Succeeding in Emerging and Developing Markets:
Understanding How Institutions Impact Firms and Managers

Faculty Development in International Business
June 11-14, 2013

Workshop Presenters

Profiles of FDIB 2011 presenters are included below. Please check back for an updated list of 2013 workshop presenters.

Dr. Meghana Ayyagari received her Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research interests are in the area of international corporate finance and development economics with an emphasis on the constraints faced by firms in developing economies. Professor Ayyagari's academic research has been published in the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Small Business Economics. She has been the recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study property rights protection, and corruption and tax evasion across developing countries.
Professor Ayyagari has served as a consultant for several international organizations including the Development Research Group at the World Bank, USAID, and the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector (IRIS). She is a member of the American Finance Association (AFA), Western Finance Association (WFA) and the Academy of International Business (AIB). She teaches courses in international financial management and international business

Ms. Charlene Bachman is responsible for supporting transaction activities and providing governance, portfolio management and marketing support for ACCION Global Investments. In addition, Charlene provides analyst support surrounding Frontier Investment Group's new investment initiatives and leads the implementation of the automated investment and performance evaluation platform for ACCION Global Investments. Microfinance represented the cornerstone of Charlene's undergraduate studies at American University, where she obtained dual bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and International Studies with a minor in Spanish in 2009. As an undergraduate, Charlene interned at the Business Council for International Understanding, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, D.C

Mr. Karim O. Belayachi is a Private Sector Development Specialist within the World Bank Group's Doing Business team. He currently leads the research on the Starting a Business indicator, examining the regulations and institutions related to business entry. Prior to that, he led the Getting Credit (Credit Information) indicator, looking at the availaility of credit information within financial systems. He holds a master's degree in public policy analysis and economic development from Indiana University's School for Public and Environmental Affairs. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he worked with Grameen Foundation on providing financial and technical support to the microfinance sector in the Middle East & North Africa region. He is fluent in French, Spanish and Arabic.

Dr. Hein Bogaard is an assistant professor in International Business with a PhD from the University of Michigan. Bogaard's research investigates foreign entry by banks and foreign acquisition of banks in emerging markets. In particular, his work examines how banks manage the (informational) challenges of banking across borders, how they benefit from having a physical presence in foreign markets and to what extent they are able to compete with local rivals in emerging markets. In exploring these issues Bogaard considers both the interaction between international banks and their environment and organizational strategies pursued by banks to deal with the challenges of cross-border banking.
Before returning to school to pursue a PhD, Bogaard worked for the Netherlands Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs and at the World Bank. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogaard developed policies to improve the business climate and promote financial sector development in Macedonia, Rwanda and Tanzania. As an advisor to the Executive Director for the Netherlands at the World Bank and as a senior economist at the Netherlands Ministry of Finance, Bogaard worked on a variety of issues including debt relief for developing countries, the financial policies of the World Bank and the IMF, and private sector development.
Bogaard teaches microeconomics in GW's MBA program and previously taught microeconomics and international business at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. He has presented research at the EBRD, Tilburg University, George Mason University, the University of South Florida, the University of Sydney, the Wharton School and the Academy of International Business.

Ms. Caroline Bressan is an Investment Officer on Calvert Foundation's International Investments Team. She joined the Calvert Foundation in 2007 to assist in the launch of the MicroPlace platform. Today, she manages the Latin American investments of Calvert Foundation's $65 million international portfolio, specifically focusing on microfinance, Fair Trade and Base of the Pyramid investments. At Calvert Foundation she has spearheaded the incorporation of the Smart Campaign's Client Protection Principles into the Foundation's investment process. Caroline has previously worked in Bolivia with Pro Mujer designing a business education program for clients. She received her Bachelors in Business Administration and Latin American Studies from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Jennifer Brinkerhoff is Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She holds a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and a MPA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She teaches courses on public service, international development policy and administration, development management, and organizational behavior. She is particularly keen on encouraging people to pursue service careers thoughtfully, grounding their commitment to change in self-awareness and working in community. To that end, she and her husband, Derick W. Brinkerhoff, published Working for Change: Making a Career in International Public Service (Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2005).

