From its founding in 2008 until retiring in 2019, Elisabeth Rhyne was the Managing Director of CFI. As senior vice president of Accion since 2000, Beth led Accion’s initial entry into Africa and India, directed the organization’s research efforts to develop new financial products, and managed Accion’s publications and educational activities.
Recognized as a leading thinker and writer in the field of microfinance, Beth has published numerous articles and four books on the topic, including Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia (Kumarian Press, 2001). She was also co-editor of The New World of Microenterprise Finance (Kumarian, 1994), which provided the introduction to microfinance for many of the field’s current professionals.
Beth was director of the Office of Microenterprise Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1994 to 1998, where she developed and led USAID’s Microenterprise Initiative. While there, she contributed to the founding of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Boulder Institute of Microfinance. Beth’s experience includes eight years of residence in Africa (Kenya and Mozambique) and independent consulting on microfinance policy and operations for governments, international organizations and microfinance institutions.
She holds a master’s and Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and humanities from Stanford University.
&nbsp;

Former Managing Director

Elisabeth Rhyne

&gt; Posted by Elisabeth Rhyne 
The dialogue goes on about IPOs in microfinance – even before the much-anticipated SKS IPO.  In today&#8217;s Forbes article, two of the strongest proponents of IPOs make their case&#8230;
<blockquote><a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/30/india-microfinance-sks-ipo-markets-emerging-markets-accion.html?boxes=Homepagechannels" target="_blank">Microfinance Goes Public &#8211; How capital markets can help fight poverty.</a> 
By Michael Schlein and Michael Chu 
India&#8217;s largest microfinance institution, SKS, recently filed a draft prospectus to sell shares on the India stock exchange in an initial public offering. This IPO will be an historic milestone for the poor in India and beyond, opening the door to assisting them on a scale never seen before in this region. 
Microfinance&#8217;s journey from non-profit into the heart of capitalism is a hot topic these days, and this IPO will be no exception. Specialized media, the business sector, the development community, philanthropy and the microfinance industry&#8211;all will debate the ramifications of this event&#8230; <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/30/india-microfinance-sks-ipo-markets-emerging-markets-accion.html?boxes=Homepagechannels" target="_blank">Read more &gt;</a></blockquote>

Microfinance Goes Public – A SKS IPO

Author

Author

Date

Date

Topic

Topic