CHF Microfinance Expertise

An Overview

Since 1952, CHF International has worked in over 100 countries and currently operates more than 85 programs in more than 33 countries. With an operating budget of US$270 million in the last fiscal year, and approximately 2,500 employees worldwide, CHF International serves as a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low- and moderate-income communities, helping individuals to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions through broad-based initiatives.

For the last 20 years, CHF International has also served as a leading agent in microfinance, designing and delivering a variety of financial services in developing and transitional countries around the world. In addition, CHF International regularly shares expertise, by providing technical assistance to hundreds of credit unions, microfinance institutes, cooperatives, non-governmental organizations and commercial banks in the countries where we work.

A Unique Approach

CHF International’s middle-market and microfinance products are demand-driven. Since we design programs in a broad range of socioeconomic and political settings, and use a variety of methodologies and partners to expand services for the poor, a unique strength of our approach is the flexibility of our lending models to meet the varying needs of the people we serve. At the core, our main objective in the financial realm has always been to link those who have traditionally had little or no access to mainstream financial institutions to the markets that drive their economies. As a result, CHF International has successfully adapted and developed sustainable approaches to microfinance that fit the local context, from initiatives that provide housing loans to low-income maquiladora workers in northern Mexico and programs that strengthen business associations in Romania, to partnerships with commercial banks in the delivery of microfinance services across the Middle East.

CHF International Development Finance Expertise

As one of the world's leading sources for information about the design and implementation of microfinance projects, CHF International has a cadre of seasoned microfinance experts who drive our programs.

McCarter, Elissa
Director of the Office of Development Finance

Elissa McCarter is the Director of the Office of Development Finance at CHF International, where she manages CHF's global microfinance portfolio of US$65 million in 11 countries around the world. Prior to joining CHF, she worked for Catholic Relief Services as a microfinance manager, having launched two microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Armenia and Turkey, and as technical advisor to partner MFIs in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. She is the author of two books on microfinance mergers and is certified by American Management Association as a trainer in adult learning methodologies, having conducted workshops on Market Research, Business Planning, Training of Trainers, and Financial Management. Ms. McCarter currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Coalition Advocating Human Security (CAHS) in California which promotes research, education, public awareness, and policy making to address urgent cases of individual, community, and national vulnerability linked to global change. She received her B.A. in History from Vanderbilt University, and a MS in International Development from the joint degree program of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. She is fluent in French and has intermediate language skills in Spanish, Russian and Turkish.

In addition to the CHF staff listed below, we also have numerous microfinance consultants who are available to assist with program development and implementation. For more information about CHF International's microfinance work, please contact Elissa McCarter at (301) 587-4700

Allen, Jon

Jon Allen has a strong background in economic development in the areas of SME/cooperative development, agribusiness, and microfinance, and also has substantial expertise in private sector consulting with multinational corporations and technology startups. Mr. Allen currently manages a second-tier MFI program with total assets of US$3.7 million that provides loan capital to Colombian MFI organizations. Mr. Allen graduated with distinctions and received his MBA from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, specializing in International Development; he received his B.A in Economics from Dickenson College. A native English speaker, Mr. Allen is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.

Awan, Suhail

Mr. Suhail Awan is Managing Director of the Afghanistan Microfinance Institution (AMFI). Mr. Awan has ten years of experience working in banking, microfinance and community development prior to joining CHF International. Mr. Awan most recently worked as Programme Manager of Microfinance for the First Women’s Bank Limited (FWBL) in Pakistan. Prior to this, he also worked for Akhuwat, a Pakistani organization focused on Islamic principles of lending, the Punjab Rural Support Programme, and the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) of Pakistan. He has also contributed to various microfinance publications and has delivered training sessions and lectures on related topics. Mr. Awan holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in Finance and is a graduate of a joint degree program with the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and McGill University of Canada. He received his B.A. in History from the Punjab University in Pakistan and holds a diploma in Project Management from the Pakistan Institute of Management. He is fluent in English, Urdu, and Punjabi and has working knowledge of Dari. 

Darwish, Naser

Naser Darwish is a seasoned microfinance professional with over 16 years of combined experience, consisting of 13 years of solid banking & finance work at global financial institutions, and 9 years involved in credit management. Presently, he is General Manager of Middle East Micro Credit Co. (MEMCC), an independent development finance institution formed through CHF International Jordan Access to Credit Project (JACP). His responsibilities includes managing a global credit portfolio comprised of 3,000 loans valued at US$5 million, and managing 48 staff members located at 10 branches throughout Jordan. Mr. Darwish received a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Jordan in 1989, and has completed numerous trainings in Finance and Banking. He is a native Arabic speaker and is fluent in English.