Dr. Brinkerhoff has expertise on public-private partnership, governance, NGOs, development management, and diasporas. Her publications include six books, as well as three co-edited journal issues and over fifty articles and book chapters on topics ranging from evaluation, to NGOs; failed states; governance; and diaspora identity, development contributions, citizenship, and policy. She is the author of Digital Diasporas: Identity and Transnational Engagement (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Partnership for International Development: Rhetoric or Results? (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002); the editor of Diasporas and Development: Exploring the Potential (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008); and co-editor of NGOs and the Millennium Development Goals: Citizen Action to Reduce Poverty (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007). She is the co-director and co-founder of GW's Diaspora Research Program, a multidisciplinary research program on diasporas, identity, policy, and development.

Dr. Brinkerhoff consults for multilateral development banks, bilateral assistance agencies, NGOs, and foundations. Her applied work encompasses partnership, civil society, institutional development, development management, and training methodologies, and includes work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands; and in Africa, China, Mongolia, Central Asia, and Russia for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank. She has provided policy advice to the US State Department on its diaspora engagement strategy and conducted diaspora-related commissioned research for the Asia Development Bank, the Migration Policy Institute, the Nordic Africa Institute, the United Nations, and the World Bank. She has also advised studies for the Africa Diaspora Policy Centre, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. She has delivered training related to diasporas and development to US State Department Foreign Service and Desk Officers, US Agency for International Development staff, international development consulting firms, and diaspora organizations and other government officials in the US, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Wade Channell, J.D. is a Senior Legal Reform Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development. He currently works for the Economic Growth Office where he heads up much of the Agency's thinking on business enabling environment issues as part of the Trade and Investment Team. After practicing international commercial law for eight years (in Brazil and New York), Wade turned to international development. He has spent the past 18 years working on economic development issues, especially where development and law intersect. Wade has lived in Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Croatia (where he was president of AmCham) and Belgium, and has worked in more than 40 other countries. He lives with his ridiculously gracious wife in Northern Virginia.

Mr. Ken Chaletzky began in the graphic arts industry while earning his BBA at The George Washington University. He later received his MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His advanced study project at Wharton involved the creation of a computerized typesetting business, which he and a partner accomplished in the spring of 1974. Five years later they started Copy General. During most of the 1980s, Copy General operated the largest chain of copy centers in Washington, DC. Towards the end of that decade the partners sold the typesetting company to its management team in order to focus on Copy General and some of their other ventures. Ken is currently President & CEO of Copy General Corp.

In 1990 they were approached by Ken's old college editor about opening a copy center in Budapest. The Berlin Wall had recently come down and Eastern Europe was the new business frontier. After much travail, they opened the first Budapest Copy General in 1991. The first Prague store opened in 1992, followed by Warsaw in 1993. At this time there are around 60 Copy General facilities in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia employing over 500 people.

Back in Washington, Copy General slowly shrank its retail store base to just one store in the District. It has concentrated its efforts on building internet-based printing capabilities and other high-tech printed products at its headquarters adjacent to Dulles International Airport.

Ken, and his wife, Linda, live in Bethesda, MD most of the time, with their Golden Retriever, when they're not at their West Virginia dacha. They have two grown children.

Mr. Patrick Cirillo , a national of Italy and Canada, is currently Principal Assistant to The Secretary of the International Monetary Fund and the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC). During his Fund career, he was also the Secretary to the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development (G24), which brings together the major developing countries. He has served as Deputy Chief of Operations in the IMF secretariat and Deputy Chief of Public Affairs in the IMF's External Relations Department. During his graduate studies in Geneva, he was a summer intern and a consultant at the IMF Office in Geneva, the managing editor of a series of financial newsletters on Eastern Europe, and an economic advisor to the Ambassador of Malta to the United Nations Offices in Geneva.

Before joining the Fund staff in 1996, Patrick was a Ph.D. candidate at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (HEI) in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his first Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto and his second MA (a diplome d'etudes superieures) from HEI. He pursued undergraduate studies in Canada, France, and Austria.

Mr. Ronald T. Covias is a Senior Partner in the Mc Lean, Virginia office of the Détente Group with responsibilities in Détente Capital and Détente Strategies. Détente is focused on domestic and international business transactions, trade and regulatory matters, local and central government procurements and partnering with global business corporations.

