2006 Fellow Saori Fotenos speaks on panel: “Citizen Journalism: A Look at How Blogging is Changing the Media Landscape from the Congo to Korea”, hosted by Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman. Read the rest of this entry »

2006 Fellow David Lehr has been accepted into the Acumen Fund Fellows Program, a competitive fellowship program for individuals with the dedication to serving the poor in the developing world and the business skills to effect change. Read the rest of this entry »

Dipak Basu, Class of 2005, continues to develop and grow his project Linkage India, now known as Anudip. On May 8th, 2006 Anudip inaugurated its first rural entrepreneur development center in Namkhana Island in the south Sunderbands. Read the rest of this entry »

Seminar details:
Thurdsay, 18 May 2006
3:30pm-5:00pm PST
DV Lounge, 2nd floor Cordura Hall (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE)

Seminar speaker:
Aman Verjee graduated from Stanford University in 1996, with a degree in Public Policy and Economics. After three years at Lehman Brothers in New York, where he was a bond trader in their Financial Engineering group, he went to Harvard Business and Law Schools and graduated in 2001. He then joined McKinsey & Co., in Dallas, Texas, as an associate consultant.

Aman is now a Senior Director at PayPal, where he has been since July, 2002. In his four years at PayPal, Aman established and built out the Quantitative Marketing function, then headed up PayPal’s Strategy team, which lead the company into several new businesses, including mobile payments.

Seminar details:
Thursday, 11 May 2006
3:30pm-5:00pm PST
Cordura 100

Seminar speaker:
Amy Hill is the Community Projects Director at the Center for Digital Storytelling.

The Center for Digital Storytelling is a California-based non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. We assist young people and adults in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives.

Seminar Details:
Tuesday, 9 May 2006
3:30-5pm
Nora Hall

Seminar Speakers:

Jim Fotenos concentrates on corporate, securities, and pass-through entity law. He has extensive experience in representing issuers in public and private equity and debt financing, corporate governance, SEC reporting and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and broker-dealer and investment advisor regulation. He serves as primary outside counsel to one of the largest container leasing companies in the world. He joined Greene Radovsky in September 2000 after eight years as a principal with Fotenos & Suttle, P.C., of San Francisco.

Mr. Fotenos is a member of the Opinions Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar. He served as Co-Chair of the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section for 2004-2005, and as the Committee’s Vice-Chair of Legislation for 2003-2004. While serving as Co-Chair of the Committee, Mr. Fotenos was one of the editors of the Committee’s 2005 report, “Legal Opinions in Business Transactions (Excluding the Remedies Opinion).” He served as a member (1991-1994) and Treasurer (1993-1994) of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section, and as Chair of the Partnerships Committee of the Business Law Section from 1989-1990. Mr. Fotenos also served as a member of the California State Senate Commission on Corporate Governance, Shareholder Rights and Securities Transactions, known as the Killea Commission.

Jim was an advisor to the drafting committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which prepared the Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 (known as RUPA). Jim is a frequent lecturer on partnerships and limited liability companies.

Heather Rosmarin is an associate in the Cooley Godward Business department. She joined the firm in 2003 and is resident in the Palo Alto office.

Her practice consists of general corporate and securities law matters, with an emphasis on the representation of emerging companies, venture capital funds, and public companies in the technology sector.

Ms. Rosmarin received a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 2003, where she served as supervising editor of the California Law Review. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in 1993.

Ms. Rosmarin is a member of the State Bar of California.

Information about the showcase:

The 2006 Digital Vision Fellows will be showcasing their work. Come learn about the innovative applications of technology that these Digital Vision entrepreneurs are developing for the social sector in emerging markets. Sip on wine and nibble on cheese while you browse through the poster-board exhibit of the 20 Digital Vision and learn more about their work firsthand.

Please RSVP to events@rdvp.org
Please indicate whether you will also attend the Financial Services Innovation Summit

When and where?

