MicroVest Capital Management : The MicroVest Team

Gil Crawford (Chief Executive Officer)

Mr. Crawford is Chief Executive Officer of MicroVest Capital Management, responsible for leading the company’s investment operations and strategy. As MicroVest’s founding manager, he led the launch of MicroVest I, LP, the first commercial private equity vehicle focused on microfinance in North America. He has over 20 years experience with microfinance institutions and capital markets, and has worked extensively in Latin America and Africa, as well as in Asia. Before helping to found MicroVest Capital Management, Mr. Crawford worked for the Latin American Financial Markets Division at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and focused on investments in microfinance institutions. Prior to joining IFC, Mr. Crawford created and ran Seed Capital Development Fund, a US based non-profit firm, involved in creating financial instruments and attracting funds to capitalize microfinance institutions, primarily in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Specific projects included: Latin American Challenge Investment Fund (LA-CIF), a US$ 20 million loan fund for microfinance institutions in Latin America; DEVCAP, a “shared return mutual fund” whose total assets reached over US$ 27 million dollars. Mr. Crawford has also been a Member of ProFund’s Investment Committee and alternate member to the Board of Directors for many years. Prior to creating Seed Capital, Mr. Crawford was the Assistant Project Director for Africa Venture Capital Project, designed to create risk capital firms in Africa.

Mr. Crawford received his bank training at Chase Manhattan Bank in the mid-80’s after working in Africa for the Red Cross and State Department. He graduated from SAIS at Johns Hopkins University in 1983 and Bates College in 1980.

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Candace Smith (Chief Financial Officer)

Ms. Smith is responsible for oversight of finance and administration functions for MicroVest Capital Management and funds and facilities managed by the Company. Ms. Smith has over 20 years of experience in development finance. As an independent consultant she has advised clients such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Calvert Social Investment Foundation, and Corporacion para el Financiamiento de Infraestructura, among others, on due diligence, credit evaluation and other matters. As Chief Operating Officer for Triodos PV Partners, she oversaw a $50 million joint business development and equity investment program to promote solar electric service enterprises in developing countries. Previously, Ms. Smith served as Senior Credit Officer and Portfolio Officer at the Inter-American Investment Corporation, with responsibility for developing and maintaining corporate credit risk guidelines and oversight of a US$400 million portfolio of project loans and equity investments throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Smith also served as Investment Officer with the IIC, structuring private sector project financing in a number of different industry sectors. Smith began her career in finance as a corporate lending officer with the former Continental Illinois National Bank.

She holds a Masters in International Management from The American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) at Glendale, AZ and a dual major Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Smith is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.

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Michael Edberg (Director of Investments)

Mr. Edberg joined MicroVest in December 2008 after 13 years at the International Finance Corporation, most recently as a Senior Investment Officer in the Financial Markets Department. Mr. Edberg has particular expertise in structuring equity investments, quasi-equity and corporate finance transactions.  Since 2001, he was responsible for leading investment teams developing new investments in micro and small business financial institutions in Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.   

 For the seven years ended December 2008, Mr. Edberg invested US$160 million over 30 assets in 15 countries.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Government and International Relations from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a Master’s of Business Administration degree in International Business - Finance from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  He is also CFA charterholder. 

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Cecelia Beirne (Portfolio Manager)

Ms. Beirne supports MicroVest's Business Development and Investment Teams in the areas of risk management, financial transparancy, and compliance matters. Ms. Beirne has two decades of finance experience, most recently as Vice President at Financial Security Assurance Inc. where she managed a $6 billion portfolio of mortgage backed securities (with responsibilities including monitoring of performance trends, projecting losses for reserve analyses, and conducting due diligence of loan servicing operations), and previously as a senior manager at Deloitte and Touche. Prior to a career in finance, Ms. Beirne was a secondary school mathematics teacher.

Ms. Beirne completed the Boulder Microfinance Training Course in Turin, Italy in 2006, and has volunteered on projects in India and the Dominican Republic. She is active in professional organizations having served on the board of the Financial Women's Association (managing their mentoring and scholarship programs for young women) and is an active member of Women Advancing Microfinance.

Ms Beirne received an MBA from Baruch College of the City University of New York, an MA in Mathematics Education from San Francisco State College and a BA in Mathematics from Hunter College.

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Douglas Young (Senior Investment Officer)

Mr. Young is the Senior Investment Officer covering Latin America.  He has over ten years of experience in auditing and microfinance, including three years as a senior manager with the Ernst & Young Capital Markets Group in Santiago, Chile, where he managed Chilean cross-border transactions in the energy and banking sectors.  Mr. Young also worked for Arthur Andersen in Baltimore auditing publicly-traded healthcare, broadcasting and technology firms.