Prior to joining Détente, Ron completed forty one years of International business and U.S. Government experience in Defense, Aerospace, High Technology, Government Relations and Strategic Planning.

Most recently, Ron was Vice President for Lockheed Martin Corporation's International Business Development. In that capacity, he led the organization that is the primary interface between the Corporation, the U.S. Government, and Washington based foreign government representatives on all international matters. Ron was also President of Lockheed Martin's Americas Region where he was responsible for all in-country business in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

In previous positions, he was Vice President, International Operations and Strategic Planning, first at the Lockheed Fort Worth Aeronautics Company and then on the Lockheed Martin Corporate Staff. In that capacity, Ron was responsible for international strategic market planning, policy direction and business development in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He held a similar position at General Dynamics Corporation, with responsibilities in aircraft, land and space systems.

Ron is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who served in a number of operational positions in strategic nuclear missiles and National Space reconnaissance. Numerous Pentagon assignments included Political Military Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Affairs and to the Secretary of Defense. His last active duty position was Director and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Inter American Affairs.

Ron received his undergraduate and graduate degree in political science, international affairs and international business from St. John's University in New York and graduate degree from Pepperdine University, respectively. He is also a graduate of the United States Army War College and the United States Air War College.

Ron serves on the Board of Advisors at George Washington University's Center for Latin American Issues and the School of Business and Public Management. Additionally, he is on the Board of Directors of a number of institutions including The Canada - US Fulbright Program. He was also the Chairman of the North American Competitiveness Council leading the US business community interacting with business leadership in all three countries and personally briefing recommendations to the heads of state in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Throughout his career, he has held a United States National Security Clearance for forty one consecutive years. He has received numerous awards and accolades for exemplifying the highest standards of responsible and ethical business practices.

Katleen Felix chairs the Haitian Hometown Associations Resource Group, and is project director and Haitian Diaspora liaison for Fonkoze, where she is responsible of research and development of new remittance products or initiatives, financial literacy programs for new immigrants, training and capacity-building for Haitian Hometown Associations (HHTAs), project reporting and donor relations.

Felix has 10 years of experience as a senior financial officer for major corporations in North America. She holds bachelor and master degrees in finance and international business from HEC Montreal, an accredited international business school (www.hec.ca). She speaks French, English, Creole, Portuguese and basic Spanish.

She has assembled a database of nearly 350 Haitian Hometown Associations and support groups in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. She has spoken at international conferences in Belgium, Costa Rica, Haiti, Israel, El Salvador and the United Sates. Her work with the Haitian Diaspora includes organizing capacity-building programs, informational and networking activities for the HHTAs in New York, Miami and Boston.

She is well integrated in the business scene and in the Haitian Diaspora community. She is the recipient of many awards: 2006 Young Professional Excellence Award of HEC Montreal for her accomplishments and community involvement, 2009 Young professional of the year award and People's Choice award by the Young Chamber of Commerce from Montreal, 2009 Community Leadership Award from HABNET, 2009 Citation from the President of the Brooklyn Borough Hall, 2010 Pioneers of Prosperity Award of Mattapan Technology in Boston and in 2011 FANM and City of Miami recognition.

Katleen holds a bachelor and master degree in Finance & International business from HEC Montreal (www.hec.ca). She speaks French, English, Creole and Portuguese. Currently, she actively serves on three different boards Haitian Hometown Associations Resources group (www.haitirg.org), the Haitian Diaspora Federation (www.myhdf.org) and Kanpe Fondation (www.kanpe.org).

Mr. Eric-Vincent Guichard is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GRAVITAS Capital Advisors, Inc. He is the founding member of GRAVITAS Capital (1996-current). Eric advises global and sovereign institutional assets. He runs the Sovereign Solutions Practice which includes innovative macro solutions such as the Sovereign Debt Redemption Fund Ltd and the Pension Support Fund Ltd. Eric also manages GRAVITAS's Tactical Allocation Fund, LLC.

He received a 2009 Risk Innovator Award for Finance from Risk & Insurance Magazine.

In 2010, Eric founded Homestrings.com, an electronic investment platform that caters to members of the Diaspora. Homestrings.com showcases vetted investment projects and funds that focus on development objectives chosen by the Diaspora. These projects and funds range from infrastructure to healthcare.

