Our People: Staff

Monique Cohen, Ph.D., Founder-President of Microfinance Opportunities, is a leading proponent of the market-led agenda for microfinance. A recognized expert on financial services for the poor and client assessment in microfinance, Dr. Cohen designed and led the AIMS (Assessing the Impact of Microfinance Services) project at USAID, where she served as Senior Technical Advisor in the Office of Microenterprise Development. Dr. Cohen has published extensively on microfinance and teaches at the University of Southern New Hampshire's Microenterprise Development Institute and the Microfinance Training Program in Boulder, Colorado.

Elizabeth McGuinness is the Senior Project Manager for Microfinance Opportunities. Formerly of Save the Children, Ms. McGuinness has extensive experience in AIMS client assessments, operational systems and MicroSave's market research for microfinance. Her areas of expertise also encompass women-focused poverty lending.

Jennefer Sebstad serves as Director of Microfinance Opportunities' Financial Education Program. Formerly of the Ford Foundation, Ms. Sebstad is a well-recognized exponent of impact assessment and client assessment in microfinance. Ms. Sebstad served as a key member of the AIMS team from 1994-2002.

Bonnie Bergey is the Program Director for Financial Education at Microfinance Opportunities.  She earned her MBA while specializing in nonprofit fair trade retail development for Ten Thousand Villages for eight years and an M.A. in Peace Studies after directing a relief and development program in Somalia for five years.  More recently, she directed and managed qualitative market research for new product development projects for major pharmaceutical and Fortune 500 companies.

Danielle Hopkins is the Manager of Financial Education at Microfinance Opportunities. Prior to joining Microfinance Opportunities, she designed and implemented a 10-hour financial literacy course and a 25-hour BDS course for Hispanic microentrepreneurs with the Economic and Community Development Institute.  She also conducted financial literacy courses for the Guaraní indigenous group as a Micro-Enterprise Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia.

Meredith Fox is a Program Officer for Financial Education at Microfinance Opportunities.  Before joining Microfinance Opportunities, she trained teachers, developed curricula and taught at universities in Mexico, the Czech Republic and Syria.  She also served as a facilitator for two youth leadership programs and as the coordinator of a human rights training program.

Julie Lee is a Training Officer for Financial Education at Microfinance Opportunities. Prior to joining MFO, she directed academic programs for international students at a private language center in the US.  There she developed curricula, trained and supervised teachers, and advised students.  She has led training on teaching adults, microcredit lending, cultural sensitivity, and human trafficking.  She has worked in China, Italy, Nigeria and Zimbabwe where she taught secondary school English with the US Peace Corps.

Jessica Massie is a Training Officer for Financial Education at Microfinance Opportunities. She began her career as a teacher trainer and curriculum developer while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. She later trained teachers, mentored student research projects, and wrote curricula at the National University of Rwanda. Ms. Massie has previously held positions at the Microcredit Summit Campaign in Washington, D.C., and Mesilla Valley Habitat for Humanity in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Michael Ferguson is a Program Officer with the Impact Assessment Team.  He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, where he specialized in Latin American culture and carried out extensive fieldwork in Peru.  His turn into microfinance came after years on a conventional academic track.  He also has had a parallel career as a professional grant writer.

Jennifer Mandel is a Market Research Specialist at Microfinance Opportunties.  She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from The Ohio State University where she specialized in women’s livelihoods in West Africa and carried out extensive fieldwork in Benin.  Prior to joining Microfinance Opportunities, she worked for many years in conventional academic settings.

Kate Reid is the Research Assistant on the Impact Assessment Team.  Kate holds a BA in International Affairs and Public Policy from Princeton where she wrote her thesis, "Microfinance for Macrofeminism," on BRAC in Bangladesh and Afghanistan. She has previously worked at Character Education Partnership and the Microcredit Summit Campaign. 

Jenna Barzelay is the Executive Assistant at Microfinance Opportunities. She holds a BA in Political Science with concentrations in International Development and Economics as well as a minor in Spanish from Bates College in Lewiston, ME. For her Senior Thesis in the Fall of 2007, titled "Mission Drift and the Commercialization of Microfinance: The Case of BancoSol S.A," she quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the implications of commercialization on non-profit microfinance schemes in Latin America.

Katie Shaw is the Project Assistant for Financial Education at Microfinance Opportunities. She holds a BA in International Studies and Economics from American University with concentrations in International Development and the Middle East.