Funes, Milton

Milton Funes has been working in microfinance, economic development, emergency response, infrastructure reconstruction and social housing for over 10 years. As a Program Manager for CHF in Honduras, he was responsible for the design and implementation of a credit and self-construction housing program for communities recovering from Hurricane Mitch, and, in Peru, he designed and managed a housing micro-finance program for the city of Cajamarca. Born and raised in Honduras, Mr. Funes is highly proficient in English, French, and Danish, in addition to his native Spanish. He has earned two Masters degrees (one in Business Administration from the Universidad Catolica de Honduras, and the other in Urban Planning from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne, Switzerland), a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the National University of Honduras, and has attended several training courses including the Boulder Micro-finance Program.

Halaby, Ziad

Mr. Halaby is currently the General Manager of the Access to Microfinance and Enhanced Enterprise Niches (AMEEN) microfinance institution in Lebanon microfinance professional with ten years' experience in housing microfinance, corporate finance, and NGO management in numerous countries worldwide, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Congo and Belgium. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Halaby supported AMEEN, which links entrepreneurs to the formal banking system through three commercial banking partnerships, and was appointed to take over leadership of the institution in 2005. Mr. Halaby holds an M.B.A. and a B.A. in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, as well as an M.A. in Financial Risk Management from the Faculté UniversitairesSaint Louis in Brussels, Belgium. Mr. Halaby is fluent in English, Arabic and French. 

Holsten, Michel

Michel Holsten, Vice President of the Office of Business Development, has extensive management experience in both the implementation of programs overseas and at U.S. headquarters, including significant work in the fields of micro-finance and housing assistance. For over 20 years, Mr. Holsten has been managing multi-million dollar programs, focusing on projects in home improvement finance, rural economic development, community infrastructure, business development services, new housing construction, agricultural and micro enterprise credits, community development, and association strengthening. Mr. Holsten earned his B.A. from Princeton University in Economics, is a native English speaker and also speaks fluent Spanish.

Imam, Fahmila

Ms. Imam brings more than ten years experience to CHF International as a finance specialist. She has worked in rating MFIs, investor due diligence, business planning, and financial risk management. Prior to joining CHF International, Ms. Imam worked with the Calvert Social Investment Foundation, Banyan Global, Women’s World Banking, FINCA, and XacBank. Prior to her career transition to development finance, she worked for the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. She has a M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is fluent in Bengali and has a working knowledge of Spanish.

Jurma, Cristian

Mr. Jurma has more than 6 years of direct microfinance program management and NGO development experience with CHF International in Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), working with different types of clients from micro to small business, housing, community infrastructure and savings. His responsibilities include microfinance institutional start-up and product design, selection and training of staff, rollout of lending activities, creation of a specialized loan tracking software system, analyzing and reviewing credit applications, training and coordination of development center partners, and managing daily operations of a microfinance institution. Mr. Jurma received both his Masters in Business Law and his B.A. from the University of Timisoara. He is a native Romanian speaker, but is also highly proficient in English, with strong language skills in French and Serbo-Croatian.  

Lamaa, Ahmad

Ahmad Lamaa has more than 10 years of management experience in microfinance and marketing, the last seven working for CHF in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East. He has served as a loan officer, loan officer supervisor and regional manager working with start up businesses, micro and small businesses, as well as home improvement loans. He has experience in developing marketing plans, market analysis, and customer service plans, and also possesses strong skills in microfinance training. Presently, Mr. Lamaa is Regional Coordinator of CHF's Access to Credit Service Initiative, where he manages four branch offices, giving out $27 million in loans, maintaining a 99% repayment rate. A native Arabic speaker, Mr. Lamaa speaks English fluently and French proficiently.

Manning, Jhon

Jhon Manning has 10 years of experience in international development, with six years field experience in microfinance program design, development, and management. He has worked with microfinance institutions and commercial banks in order to provide financial services to disadvantaged entrepreneurs and small businesses considered too risky for traditional financial institutions. Before joining CHF in 2005, Mr. Manning gained extensive experience in economic development, micro-finance and loan management (almost $4 million over four years), and tax-law in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and the Ukraine. Mr. Manning received his B.A. in Japanese Language and Culture and his BA in English Literature from St. John's University in Minnesota and Jochi Daigaku/Sophia University in Tokyo. A native English speaker, Mr. Manning is also fluent in Japanese and Russian.

Mitov, Radoil

Now the Deputy General Manager of Express Finance in Romania, Radoil Mitov also worked for over 5 years as one of CHF International's Microfinance Analysts, where he monitored and performed financial analysis for a US$22 million microfinance portfolio for nine countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. He has also conducted market assessment, product design and staff training for a rural microfinance program in Afghanistan's Bamyan Province, and prepared financial analysis of nine credit unions in Northeastern Haiti. Mr. Mitov earned his M.A. in International Trade and Investment Policy from The Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University and his B.S. in Finance and International Economics from American University. Mr. Mitov speaks both English and Bulgarian fluently and has advanced Russian and Macedonian skills. 