Prior to GRAVITAS Capital, Eric was Portfolio Manager at the World Bank (1990-1996) where he also served as technical adviser to sovereign and multilateral institutions worldwide.

Eric is a graduate of the University of Dakar Senegal, of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and of the Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA (World Bank Scholar and Harvard Fellowship award).

He serves on several non-profit boards, including: the Center for Financial Policy - an academic think tank on policy reform; Capital Partners for Education - an inner city mentorship program; and OIC International - an initiative that encourages economic self-reliance in Africa.

Eric lectures internationally on Investment; Risk Management; Entrepreneurship; and on Corporate Strategy. He has published articles on Global Financial Markets and Regulation; Corporate Incentives and Human Behavior; and on the U.S. Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis.

Dr. Doug Guthrie, Dean, Professor of International Business and Professor of Management at The George Washington University School of Business is an expert in the fields of economic reform in China, leadership and corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.

Previously, Dr. Guthrie served as Professor of Management at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He also held a joint appointment as Professor of Sociology on NYU's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and was Director of Executive Education at NYU-Stern from 2007-09. In addition to his positions at NYU, Dr. Guthrie has held visiting positions at Harvard Business School, INSEAD and the graduate schools of business at Stanford University, Columbia University and Emory University. He also served as Director of the Business Institutions Initiative at the Social Science Research Council (1999-2003) and has been the academic leader of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership since 2008.

Dr. Guthrie holds an A.B. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations with a concentration in Chinese literature from the University of Chicago. He earned his Master's and PhD degrees in organizational sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Dr. Guthrie studied in Taipei, Taiwan, during his undergraduate years and conducted his doctoral research in Shanghai, China. His dissertation research was recognized with the American Sociological Association's national award for the top dissertation in the field in 1997. Dr. Guthrie has authored three books, co-edited two more and authored or co-authored more than 40 academic articles on Chinese economic reform, leadership and corporate social responsibility and more than 60 shorter articles and reports on the same topics.

Dr. Zoran Jolevski Professor Zoran Jolevski took the office of the Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the United States in March 2007. In November 2008, he also has been appointed the Macedonian's chief negotiator on name differences with Greece under the auspices of the United Nations. From January 2011 he is non resident Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the United Mexican States. He is a professor at the European University, in Skopje, Macedonia. Ambassador Jolevski was Chief of Staff to the President of the Republic of Macedonia Boris Trajkovski from 2000 to 2004. As a key adviser he was responsible for providing strategic advice and analysis to the President. He served also as the Chief of Adviser to the Government of Macedonia on WTO accession. He held various other capacities with the Macedonian Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 until 1999. In 1999 he served as the Deputy National Coordinator on humanitarian issues during the Kosovo refugee crisis. From 1994 to 1998 he was First Secretary in the Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva. From June 1992 to October 1994, he served as a Secretary to the Negotiation team of Macedonia to the International Conference on Former Yugoslavia dealing with succession issues, Ambassador Jolevski founded and has been the first President of the Institute for Economic Strategies and International Affairs - "Ohrid", he served also as a President of "The Boris Trajkovski International Foundation" from 2004 to 2005. Prior to his appointment as ambassador he served as a member of the Board of number of companies. He also was Vice Chairman of the UN/ECE Committee on Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development (2005-2007), as well as a Member of Team of Specialists on Internet Enterprise Development at UN/ECE (1999-2003) He was the Chief of Party to the Macedonian Business Environment Activity, and from 2004 to 2006 the Chief of Party to the World Trade Organization Compliance Activity. Ambassador Jolevski holds a Ph.D. in International Economy from the Faculty of Economics, University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje as well as a Master of Science in International Trade Law from Law School at the University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius. He is author of two books and more then hundred articles as well as chief editor of several books. Zoran Jolevski married Suzana Jolevska and they have two sons: Pero and Filip Jolevski.

Ms. Aram Kang is an Associate with the New Ventures initiative of the Markets and Enterprise Program at the World Resources Institute.  Aram manages enterprise development activities for the New Ventures program, promoting the growth of small and growing businesses in emerging economies that generate positive environmental and social impact. More specifically, she facilitates collaborative opportunities and information sharing across the New Ventures Global Network, which has partner operations in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia and Mexico.  Previously, Aram managed a program linking business school students to emerging market entrepreneurs for consulting projects, and co-authored a WRI report highlighting investment opportunities in China's energy efficiency industry.  Aram received her Masters in Environmental Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University, with a concentration in business and environment, and a BA in International Trade at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea.

