Social Impact Investing - Maria Ortero

Maria Otero is president and CEO of ACCION International, a leading global microfinance institution that seeks to open the financial systems in developing countries to reach the poor. ACCION provides technical assistance, equity investment and financial services to 27 of the most advanced microfinance institutions in the world, which ACCION helped start and/or grow. Most of these microfinance institutions are regulated, are members of the ACCION Network, and together reached 1.9 million borrowers at the end of 2005, with an active loan portfolio that exceeded $1 billion. Ms. Otero first joined ACCION in 1986 as director of its lending program in Honduras, where she lived for three years. She became president of the organization in 2000. Ms. Otero is a leading voice on sustainable microfinance, and has published extensively on the subject, including as co-editor of The New World of Microfinance, published by Kumarian Press. Ms. Otero chairs the board of ACCION Investments, a US$20 million investment company for microfinance. She also serves on the boards of directors of three regulated microfinance institutions in Latin America: Mibanco in Peru, BancoSol in Bolivia and Compartamos in Mexico. Ms. Otero also serves as the coordinator of the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds, which convenes 18 equity investment funds dedicated to microfinance.