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Grameen Foundation : Who we are : Our People : Committees and Councils : Latin America / Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean Advisory Council

Rosanna Ramos-Velita, Chair

Rosanna Ramos-Velita brings to our group a broad range of skills in strategic consulting, entrepreneurship, investment banking and technology development, as well as extensive experience in international markets. Her professional background spans several industries such as microelectronics, telecommunications and international finance. She is the CFO, Marketing and Advertising for the Global Consumer Group at Citigroup. Rosanna started her career as a Design Engineer for AT&T Microelectronics; she then became Director of Latin America Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Finance at UBS Warburg, and most recently started her own consulting firm which focuses on bringing financial products to the U.S. Hispanic population.

Rosanna holds an MBA from the Wharton School, an MA in International Business from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Dakota. She is fluent in French and is a native Spanish speaker.

Lucy Billingsley, Vice Chair

Lucy Billingsley is known within Grameen Foundation circles for her enthusiasm for microfinance as a business solution to poverty, and her energetic involvement in Chiapas Mexico. Her Grameen Foundation connection is one that we hope to replicate.

In just five months, she used her enormous business skills and relationships to raise more than half a million dollars for the AlSol initiative, specifically to finance loans for her Chiapas sisters. She has set in place a staff and a working group of Dallas women who are poised to launch nationwide her "businesswomen defeating poverty with business solutions" concept. She has also secured a $100,000 grant for Grameen Foundation from the Hillcrest Foundation to benefit the PLAN Fund and make the Chiapas Project a national program. Lucy now serves on Grameen Foundation's Development Committee.

Lucy has more than 25 years of experience in real estate with expertise in development and property management. She is very active in industry and civic organizations.

Chris Pascucci, Member

Mr. Pascucci is the President of the private investment firm, Duck Pond Corp. He is also Vice President of WLNY-TV, a New York based television station. Previously he served as CEO of Oxford Resources Corp. and President of Centrex Capital Corp., which were national consumer finance companies. Mr. Pascucci is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University.

Gary Mulhair, Member

Gary has been Managing Partner at Global Partnerships since 2002. In this capacity he leads all elements of Global’s investment programs in Latin America. He served on the Global board for a number of years prior to joining the staff. He has been a nationally recognized social enterprise leader since the early 1980s. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of Community Wealth Ventures, Inc., (CWV) a Washington D.C. based organization working with foundations, businesses and NGOs to establish revenue generating ventures. CWV’s clients included the Fannie Mae Foundation, the AOL Foundation, Goodwill Industries, the Morino Institute, Boston public radio station WBUR, Pfizer, and Timberland.

Prior to leading CWV, Gary was President and CEO of Seattle-based Pioneer Human Services for 14 years. He conceived and executed strategies which led to Pioneer’s dramatic growth from a $3 million dollar grant supported non-profit to a $50 million fully self-supporting entrepreneurial entity. This success has been chronicled in many media articles and several books including: The Cathedral Within, by Billy Shore, and Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business and Social Sector Partnerships by Shirley Sagawa and Eli Segal. Business schools continue to study Pioneer using a case written by Harvard Business School Professor James L. Heskett.

Gary is a frequent speaker on the topic of social entrepreneurship and microfinance. He is an active community member and has served on many boards and committees. He has also judged many business plan competitions including the initial Yale School of Management-Goldman Sachs Foundation event.

Erica Lock, Member

Ericka has held management and technical leadership positions at Amazon.com. Her main roles were Sr. Software Manager of the Website Software Group and Principal Architect of the Customer Order System. Previously, Ericka worked at a startup in the bay area and Apple Computer. Ericka holds a BS in Computer Science from UC Irvine.

Ximena Arteaga, Staff Liaison

Ximena Arteaga is Regional Director for the Americas at Grameen Foundation. Ximena is in charge of nine partners located in the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, and Bolivia. As a regional director, she guides the investment and technical support that Grameen Foundation provides to its partners.

Ximena Arteaga worked at FINCA International as the Regulation Specialist providing support in financial regulation and transformation to all 23 FINCA affiliates. She was actively engaged in promoting regulatory standards adequate to the microfinance industry in countries such as Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, and Uganda. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Pro-Client Working Group at the Small Enterprise Economic Promotion Network (SEEP Network) in Washington, D.C. This group promotes best practices in client relations among microfinance service providers. She was invited to speak on consumer protection and pro-client initiatives at various venues, among them the Microfinance Center Annual Conference in Moscow and at the Central American Microfinance Network (Red CAMIF), both in 2003.

Previously, Ximena directed the first project designed exclusively to promote savings in rural areas of Bolivia. This project, originally designed to end in two years, received additional funding thanks to the results obtained with three Credit Unions and two NGOs expanding into rural areas in only one year. Prior to this practical experience in the implementation of microfinance projects, Ximena worked at the Central Bank of Bolivia as a senior financial analyst. She joined the Central Bank during the Bolivian banking crisis of 1997; thus, she gained experience in working with problem financial institutions.

Grameen Foundation : Who we are : Our People : Committees and Councils : Latin America / Caribbean