Dr. Amnamaria Lusardi is the Denit Trust Professor of Economics and Accountancy at the George Washington School of Business. She has taught at Dartmouth College, Princeton University, the University of Chicago Public Policy School, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Columbia Business School. In 2008 she was a visiting scholar at Harvard Business School. She holds a Ph.D. degree in economics from Princeton University.

Dr. Lusardi's main areas of research are financial literacy and financial education, saving, Social Security and pensions. Her book, Overcoming the saving slump: How to increase the effectiveness of financial education and saving programs, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2008. Dr. Lusardi has won numerous research awards. Among them is a research fellowship from the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, a faculty fellowship from the John M. Olin Foundation, and a junior and senior faculty fellowship from Dartmouth College. She is the recipient of the Fidelity Pyramid Prize, awarded to authors of published applied research that best helps address the goal of improving lifelong financial well-being for Americans.

She is a member of the Technical Review Committee for the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Longitudinal Surveys Program, a member of the Advisory Board of the Pension Research Council at the Wharton School, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies (CeRP), Turin, Italy. Moreover, she has advised the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Dutch Central Bank, and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center on issues related to financial literacy and saving. She is also the consultant to the Subgroup on the Evaluation of Financial Education Programs, International Network on Financial Education at the OECD.

Mr. Rafi Menachem joined the Grassroots Business Fund (GBF) in July 2008 as its Social Impact Officer. At GBF, Rafi spearheads the development and implementation of its social impact framework, Impact Planning, Assessment and Learning (iPAL), across all of GBF's portfolio businesses. He works with GBF's investment teams to custom tailor a metric framework that is not only relevant for the portfolio business but also meaningful. In addition, he supports the South East Asia investment team with deal structuring and modeling while also overseeing student teams from Georgetown University, University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania in collecting social metrics including "Progress Out of Poverty" surveys. Rafi is also in charge of GBF's metrics conferences and is actively involved in assisting in the development of the social enterprise field including sitting on the Global Impact Investing Ratings System (GIIRS)Emerging Markets Standards Advisory Council.

Prior to joining GBF, Rafi was a financial analyst for the Emerging Markets sector team at BearingPoint (now Deloitte), where he worked on a $218 million dollar USAID capacity-building contract in Afghanistan. In addition, Rafi interned for the US State Department at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and at the IFC's Grassroots Business Initiative. He earned his B.B.A. in international business and international politics from The George Washington University School of Business, and plans to matriculate for his M.B.A. in the fall of 2012.

Mr. Jacob Park is Associate Professor of Business Strategy and Sustainability at Green Mountain College in Vermont specializing in global environment & business strategy, corporate social responsibility, and community-based entrepreneurship & social innovation with a special expertise/interest in Japan, China, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Awarded the Engaged Scholar Award (2010) from the Vermont Campus Compact; Food Pedagogy Award (2009) from the Association for the Study of Food and Society and Vermont Governor's Award (2008) for Environmental Excellence in Education and Outreach, he is the Chair of Social Investment Forum's International Working Group Steering Committee and serves on the Boards of the Environmental Leadership Program and the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. He serves on the editorial board of Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Business Strategy and the Environment, Asia Business & Management Journal and Journal of Business Ethics (Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability section). His book, Crisis of Global Environmental Governance: Towards a New Political Economy of Sustainability, was published by Routledge in 2008 and Ecology of the New Economy: Sustainable Transformation of Global Information Technology, Communication, and Electronics Industries was published in 2002 by Greenleaf Publishing.
Park has also been a Visiting Research Fellow, Oxford University Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (2010); Visiting Scholar, INSEAD Business School Middle East Campus (2010); Winter Park Institute Scholar in Residence, Rollins College (2010); the Page Legacy Scholar, College of Communications, Penn State University (2009-2010); POSCO Visiting Fellow, East-West Center (2008); Erasmus Mundus Scholar, Central European University (2007); International Visiting Research Fellow, University of Sydney's Faculty of Business and Economics (2007); Visiting Scholar, Cardiff University's Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (2006); and elsewhere.

