WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: Catherine Quense, ACCION International’s Interim President and CEO

Catherine Quense, ACCION International’s Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Deputy, will take over as interim president and CEO, replacing Maria Otero, who has left to join the Obama Administration as Under Secretary of Global Affairs in the US State Department. Ms. Quense will direct ACCION in line with its 2008-2011 strategic plan and the key initiatives launched under Ms. Otero’s direction, “ACCION’s Model for Social Change” from its 2007 annual report. The four issues the plan addresses are “low income, poor quality of life, vulnerability and lack of dignified solutions,” through which the provision of financial services to low-income households will address. ACCION will broaden and reach beyond its target audience from informal-sector microentrepreneurs in urban Latin America for a greater global reach. The new areas include Inner Mongolia, China and Nigeria.

Prior to joining ACCION, Ms. Quense served as director of operations for a domestic social service organization, further details of which are not available. She later joined the national VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) volunteer program as special assistant to the director, and details on her term are not available. Since it was established in 1965, participants in VISTA work with agencies in communities across the United States to help further local efforts in alleviating poverty. Issues addressed through this program include education, service learning, homelessness, hunger, economic development, elderly, and youth. She also has a background in the purchasing and credit insurance divisions of Prudential. Information on her exact role and duties and time of tenure at Prudential are not available. Founded in 1875, Prudential is a global financial services institution with approximately USD 542 billion in assets under its management as of March 31, 2009.

Ms. Quense joined ACCION in 1983 as the assistant to the executive director where she worked on the formulation and implementation of a national education program designed to raise awareness about Latin American development issues. She then served as ACCION’s chief financial officer and senior vice president from 1985 to 2008. During this time, ACCION’s balance sheet grew from less than USD 1 million to over USD 250 million. She most recently served as ACCION’s Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Deputy, managing human resources, global office operations and information systems, legal services, and risk and performance management programs. This position was created to reflect ACCION’s expansion. At the time, Ms. Otero stated, “ACCION’s ambitious new strategic plan and expanding operations in West Africa, India and China demand a larger and deeper executive team, and someone to serve as the right hand of the organization,” and “Cathy is just that person.” As Chief Administrative Officer, she was responsible for business and support services for operations. She also leads implementation planning and manages organization preparedness for global expansion for ACCION. Along with these duties, Ms. Quense is involved in strategic organization planning and development for ACCION International and ACCION USA.

In addition to her roles and duties at ACCION International, Ms. Quense serves on the board of directors for ACCION Chicago and of Centro ACCION Microempresarial in Bogota, Colombia. She is also listed as an individual investor and donor for ACCION Chicago. She also sits on the board of several nonprofit organizations, the names of which are not publicly available. Moreover, Ms. Quense has participated as a Partners of the Americas Fellow in International Development, funded by the Kellogg Foundation. Partners of the Americas was established in 1964 as part of the US Agency for International Development. The organization deals in the areas of civil society and governance, exchanges and fellowships, gender and equality, youth and children, and agriculture and environment. The Kellogg Foundation is a US-based investment and grantmaking organization established in 1930.

Ms. Quense holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in International Development from Harvard University‘s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies from Yale University.

Established in 1961, ACCION International is a U.S. non-profit, which heads a network of 27 microfinance institutions. ACCION claims that with its partners, they have disbursed more than 28.5 million loans totaling USD 23.4 billion; 97 percent of the loans have been repaid. According to its 2007 annual report, it has assets worth almost USD 353 million, 3.1 million active borrowers, and 700,000 clients with a savings account.