Board of Directors

 

Sam Moss, Chairman
Gray Matters Capital

Scott Budde, Vice Chairman
TIAA-CREF

Greg Casagrande, Secretary
SPBD Microfinance and MicroDreams

Audrey Choi
Morgan Stanley

Tryfan Evans
Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund

Terri Lecamp
Plainfield Asset Management LLC

Gerhard Pries
MEDA Investments Inc.

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SAMUEL P. MOSS

President
Gray Matters Capital Foundation

Sam Moss leads Gray Matters Capital operating foundation, which promotes microfinance, education and access to capital, information and markets among underserved populations in developing countries. A portion of its financial capital is also invested in enterprises serving these same areas.

Responsible for assessing the infrastructure needs of the microfinance industry, Sam works cross-functionally with Gray Matters’ sister enterprise, Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, to identify opportunities that will advance the viability of microfinance as an investment option. He plays a key role in bringing together like-minded individuals and entities to advance the development of the industry.

Sam spent 30 years in commercial and investment banking, the last 25 of which were with Wachovia Bank. He is Chairman of the International Association of Microfinance Investors (IAMFI), a member of the investment committee of Gray Matters Capital and Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, and participates in several industry groups. Sam also serves as Chair of the Atlanta Arts Loan Fund and sits on the boards of several arts organizations. He is a graduate of Williams College.

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SCOTT J. BUDDE

Managing Director
TIAA-CREF

Scott Budde heads the Social & Community Investing department of TIAA-CREF, a financial services organization that provides investment and retirement planning services to those in the academic, medical, cultural and research fields. Scott oversees the organization’s $100 million Global Microfinance Investment Program, which invests in microfinance institutions worldwide. In this capacity, he represents TIAA-CREF as a shareholder of ProCredit Holding AG (a Frankfurt-based holding company for 23 microfinance banks) and on the advisory committee for Catalyst Microfinance Investors (an equity fund investing in ASA-related operations around the world).

Scott joined TIAA-CREF in 1994 as an Associate Director and Equity Analyst covering financial services stocks, following 12 years of financial, analytical and consulting positions with several financial services companies.

Scott holds an A.B. in Economics from Bowdoin College and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Scott is Vice Chair of the International Association of Microfinance Investors. He is based in New York City.

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GREG CASAGRANDE

Founder and President
South Pacific Business Development Foundation
MicroDreams

Greg Casagrande is the Founder and President of South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD), the leading, and first, successful microfinance institution (MFI) in the Pacific Islands region. He is also founder of MicroDreams, a microfinance acceleration fund working with emerging MFIs in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific.

In addition to serving as Secretary of the International Association of Microfinance Investors, Greg is a founding board member of Microfinance Pasifika, a director of PlaNet Finance, and a fund advisor to Plebys. He also served on the United Nation’s Board of Patrons for its International Year of Microcredit - 2005. Greg is a frequent speaker at microfinance, micro-entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship events globally. He is also an active microfinance investor.

Above and beyond his microfinance activities, Greg promotes hi-tech entrepreneurship. He is a founding director of the Ice Angels, Australasia’s largest angel group. He serves as Chairman of Biomatters, a bioinformatics company, and Chairman of English-To-Go, a digital English language solutions provider. Greg is also a director of Calcium, an e-marketing solutions company, and has passive private equity investments in several other hi-tech companies.

Prior to his involvement in microfinance and angel mentor capital, Greg recorded significant achievement with Ford Motor Company, Mazda Motor Company and Coopers and Lybrand in product development, manufacturing, marketing and financial management positions. He led teams in the U.S., Japan and Europe and was honored to be the youngest-ever Buchou (Division General Manager) of any major Japanese corporation.

Greg holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Kellogg School of Management, a master’s degree in Accounting from NYU Stern School of Business, a bachelor’s degree in Economics with high distinction from Colgate University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

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  AUDREY CHOI

  Managing Director
  Morgan Stanley

 Audrey Choi is Head of Environment & Social Finance Group and the office of Community             Reinvestment at Morgan Stanley.

   Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Audrey held a variety of positions in the public and private       sectors. She served in the Clinton-Gore Administration in senior policy positions at the Federal Communications Commission, the Commerce Department, and The White House. In the White       House, she was Chief of Staff of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President.

  Prior to her government service, Audrey was a bureau chief, foreign correspondent, and investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal.  Audrey also led organizational strategy for a private-equity portfolio company. 

Audrey serves as Ambassador-at-Large for the international non-profit One Laptop Per Child, which is developing computers for children in developing countries.  She was a Fulbright Scholar and White House Fellow. She graduated from Harvard College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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TRYFAN EVANS

Director
Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund

Tryfan Evans is Director of the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund (OTMF) and is responsible for investment strategy and portfolio construction.  OTMF is managed by and for the benefit of Tufts University and is one of the largest institutional investors in the microfinance sector. 

Tryfan has investment experience in over 20 developing countries in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia.  He joined Tufts University Investment Office from the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he was Senior Credit Officer in the Office of Development Credit.  Prior to working at USAID, Tryfan was appointed as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, where he provided analysis to senior staff and the Bank’s Board on new product development, country risk and trends in emerging market finance. 

Tryfan is a Director on the Board of the International Association of Microfinance Investors (IAMFI). He has a masters degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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TERRI LECAMP

Founding Partner and Chief Operating Officer
Plainfield Asset Management

Terri Lecamp is Founding Partner and CEO of Plainfield Asset Management, which manages investment capital for institutions and high net worth individuals based in the United States and abroad.

Prior to joining Plainfield, Terri was the managing partner of TLC Partners, LLC, a strategy and financial advisory firm which she founded in 2001. From 1995 to 2001, she served as Staff Vice President - Corporate Development at Automatic Data Processing, Inc. From 1987 to 1995, Terri worked as an Associate and then a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division at Salomon Brothers Inc. During her tenure at Salomon, Terri worked on over $11 billion of financial restructurings and debt and equity financings

Terri is a Director on the Board of the International Association of Microfinance Investors (IAMFI). She received an M.B.A. in 1987 from Columbia Graduate School of Business, and a bachelors degree in 1983 in business administration from the University of Washington.

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GERHARD PRIES

Founding President
MEDA Investments Inc.

Gerhard Pries works in International Development Finance. His life’s work is to establish private investment as an effective and preferred solution to global poverty. He represents private investors, creating the investment vehicles and investment instruments necessary to channel private capital to developing economies to benefit poor communities.

Gerhard currently serves as Founding Director and Vice Chairman of MicroVest Group, a Washington-based private asset manager specializing in international microfinance. He is Founding President of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) Investments Inc. and Sarona Fund Group, a Canadian- and U.S.-based international investment manager, primarily handling small venture capital deals in developing economies. Gerhard is also CFO of MEDA, a business association and group of for-profit and not-for-profit entities working in the field of international economic development.

Gerhard has previously served as Founding Chair of LACIF, a Peru-based Microfinance Loan fund, and as a Director of numerous Latin American companies in the financial services and agribusiness sectors.

Gerhard is a Director on the Board of the International Association of Microfinance Investors (IAMFI). A former accountant and auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers (Canada), Gerhard has been a Professional Member of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada since 1984. He cut his teeth equally at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at the feet of Mother Teresa.

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