Light refreshments will be served.

About the DVP Fellows:

The current group of DV Fellows represent 9 countries, speak 17 different languages, have an average of 10 years professional experience, and many are experienced entrepreneurs. They are working on projects ranging from e-commerce, to microfinance to education; and in countries such as Brazil, Estonia, India, Kenya, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Venezuela.
Visit our Meet the Fellows page for more information.

Introduction

Financial services are fundamental to community development as they enable individuals to build assets, manage risks, and increase earnings. The Financial Services Innovation Summit launches the Digital Vision Programs Advancing Financial Services Initiative. Digital Vision Fellows in the Advancing Financial Services Initiative will harnesses the power of information technology to improve the reach, scope and effectiveness of critical financial services in underserved markets. They will employ a needs-based approach to conceptualizing innovations in the following areas: microfinance, microinsurance, remittances, market information, and e-commerce.

Please RSVP to events@rdvp.org.
In your message, please indicate whether you will be attending the Summit and/or the Showcase.

When and where?

Schedule of Events

Panel: Next Generation Financial Services for Untapped Markets

Come learn about the next generation of financial services for untapped markets. We will explore trends in disintermediation, discover how multinational corporations and social entrepreneurs are entering into the cross-border payments market, gain insights into the nuances in the cultural marketing of financial services for low-income markets, and hear about how microfinance institutions are making decisions on bundled services – which service bundles are the most profitable and for which market segments.

Moderator:
Danny Ayala, Senior Vice President and Product Management Manager, Wells Fargo’s Global Remittance Services. More

Panelists:
Margarita Quihuis, President and Founder, Indigo Financiera. More
Segeni Ng’ethe, President and Founder, MamaMikes. More
Bhairav Trivedi, Co-Founder and CEO, PayQuik. More
More
Gabriel Manjarrez, Co-founder and EVP, Progress Financial Corp (Progreso Financiero).More
Nat Goldhaber, Founder of Claremont Creek Venture and Cybergold. More

Keynote Speakers

Speaker:Nancy Barry, President of Women’s World Banking
Bringing Technology to Micro-entrepreneurs

The Women’s World Banking network aims to have a major impact on expanding the economic assets, participation and power of low income women as entrepreneurs and economic agents by opening their access to finance, knowledge and markets. Stanford alumni Nancy Barry will highlight Women’s World Banking’s strategy of Bringing Technology to Micro-entrepreneurs. Women’s World Banking is assisting its affiliates with creating technological tools to assist with MFI product diversification, expansion into rural areas, and managing micro-enterprises. Through this strategy, and all of its work, the Women’s World Banking network aims to have a major impact on expanding the economic assets, participation and power of low income women as entrepreneurs and economic agents by opening their access to finance, knowledge and markets.

Barry’s bio:
http://www.swwb.org/English/1000/global_team/office_of_the_president.htm
Women’s World Banking:
http://www.swwb.org

Speaker:Javier Sarro, Chief Executive Officer, Grupo Elektra
Achieving Scale: From Zero to 80,000 loans per week in less than three years

Grupo Elektra is Latin America ’s leading specialty retailer and financial services company, serving the mass market by providing consumer credit. It operates more than 1,000 stores in four countries. Javier Sarro will share his perspectives on Grupo Elektra’s strategy of combining retail with banking operations. Launched in October of 2002, Banco Azteca now has a presence in the majority of Grupo Elektra’s 1,000 stores in Mexico and opens 50,000 new savings accounts and 80,000 new loans every week. Banco Azteca also offers basic insurance, medical coverage, and free entrepreneurship training to its low and middle-income clients. Grupo Elektra has well established systems to effectively monitor and manage credit risk for small denomination loans on a weekly basis.

Sarro’s bio:
http://www.gruposalinas.com/whatis/team.shtml#
Grupo Elektra:
http://www.grupoelektra.com.mx/elektra/English/default.asp