Mr. Young received an MBA from the University of California - Berkeley, Haas School of Business. While pursuing his graduate studies, he initiated a student-led microfinance speaker series and won the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship's Best MBA Paper in 2005.  Mr. Young also studied at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.  Mr. Young is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his Bachelor's degree in Accounting at Loyola College in Maryland where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.  He is fluent in Spanish.

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Radoil Mitov (Senior Investment Associate)

Radoil Mitov joined MicroVest in April 2009, as Senior Investment Associate, where he will manage debt and equity transactions for Europe and Asia.  Most recently Mr. Mitov served as Deputy General Manager of a $20 million microfinance institution in Romania, where he managed administrative and finance functions and designed and negotiated funding.  Before that he was Credit Manager at CHF International in Maryland where he was responsible for portfolio management and supplied strategic guidance to five MFIs in Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Romania.  During his five years there, he helped transform two of them into for-profit companies.

In 2002, “Radi” earned his MBA in International Finance and his MA in International Trade and Investment Policy from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. where the International Business Department selected him to receive its “Best Graduate Student” award.  His BS in Business Administration is from American University.  He’s fluent in English and his native Bulgarian.

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Iris Korovesi (Investment Associate)

Ms. Korovesi supports MicroVest's Investment Team to analyze MFI investments in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. She recently completed a graduate degree in international business and development economics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Through her studies she focused on microfinance and wrote her master thesis on commercial banks' downscaling strategies in Southeast Europe and Turkey. Prior to MicroVest she worked with Accion International, conducting research on the microfinance industry in West Africa and Latin America. She also spent three months in India as an intern at the Center of Microfinance Research, analyzing staff incentive schemes in Indian MFIs.

Ms. Korovesi received her bachelor degree in operational research and marketing from Athens University of Economics and Business. She speaks Greek, English, German, Italian and French.

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Sharini Kulasinghe (Investment Analyst)

Ms. Kulasinghe is MicroVest’s investment analyst for Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. She brings experience in emerging markets from her work as an Associate at Seed Capital Development Fund (SCDF), one of MicroVest’s founders. Prior to her work with SCDF, Ms. Kulasinghe worked with Banyan Global, a micro-enterprise consultancy in New York, to conduct a global survey on women’s access to credit. Ms. Kulasinghe also held previous positions in Sri Lanka at the Institute of Policy Studies, an economic research institute and John Keells Stockbrokers.

Ms. Kulasinghe recently completed a Master of Science degree in Global Finance at New School University, where she focused on emerging markets. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Bard College and is fluent in both English and Sinhalese.

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Gabriel Mizrachi (Investment Analyst )

Mr. Mizrachi is part of the Latin American investment team and has more than six years experience in investing in Microfinance Institutions in the region. Recently, Mr. Mizrachi completed a Masters of Science in Finance degree from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. During the time of his studies Mr. Mizrachi held a supportive position with the risk management team at Boston Private Bank and Trust as well as an internship with Root Capital where he used data mining techniques to measure loan repayment risks.

Prior to his studies, Mr. Mizrachi was one of the founding investors in Financiera Finsol, an MFI with more than 410,000 customers in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Originally from Mexico City, Mr. Mizrachi is a native Spanish speaker and is fluent in English.

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Chris Laurent (Business Development Officer)

Mr. Laurent serves as the point person and officer for MicroVest’s business development activity.  Prior to transitioning to the Business Development Team, he worked on MicroVest’s Investment Team for 18 months, focused on the Central American and Mexican regions.  Mr. Laurent brings with him over 14 years of finance-related experience in international and domestic settings, working most recently in rural Bolivia to develop the strategic and operations functions of a small microfinance institution.  Prior to entering the microfinance sector, Mr. Laurent served for six years as Vice President of Finance and Administration with Everdream Corporation in Silicon Valley – a $125 million technology company recently purchased by Dell.  There he led all finance, accounting, HR, and administration operations and served on the senior management team.  Previously, he served over three years as Vice President with FleetBoston Capital in various capacities, working as a Business Development Officer, an Underwriter, and a member of the Credit Committee.  Mr. Laurent worked as a Senior In-Charge Auditor with Arthur Andersen for four years, where he was responsible for the audits of three international, SEC corporations and for several M&A due diligence projects.  

Mr. Laurent earned his Masters in Accounting and B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a Certified Public Accountant, and speaks Spanish.

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Susan Blake (Director of Human Resources)

Ms. Blake is Director of Human Resources for MicroVest Capital Management, LLC.  Ms. Blake joined MicroVest in 2005 with 25 years experience in Business Administration, including 10 years as a Human Resources Specialist, 5 years as Marketing Director for a law firm and 10 years as Chief Operating Officer of a $32 million national retail management firm specializing in Business Development and Reorganization.  Ms. Blake holds a B.S. degree in Architecture, a B.A. degree in Dance and a Masters of Business Administration.

