began
after studying abroad in China and reading “A
Billion Bootstraps” by Philip Smith and Eric
Thurman. Upon her return she took a course at
SPU on microfinance in the winter and
participated in community development projects
in Cameroon that summer. After graduation she
hopes to work in community building either
domestically in urban centers or abroad.
Jason Williams|
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