Staff & Contact
Staff:
Lucia Sanchez, Interim Director
Lucia Sanchez is the Interim Director of the Small & Medium Enterprise Initiative, based in Cambridge, MA. Lucia is guiding the current development of the program, including: research agenda, fundraising, operations management and partner network development. Prior to joining IPA, Lucia worked as a UNDP Consultant at the Argentine Ministry of Industry for the "SME Clusters and Networks Development" project, and later as a Project Manager for the Regional Development Program (PRODER) at the National Bank of Argentina. Lucia has also interned in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization office in Hanoi, Vietnam, for the "SME Cluster Development" project. She holds a Masters degree in Public Administration in International Development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and a Licenciatura in Sociology from the University of Buenos Aires.
Sarah Craig, Project Coordinator
Sarah Craig is a Project Coordinator with the Small & Medium Enterprise Initiative, based in Washington, DC. Prior to joining IPA, Sarah worked for IFC as part of the Access to Finance Global Network Support team. Based in Istanbul, she supported projects aimed at increasing access to financial services, including microfinance, SME banking and microinsurance. Previous work experience includes a research position with the Enterprise Initiative at the University of Chicago and an internship with IPA Peru. Sarah received her Master's in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics from Carleton College.
Marina Turlakova, Project Coordinator
Marina Turlakova is a Project Coordinator with the Small & Medium Enterprise Initiative, based in Cambridge, MA. Prior to joining IPA, Marina worked at the Doing Business project of the World Bank Group, where she focused on business regulation and its effect on small and medium enterprises. Her previous work experience also includes an analyst position at Cornerstone Research, a consulting firm providing economic and financial analysis to attorneys involved in commercial litigation. She received a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge, UK and a BA in Economics from Wellesley College, MA.
Eleanor Coates, Project Associate
Eleanor Coates is a Project Associate with the Small & Medium Enterprise Initiative, based in Washington, DC. Before joining IPA, Eleanor worked for the World Bank in the Learning Board Secretariat, and for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she focused on the role of the private sector and private actors in development, particularly on public-private partnerships with U.S. development agencies. She has also held research internships with FINCA Zambia, a microfinance institution, and Reform Scotland, a public policy think tank in Edinburgh. Eleanor received a BA in Economics from Pomona College.
Colombia
Isabela Echeverry, Project Coordinator
Isabela Echeverry is a Project Coordinator with the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Initiative in Colombia. She joined IPA and ideas42 in September 2010 and currently manages daily operations, implementation of evaluations and partner relations for four in-country projects for the SME Initiative. Prior to joining IPA and ideas42, Isabela worked for the World Bank’s Human Development Department in Colombia where she liaised between country officials and headquarters to develop evaluations and a multi-year project on quality of education, and consulted for a number of NGOs working in the microfinance and enterprise development sector, including Endeavor México, FINCA Perú, and Microempresas de Antioquia in Colombia. She holds a Master's in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. Isabela also currently teaches an International Relations course at the Universidad El Externado de Colombia. Isabela enjoys salsa dancing, cooking and scuba diving.
Santiago Reyes, Project Associate
Santiago Reyes started in October 2011 as a Project Associate with the SME Initiative in Colombia. He is an economist and is currently finishing his Master’s in Economics (with a thesis titled "Determinants of Inter-sectoral labor reallocation"). He previously worked for a Cluster Support Initiative Program in Colombia financed by the IABD and managed by the Universidad de los Andes, and has also been a consultant in various companies, doing impact evaluations and advising national entities such as the national training service and local entities such as the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá.
Philippines
Else van Schijndel, Project Associate
Else van Schijndel is an International Project Associate for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Initiative, based in Manila, Philippines. Else works on the Business Skills Training for SMEs project in partnership with the Asian Institute of Management. She joined IPA in June 2011 and works on the design, implementation and outcomes analysis of a randomized evaluation related to returns to business consulting and access to human capital for SMEs. Prior to joining IPA, she interned with the microfinance institution FINCA Peru. Else graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a Master's degree in Economics.
Uganda
Christoph Hartmann, Project Coordinator
Christoph Hartmann is a Project Coordinator with the Small & Medium Enterprise Initiative, based in Kampala, Uganda. He currently manages daily operations and implementation of a business census covering around 30,000 SMEs in Central Uganda and will also manage an evaluation of a business training program for women entrepreneurs. Working with IPA offered Christoph the opportunity to leave his desk at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, where he was a consultant on topics such as industrial transformation and macro-economic policies. Prior to the ILO, he worked in East and Central Kenya implementing an impact evaluation among banana farmers. Christoph has also interned with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Namibia, where he prepared a SME Census for the “Partnership of Economic Growth” program. Christoph holds a Master’s Degree in Social Economics from the University of Goettingen (Germany) and completed parts of his studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Outside his professional life, Christoph enjoys football (playing and watching), travelling and goat racing.
Contact:
For more information on the Small & Medium Enterprise Initiative, please contact sme@poverty-action.org
Print this pageFunding Partners
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare.
The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose, including exploring effective ways to empower the world’s poor to make progress towards prosperity.
SEVEN (Social Equity Venture Fund) is a virtual non-profit entity run by entrepreneurs whose strategy is to markedly increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise-based solutions to poverty. It does this by targeted investment that fosters thought leadership through books, films and websites; supporting role models - whether they are entrepreneurs or innovative firms - in developing nations; and shaping a new discourse in government, the press and the academy around private-sector innovation, prosperity and progressive human values.
