Marek Hudon holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Management Sciences and a Master in Philosophy.  He is currently Assistant Professor at ULB and was a FNRS Research Fellow in the field of microfinance at the Solvay Business School (ULB) until 2008. His professional experience includes engagements with the European Commission (DG Development) and the World Bank, and he was the director of the Belgian office for PlaNet Finance, an internationally renowned microfinance NGO. He has conducted research in India, Morocco and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2006, Prof Hudon was a visiting fellow at Harvard University where he worked on ethical issues in microfinance under the supervision of Professor Amartya Sen. Current research interests also include public policy issues in microfinance.

 

Cécile Lapenu is the executive secretary of CERISE (Comité d’Echange, de Réflexion et d’Information sur les Systèmes d’Epargne). CERISE is a platform of France-based, leading MicroFinance support organizations (CIDR, CIRAD, GRET, IRAM and IRC-SupAgro). Started in 1998, CERISE has organized various studies and seminars on the themes financing of agriculture, governance, social performances and impact, MFIs in remote rural areas, etc. Before joining CERISE in January 2001, Cécile Lapenu was a post-doctoral fellow at IFPRI (Washington DC, USA), working on the Rural Finance Team in the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division. From 1993 to 1997, she worked on the development of rural financial systems as a researcher at the CIRAD. Cécile obtained a Ph.D in Agricultural Economics from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier.

Further information: http://www.cerise-microfinance.org

Roy Mersland has extensive international management, consulting, and research experience working with international and cross cultural teams from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. He combines a microfinance consultancy practice with a research engagement at the University of Agder in Norway. As a consultant he works on donor effectiveness, MFI efficiency, strategic planning, corporate governance, self-help microfinance systems and microfinance and disability. As a researcher his main topics is related to microfinance management and governance, but he has also written articles on self help microfinance groups as well as microfinance and disability. Roy Mersland was a wide international network both in the microfinance practitioner community as well as in the academic community. He was the main organizer of the content of the European Microfinance Week in 2007 and 2008.

Further information: http://www.microfinance.no/ and http://www.uia.no/kk/profil/roym

Kurt Moors holds a master in applied Biosciences and Engineering (Agricultural Engineer). After a postgraduate course in tropical engineering he joined the NGO IVA of the Belgian Farmers Union (1992). Memberbased organizations, co-operatives, agricultural production and commercialization were the main pillars of the development programmes that he managed. In 1997 he worked in South Africa for the Agricultural Resource Centre, a joined initiative to support emerging farmers. Three years later he returned to Belgium to take on the position of programme co-ordinator of BRS (Belgian Raiffeisen Foundation). This not-for-profit organization is specialized in supporting microfinance and microinsurance organizations in Africa and Latin-America. This support consists of financing, guarantees, technical assistance and training. The training offered for the master in microfinance on financial performance indicators is based on a concept designed for managers of MFIs.

Further information: www.brs.coop
E-mail: kurt.moors@brs.coop

Annabel Vanroose has successfully defended her PhD Thesis on February 25th, 2011, at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

She also holds a Degree in Advanced Business Management (Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB) and is also a graduate of the European Microfinance Programme (EMP). She has pursued her doctoral studies in microfinance, under joint supervision by ULB and VUB, focusing on the unequal development of microfinance in developing countries. Annabel has field experience from both Latin America and India.

Annabel is currently working as a professor at the Universidad de Piura (UDEP) in Piura - Peru, teaching a course on Impact Evaluation of Development Programs, with a focus on microfinance, and pursuing further research in this area.

Marc Raffinot is an associate professor at Paris-Dauphine University (France), specialising in Development Economics, Development Finance, Development Policies, and Develop-ment Macroeconomics.  He also teaches at Sciences Po Paris (France) and at the Lebanese University (Beirut). Professor Raffinot works as an expert for the European Commission (Applied Macroeconomics for developing countries) and as a consultant in development economics. He was formerly a Research Director at SEDES (Société d’étude du développe-ment Economique et social), director of Vocational Training at the ESGE (Ecole Supérieure de Gestion des Entreprises, Dakar, Sénégal, now CESAG), and professor at ITPEA (Institut technologique de Planification et d’Economie Appliquée, Algiers, Algeria). He has over 35 years experience in microfinance, in francophone African countries, Nicaragua and Cambodia.  His fields of expertise include: macroeconomics, debt sustainability, public and development finance.