Moller, Glenn

Glenn Moller has over eight years of experience in the field of micro-finance, including managing credit operations and monitoring loan programs for CHF, both in the field and from headquarters. He is currently the Deputy Director of CHF's Romania office, where he manages a micro and small enterprise lending program operating across Romania, with total loan capital of US$10 million and a repayment rate of 99 percent. Previously, he administrated a microentreprise program with a portfolio of over 4,000 loans in Jordan; specifically responsible for the design, training, and implementation of a new loan tracking system in concert with three other USAID funded Microfinance Institutions. Mr. Moller received his M.A. in Applied Anthropology from American University and his B.A. from the University of Maryland. A native English speaker, Mr. Moller has language skills in Arabic, Spanish, French and Romanian. Previous work assignments have brought him to Azerbaijan, Belize, Haiti, Jordan, Poland, Romania, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Sri Lanka.

Mueffelmann, Silke

Silke Mueffelmann is currently the General Manager of Express Finance, a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary company of CHF International; to which she brings 13 years of financial experience, including the set-up and conversion of microfinance institutions into regulated finance companies and banks. Prior to CHF, Ms. Mueffelmann worked for IPC/ProCredit Group, where she managed a loan portfolio of up to USD 90 million and acted as general manager, chief of party, senior consultant, and provided expertise on the development of microfinance institutions and downscaling programs with banks, mainly in Latin America and Romania. She holds an MBA degree in Business Administration from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, specializing in Finance and Development and has also participated in many seminars and workshops on diverse development finance issues. She is fluent in German, English and Spanish and highly proficient in Romanian; she has a fair comprehension of Italian, French and Portuguese, and a basic knowledge of Russian. 

Sarkar, Sohini

Sohini Sarkar is an international development expert with a strong background in affordable housing and economic development. Ms. Sarkar provides technical assistance vis-a-vis market assessments and program design to CHF's MSME initiatives. Prior to joining CHF, Ms. Sarkar spent over five-years as program lead for the Fannie Mae Foundation's microfinance initiatives. She is also pursuing a doctoral degree at American University, Washington DC, focusing on understanding the role of microfinance programs in promoting vertical social capital through integration with mainstream financial institutions. Ms. Sarkar has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from University of Calcutta, India and a Master's degree in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. She is fluent in English, Bengali and Hindi.

Shumann, Richard

Richard Shuman is Technical Officer for Housing Finance at CHF International. He brings more than 10 years of experience in community economic development and has specific expertise as a trainer and TA provider in individual lending methodologies and product development for large-scale microfinance institutions around the world. Prior to CHF, Richard served as Director of Marketing and Product Development for ACCION International in DC, where he provided technical assistance to partner institution staff in areas such as underwriting, finance and legal departments. He assisted four ACCION affiliates in Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uganda to offer housing finance within one year, and total programs reached more than 17,000 borrowers and portfolio of $18.5 million at end of 2004. Prior to that position, Richard served as a Resident Advisor for ACCION based in Mozambique. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Sisalem, Alaa

Alaa Sisalem is the Program Director of CHF Access to Credit Program in the Palestinian Territories. Mr. Sisalem has almost ten years of experience in housing microfinance, and played a key role in developing and implementing CHF's Home Improvement Loan Program (HILP), and the Palestinian Economic Opportunity Program for Lending and Economic Development (PEOPLED). Through these two USAID-funded programs, CHF has been working with private sector banks to deliver sustainable credit services, resulting in the distribution of over US$18 million in loans. In addition to his programmatic responsibilities, Mr. Sisalem has served as an international consultant for CHF worldwide, improving the credit management information system that monitors CHF's global portfolio. Alaa Sisalem has completed graduate courses in Economics at the Institute for Research and Higher Arabic Education and received his B.A. in Accounting from Ein Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. He is fluent in Arabic and has advanced English skills.

Tilock, Kimberly

Kimberly Tilock has more than 13 years of substantial finance and community development experience, and she has designed, managed and evaluated micro and small business and housing finance programs worldwide. Currently, Ms. Tilock is managing a US$27 million microfinance program that offers credit for micro and small businesses and home improvements in the Middle East. Ms. Tilock received her M.A. in International Relations and Economic Policy from the University of California at San Diego and her B.S. in Economics from the University of Minnesota. She has authored or coauthored a number of housing microfinance publications for the World Bank, economic development journals, and books. She speaks both English and Spanish.