Dr. Rex Pingle has over thirty-five years of experience in emerging markets, providing private sector investment, financing and financial advisory services to governments, corporations, financial institutions and private investors. Mr. Pingle has been the President and CEO of PMD International, Inc. (“PMD”) since its establishment in 1987. Mr. Pingle is responsible for PMD’s worldwide activities. From 1981-1988, Mr. Pingle was Senior Vice President of Lazard Frères & Co. in New York and Director of the International Government and Corporate Finance Group, responsible for all emerging markets activities, including corporate and project finance, government advisory and debt restructuring assignments. From 1980 to 1981, he served as Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation. From 1973 to 1979, Mr. Pingle was employed by Chemical Bank, New York where he became Vice President; Director of Chemical Asia Ltd., Hong Kong; and was a member of the Credit Policy Committee of the Bank. Mr. Pingle graduated with a B.A. in History form the University of Virginia in 1968. In 1971, he obtained a Diploma in International Economics from the Free University of Brussels. Subsequently, he completed doctoral course work in economic development and international trade at The Johns Hopkins University. PMD INTERNATIONAL, INC. PMD International Inc. (“PMD”) is a private investment bank formed in 1987 by a group of senior bankers from Lazard Frères & Co., New York and Lazard Brothers Limited, London. PMD focuses exclusively on private sector cross-border transactions and investments in developing countries. PMD specializes in the following services: • Project Finance • Direct Foreign Investment • Corporate Finance, Acquisition & Divestiture • International Debt Restructuring The Directors of PMD have completed transactions in over seventy-five countries. In addition to funding and implementing transactions, PMD provides clients with financial and commercial advice, market-specific information and detailed economic, financial and political analysis. PMD has extensive experience in attracting and making direct foreign investments in developing countries, including those categorized as “post-conflict” and “fragile states”. Recent transactions include funding for projects in Afghanistan, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan and Kosovo. PMD is currently working on private sector investments in Pakistan, Mongolia and Timor-Leste, among other locations. PMD has been involved in some of the world’s largest cross-border limited recourse project financings. PMD’s Directors are identified with the development of two well-known project finance innovations: the Build-Own-Transfer and Build-Own-Operate concepts and the leasing of public sector infrastructure in emerging markets. PMD’s Directors were also responsible for the first use of Shariah-compliant Revenue Participation Certificates to finance infrastructure. PMD maintains offices in Washington, D.C., USA and London, England. Contact information is available at www.pmdintl.com.

Dr. Liesl Riddle is the Associate Dean for MBA Programs and Associate Professor of International Business and International Affairs at The George Washington University (GW). Dr. Riddle has written extensively about diasporas and development, international entrepreneurship, and trade and investment promotion. In 1999, Dr. Riddle co-authored the first diaspora-focused article to appear in the top international business journal, The Journal of International Business. Dr. Riddle is a member of a United Nations' advisory panel concerning diaspora investment and entrepreneurship policies.

Having examined diaspora investment and entrepreneurship for over fifteen years, Dr. Riddle has conducted research among numerous diaspora communities in the USA and Europe, including the Afghan, Armenian, Cuban, Ghanaian, Iranian, Israeli/Jewish, Jamaican, Lebanese, Liberian, Nepalese, Nigerian, Palestinian, Sierra Leonean, Sri Lankan, and Turkish diaspora communities. She currently spearheads a multidisciplinary research team, the GW Diaspora Capital Investment Project, whose work is funded by the GW Center for International Business Education and Research. Her team aims to generate and disseminate learning about diaspora investment and its role in development to assist policymakers, diaspora organizations, diaspora entrepreneurs, and researchers.

Dr. Riddle is the acting co-director of the Diaspora Program within GW's Elliott School for International Affairs' Institute for Global Studies. She also serves on the Executive Committee of GW's Institute of Middle East Studies. Dr. Riddle teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, including Managing in Developing Countries, International Marketing, Survey Research Methods, and Introduction to International Business. She has received numerous teaching awards, including the GW School of Business' Teaching Excellence Award. She is a frequent guest speaker at the US Foreign Service Institute in the Near East North Africa Area Studies Program.

