Monica Brand

Monica Brand' "is Vice President of Marketing and Product Development for ACCION International, focusing on new product development, market intelligence, customer service, and organizational efficiency. Prior to ACCION, Ms Brand worked two years for the Development Fund in San Francisco, helping design and launch a $50 million statewide lending intermediary to finance small business and community facilities. Following this successful launch, she worked as a loan officer at a revolving loan fund in Oakland, California to finance environmentally friendly small businesses. Her professional experience also includes work in Cape Town, South Africa, where she founded an entrepreneurial training organization affiliated with a venture capital fund for disadvantaged small and medium sized businesses. Ms Brand's first experience in business development services was as a trainer for the Women's Initiative for Self-Employment, where she assisted female microentrepreneurs in launching their own enterprises. Ms. Brand has authored ACCION's monograph, "Maximizing Efficiency in Microfinance;" two "Technical Notes" and one "Guide to New Product Development" for USAID's Microenterprise Best Practices; and numerous case studies for the Harvard Business School. Ms. Brand holds an MBA and an M.A. in Education from Stanford University, and a B.A. in Economics from Williams College. She co-teaches Advanced Topics in Microfinance with Elisabeth Rhyne." [1]

Faculty member of the SAIS International Development Program.

External links

• "Biography", SAIS, Accessed January 2007.