After moving from The Bethesda-based Calvert Foundation Shari Berenbach will now head micro enterprise development at USAID. At USAID, a federal agency that provides economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide, she will oversee hundreds of millions of dollars at work in some 60 countries. USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. Their work support long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting economic growth, agriculture, trade, global health, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance.USAID has working relationships with more than 3,500 American companies and over 300 U.S.-based private voluntary organizations.
Berenbach has distinguished herself as a leader in the emerging community investment industry.Berenbach was one of the pioneers in the micro-credit field, working in more than a dozen countries around the globe. During her tenure with Calvert Foundation, Berenbach expanded the nonprofit, which works with investors to provide affordable credit to impoverished communities, from a staff of two with $5 million in assets to 42 employees managing more than $500 million. But the executive said she is most proud of making individual community reinvestment a viable business model.
Berenbach is the author of numerous articles related to international micro-finance and community investment. She earned her MBA in finance at Columbia Business School and her master’s in Latin American Studies from UCLA.Her immense experience and insights will truly help USAID further the reach and scale of their initiatives.
In the video you could will catch her sharing some very important insights during the SWF 09 conference.