Dr. Riddle holds a BA and MA in Middle Eastern Studies, a MBA in Marketing/International Business, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to her appointment at GW in 2001, she worked in the field of market research and held the position of the Director of Research for an international market research firm. She has served as a consultant for several organizations, including the World Bank, the US Department of State, the Grameen Foundation, Western Union and other private-sector clients.

Barbara Span is Vice President of Global Public Affairs for Western Union, based in Washington, D.C. She has responsibility for policy, regulatory and consumer issues, advocacy programs, and conducting issues research analysis. Barbara's focus for Western Union is on issues ranging from migration, financial inclusion, immigrant integration and economic development to consumer fraud, alternative financial services and underbanked/underserved consumers. She also plays a key role in Western Union initiatives that focus on diaspora-driven development and job creation, financial literacy and small business entrepreneurship programs.

Prior to Western Union, Barbara's work has been with leading U.S. and global electronic payments processors and ATM/debit networks where her work has addressed a myriad of innovation and consumer protection issues including consumer privacy, identity theft, financial account aggregation, authentication in Internet purchasing, check electronification, payments fraud, natural disasters, and Y2K. She has been responsible for producing white papers and research that have supported Federal fraud protection legislation.

She is a Northwestern University alumnus.

Dr. Jennifer Spencerreceived her B.S. in Business Administration from Georgetown University and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She has taught international business and corporate strategy at the University of Minnesota, University of Houston, and George Washington University.

Professor Spencer's expertise lies in international corporate strategy, with a focus on the global technology strategies of firms in high technology industries, knowledge spillovers between firms, international entrepreneurship, and multinational enterprises' investments into developing countries. She has published articles in the top journals in the management, strategy, and international business fields, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of International Business Studies.

Professor Steinhardt specializes in international law, human rights, conflicts of laws, international civil litigation, and international business transactions. He is the founder and until 2010 the co-director of the Oxford-GW Program in International Human Rights Law at New College, Oxford. His current research and advocacy concern the human rights obligations of multi-national corporations. He served as the only U.S. citizen on the Expert Legal Panel on that subject under the auspices of the International Commission of Jurists and has served as an expert witness in several federal cases testing the liability of corporations for aiding and abetting human rights violations by governments.

Professor Steinhardt was a founding member of the Board of Editors of the Oxford University press project on international law in domestic courts. He has written books and articles on the application of international law in U.S. courts, statutory construction, international trade law, jurisprudence, and human rights. Having served on the Harvard International Law Journal and won the Jessup Moot Court Competition at Harvard Law School, Professor Steinhardt practiced law for five years in Washington, D.C., specializing in federal litigation, administrative law, and trade. He has served as legal counsel to several foreign governments in both commercial and intergovernmental matters, including border disputes and economic relations, and pioneered the application of international human rights law in U.S. courts. He served as counsel to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Human Rights Law Group, as well as to individuals alleging violations of international human rights law. He has also served as the founding chairman of the board of the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco, an anti-impunity organization established by Amnesty International in 1998.

Monika Kalra Varma, J.D. A member of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights team since 2002, Ms. Varma has spearheaded the Center's extensive and innovative economic and social rights advocacy, including efforts to hold international actors accountable for extra-territorial economic rights violations. She has led advocacy campaigns targeting the United Nations and Member states, U.S. Administration and Congress, OAS Member states, International Financial Institutions, corporations, and regional bodies. Ms. Varma regularly speaks on domestic and international human rights issues before policy makers and civil society, and has published opinion editorials in the Boston Globe, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, the Jurist and several online media outlets.

Ms. Varma currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Harvard-based Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Health and Human Rights Journal and is a Steering Committee member of the Lawyers Emergency Response Network for Haiti. She also serves on the Board of Governors of the Women's National Democratic Club and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Global India Fund.

Prior to joining the RFK Center, Ms. Varma worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Hague, Netherlands as a legal officer with the Office of the Prosecutor. She was a member of the trial team which secured the Tribunal's first indictment and eventual conviction of the crime of terror against General Stanislav Galic, the Serb military commander in Sarajevo from 1992-1994.

Ms. Varma received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. She attained a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California at Davis School of Law.

