MICROCAPITAL STORY: ACCION International’s CEO Maria Otero To Be United States Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs

The White House has nominated the president and CEO of ACCION International, Ms. Maria Otero, to assume the position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs in the US Department of State. Although the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has yet to approve the nomination, Ms. Otero has indicated that she will accept the position should her nomination be successful. Ms. Otero has been profiled in MicroCapital’s Who’s Who in Microfinance series in May 2007. Her position at ACCION International will be filled temporarily by Ms. Catherine Quense, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Deputy, while a committee searches for Ms. Oteros successor. Ms. Diana Taylor, Vice Chair of the ACCION Board, comments, “Her nomination as Under Secretary comes as no surprise to those of us who know her and her deep commitment to social and economic justice, and we know that she now has an even more effective platform from which to help build better lives for the world’s citizens.” Ms. Otero was born and raised until the age of 12 in La Paz, Bolivia, whereupon she and her family moved to Washington DC. She holds a BA in Literature from the University of Maryland and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins. She has been with ACCION since 1986 and became CEO in 2000. ACCION International is a microfinance organization founded in 1961 and consisting of 27 partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 20 countries. The position of Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs was established under Section 161(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995. In total, there are five Under Secretaries of State in the Department of State, headed by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Prior to leading ACCION, Ms. Otero managed the organization’s lending program in Honduras. In 1989, she opened ACCION’s office in Washington, D.C. ACCION reports that during Ms. Otero’s tenure as president, the number of microentrepreneurs served by the organization has increased to 3.7 million from 460,000. The active loan portfolio across ACCION has increased to USD 3.6 billion from USD 274 million. Initially an organization focused on Latin and Central America, ACCION has expanded to Africa, India, and China under the leadership of Ms. Otero. The number of staff has also increased to 220 from 65. In addition to being CEO, Ms. Otero currently chairs the board of ACCION Investments and sits on the boards of three of ACCION’s partner MFIs: Mibanco of Peru, BancoSol of Bolivia, and Compartamos of Mexico. Recently, ACCION has been raising a great deal of capital. In 2007, the MFI Compartamos placed 30 percent of its shares up on the Mexican Stock Exchange for the first time and raised USD 468 million in capital. ACCION held 18 percent of Compartamos’ shares and sold 9 percent, raising USD 134.9 in capital (p18). In 2007, ACCION Investments raised USD 30 million in equity capital with ACCION International contributing the most (p12). In a 2007 Annual Report, Ms. Otero remarks that the organization attained the goals of the 2004–2008 strategic plan one year early (p3). She has also helped designed a 2008-2011 strategy that will now be implemented by Ms. Quense.

The 2008-2011 strategic plan (p14-15) features several facets. ACCION plans to invest an undisclosed amount ithrough Strategic Ventures and Alliances, a new ACCION initiative that connects private-sector partnerships with borrowers. ACCION will also expand into new areas including Inner Mongolia, China and Nigeria. In addition, ACCION will also expand into existing project sites like Brazil, Colombia, India, Ghana and China (p14). ACCION also plans to train 3,000 experts in microfinance products and services (p15). ACCION will also promote the Center for Financial Inclusion, which focuses on developing sustainable commercial microfinance (p15).

Ms. Otero is an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is a board member of the Calvert Social Investment Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, and BRAC Holding of Bangladesh. In addition, she is currently Coordinator of the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds, a group of 18 equity investment funds. Ms. Otero has served as the chair of the MicroFinance Network, an association of 35 microfinance institutions, from 1995 to 2005 and chaired the board of Bread for the World, a Christian anti-hunger movement, from 1992 to 1997. She has worked in USAID’s Women in Development office on microenterprise development in Latin America and has been an advisor to the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP). Former president Bill Clinton appointed her Chair of the Inter-American Foundation, a foreign aid agency, in 1994. Ms. Otero left this position in 2000 and now serves on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative. Ms. Otero also served for five years for the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), a non-profit family planning association that seeks to empower women. Hispanic magazine has offered her the Latina Excellence Award in 2000 and Newsweek has voted her one of the 20 most influential women in the US in 2005. In 2008, she received the Notre Dame Prize for Distinguished Public Service in Latin America from the University of Notre Dame and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. MicroCapital reported on her receipt of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2009, she will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College. She co-edited the book, The New World of Microenterprise Finance: Building Healthy Financial Institutions for the Poor.

The Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs is responsible for working on such global issues as democracy, human rights, labor, environment, health, refugees, women’s issues, disease, and trafficking in persons. Several bureaus and offices are classified under the office of the Under Secretary. The Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs tackles the environment and health issues. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor handles human rights and labor rights. The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration is coordinates refugee assistance and admissions programs. The Avian Influenza Action Group maintains a network of organizations that work to combat avian influenza and to diminish its impact in case of an epidemic. The Office of the Science and Technology Advisor helps ensure that various government programs are informed by developments in science and technology. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons manages anti-trafficking initiatives. The Office of the Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea focuses on supporting human rights in North Korea. Past Under Secretaries for Democracy and Global Affairs include Timothy Wirth (1994-1997), Frank E. Loy (1998-2001), and Paula Dobriansky (2001-Present).

ACCION International claims to have served 7.7 million clients from 1998 to 2008 and disbursed USD 23.4 billion in loans, with a 97 percent repayment rate. In 2008, the organization counted 3.74 million total clients., USD 5.14 billion in disbursed loans, a USD 3.57 billion active portfolio, 802,000 clients with savings accounts, 1.2 million deposits, and a 13.8 percent growth in savers, excluding ACCION US. Net revenues for 2007, the most recent year of reporting, were USD 324.9 million and total 2007 expenses, USD 27 million. Total current assets stood at USD 140.4 milllion and total long term assets, USD 212.2 million. Total liabilities and net assets amounted to USD 352.6 million (p20). 2007 saw an increase of USD 297.8 million in net assets (p21). ACCION Investments reported total microfinance investments of USD 50 million and a total investment portfolio of USD 22.92 million in 2007. Financial Indicators for ACCION partners during the last quarter of 2008 can be found here.

Ms. Otero’s interim successor, Ms. Quense, joined ACCION International in 1983 as the assistant to the executive director. Ms. Quense went on to be ACCION’s CFO from 1985 to 2008 before assuming the role of Chief Administrative Officer. During Ms. Quense’s tenure as CFO, ACCION’s net worth rose to USD 250 million from USD 1 million. In her current position, Ms. Quense is in charge of human resources, global office operations, information systems, legal services, and risk and performance management programs. She also coordinates the organization’s global expansion. In addition to her duties at ACCION International, Ms. Quense serves on the board of ACCION Chicago and Centro ACCION Microempresarial in Colombia. She holds an Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in international development from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as a BA in Latin American studies from Yale University. Before beginning her career with ACCION, she worked as a special assistant to the national director of the Americorps VISTA volunteer program and in the purchasing and the credit insurance divisions of Prudential. Ms. Quense has also been a Partner of the Americas Fellow in International Development, funded by the Kellogg Foundation.

Additional Resources:
ACCION International
ACCION: Maria Otero Bio
ACCION: Catherine Quense Bio
ACCION: 2007 Annual Report
“Obama Administration Nominates Microfinance Leader as U.S. Under Secretary of Global Affairs, Department of State”, ACCION Press Release, May 2009
Office of the Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs
Leigh Bureau: Maria Otero Bio
Source Watch: Maria Otero
BN Americas Hall of Fame: Maria Otero

By Goda Thangada, Research Assistant

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  1. […] MicroCapital.org Brief, “ACCION International’s CEO Maria Otero To Be United States Under Secretary of Democracy and Global Affairs”, May 14, 2009. https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-accion-internationals-ceo-maria-otero-to-be-united-st… […]

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