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Monica Slovik (Executive Assistant to the CEO)

Ms. Slovik is an alumna of Dickinson College and holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business & Management and Spanish.  She spent a year living and studying in Malaga, Spain, and completed a semester internship under the direction of a local Spanish consulting firm.  She also received an award in the undergraduate competition for the Central Pennsylvania College Venture Challenge and served as a tutor for students in micro-, macro-, and managerial economics.

Prior to joining MicroVest, Ms. Slovik was the Marketing Coordinator for a homeland security business solutions firm in Washington DC.  She has experience in management, business development, and event planning.

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Susan Wilkus (Investor Outreach Manager)

Ms. Wilkus brings to MicroVest more than 20 years experience in business management and entrepreneurship.  Over eight of those years she founded, developed and managed an accounting and computer services firm employing working mothers.  She later served as Vice President of Operations and Controller for a client, administering operations and accounting flow in a marketing and manufacturer's representative company for more than six years.  In 1996, her entrepreneurial interests drew her to co-found and co-develop a marketing firm specializing in Internet sales of hand-crafted American fine arts and crafts.  More recently, she served as Director of Operations and Chief Financial Officer for a company conducting nationwide engineering and environmental property assessments for the investment banking community.  Most of her work experiences have been with entrepreneurial companies.

Ms. Wilkus has a BA in psychology from the State University College at Oswego, New York, and a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, where she was inducted into Beta Alpha Psi, the international accounting and finance honorary organization.

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Tiffany Yep (Finance and Administrative Associate)

Ms. Yep supports the Chief Financial Officer through the accounting of all financial transactions for the company and funds under management in addition to servicing portfolio investments and facilitating administrative operations. She recently completed Masters in Latin American Development at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Prior to working at MicroVest, Ms.Yep completed a fellowship at CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) where she conducted research on pro-poor MFIs. She continued this research through the POWG (Poverty Outreach Working Group). She has also studied abroad in Peru and Chile during her professional studies.

Ms. Yep received a B.A. in Political Science and International Affairs from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is fluent in Spanish.

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Brian McConnell (Investment Intern )

Brian supports the investment team at MicroVest through portfolio analysis and research. He is currently in his final semester of an MBA program at American University’s Kogod School of Business.

Brian’s prior microfinance experience includes working as a Senior Program Manager at the Microcredit Summit Campaign. In 2007, he oversaw the Campaign’s measurement of microcredit clients’ progress above the USD1 a day poverty threshold with partners in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. In 2005 and 2006 he was responsible for the publication of the annual State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report. In 2004, he was a senior organizer of regional Microcredit Summits held in Bangladesh and Jordan, which were attended by more than 1,800 delegates from 100 countries.

Brian served as a Water and Sanitation/Small Business Development Volunteer with the Peace Corps in Ivory Coast, West Africa from 2000-2002. He is fluent in French.

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Olympia De Castro (Investment Intern)

Ms. De Castro supports the investment team at MicroVest. She is currently a degree candidate for a Master of International Affairs at Columbia University. Ms. De Castro’s concentration is in Economic and Political Development with a focus in Latin America and Microfinance.

Previously, she worked four years at Goldman, Sachs & Co, in the Investment Banking and Investment Management Divisions, based in New York and Geneva, Switzerland. Other professional experience includes three years at Bank of America’s Latin America Project Finance and M&A groups in Miami and São Paulo, Brazil.

Ms. De Castro is Secretary of the ACCION USA Microfinance Advisory Council and a board member of the Microfinance Working Group at Columbia University. Originally from Brazil, Ms. De Castro is a native Portuguese speaker and is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.

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Tim Herrmann (Investment Intern)

Mr. Herrmann supports the Investment team at MicroVest through portfolio analysis and research. He recently completed his first year at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Prior to joining MicroVest, Mr. Herrmann worked as a Loan Consultant for ACCIÓN New York from 2005-2008.  Responsible for lending to clients in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, Mr. Herrmann placed over $2M in the hands of small business owners during his time at ACCIÓN.  Before ACCIÓN, Mr. Herrmann spent two years living and working abroad with one year spent in Puebla, Mexico and another year spent in Quito, Ecuador.  Mr. Herrmann is also a proud alumnus of City Year New York, an AmeriCorps program based in New York City, where he served as a Team Leader for City Year in its East Harlem location from 2003-2004.

Mr. Herrmann graduated Cum Laude from Carleton College in Northfield, MN in 2002 with a degree in History and is fluent in Spanish.

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