Dr. Robert Weiner is Professor of International Business, Public Policy & Public Administration, and International Affairs, at the George Washington University School of Business, Washington DC. He is also Senior Advisor to the Brattle Group, and Membre Associé, GREEN (Groupe de Recherche en Économie de l'Énergie et des Ressources Naturelles), Département d'économique, Université Laval, Québec, and was the 2005-2006 Gilbert White Fellow at Resources for the Future. During 1997-1998, he was Visiting Professor of International Economics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Prof. Weiner received his Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics, and Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Business Economics, all from Harvard University. He has authored or coauthored four books (Energy and Environment, Oil Shock, Oil and Money, and Oil Markets in a Turbulent Era), and more than fifty articles on energy economics and finance.

Prof. Weiner's research interests and projects focus on energy security, including resource nationalism & political risk, oil & corruption, petroleum fiscal vulnerability, dynamics of energy crises, foreign investment in the Russian petroleum industry, oil speculation and market turbulence, and privatization & the behavior of state-owned enterprises in the world petroleum market. Current projects include examination of the UN Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq, and resource acquisitions by Chinese and Indian state oil companies.

Prof. Weiner served as Chairman of the GW Department of International Business 2001-2005, building its research-oriented faculty and national ranking. He has lectured to executives in Russia, Spain, and the United States, and taught at Harvard University, Brandeis University, and the Royal Complutense University (Spain), offering courses in finance, international business, industrial organization, and environmental and natural-resource economics.

Prof. Weiner has been Research Fellow in the International Energy Program, Center for Business and Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and consultant to Amoco; Mobil; Phillips; Texaco; the International Petroleum Exchange; the New York Mercantile Exchange; the U.S. Department of Energy; the U.S. International Trade Commission; the Harvard Institute for International Development; and the World Bank. He has won research awards from the Ministére des Affaires Internationales, Québec; Resources for the Future; the Columbia Center for the Study of Futures Markets; and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Prof. Weiner has advised US government agencies, international institutions, energy consultancies, financial services providers, and oil companies. He testified before the US Congress, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade of the House Small Business Committee (2011), and UK Parliament, Commons Treasury Select Committee, Panel on Regulation of Oil Markets (2008). He served as an Eminent Person on Commodities for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2003).

Mr. Simon Winter is TechnoServe's Senior Vice President of Development. He is responsible for leading and managing strategy, knowledge management/thought leadership, strategic planning, program development, and leading fundraising and partnerships. He is also responsible for managing and incubating innovative programs, including in India, Europe and for capital access for SMEs. Previously he was Regional Director for Africa.

Simon is co-founder of the McKinsey Alumni in Development (MAD) network; Board Member, East African Leadership Initiative Foundation and a founding Executive Committee member of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE).

Simon has worked as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company (1998-2003) during which he co-led the firm's international development practice. Prior to that, he worked for the Botswana government, as a development consultant in Southern Africa, and in banking with Barclays Bank plc in the UK, Cote d'Ivoire and Australia.

Simon originates from the UK and holds a PhD in development economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1998, which focused on the opportunities for the development of the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe. He recently participated in the Agribusiness Seminar at Harvard Business School.

Dr. David B. Woolner is Associate Professor of History at Marist College and Senior Fellow and Hyde Park Resident Historian of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. A specialist in Anglo-American and U.S.-Canadian relations, Dr. Woolner is the co-editor with Warren Kimball and David Reynolds of FDR's World: War, Peace and Legacies (Palgrave, 2008); with Henry Henderson of FDR and the Environment (Palgrave, 2005); and with Richard Kurial of FDR, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church in America, 1933-1945 (Palgrave, 2003). He is the editor of The Second Quebec Conference Revisited: Waging War, Formulating Peace; Canada, Great Britain and the United States in 1944-1945 (Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 1998), and is the author of a book entitled Cordell Hull, Anthony Eden and the Search for Anglo-American Cooperation, 1933-1938 (forthcoming from Praeger Press).

Dr. Woolner held the fall 2010 Fulbright-Dow Distinguished Research Chair at the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, the Netherlands; and is a past recipient of a Churchill Archives By-Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge; and an Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Fellowship, at the Roosevelt Institute.

He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from McGill University, and a B.A. summa cum laude in English Literature and History from the University of Minnesota.