Staff & Contact
Lucia Sanchez, Director
Lucia Sanchez is the Director of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Initiative at IPA. She is currently leading the strategic growth of the Initiative, including project development, fundraising, financial management, network development, and policy outreach. Prior to joining IPA, she worked at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vietnam, as a consultant to the SME Cluster Development Project and the Corporate Social Responsibility Project. She also worked in the design and implementation of SME policies in Argentina, both at the National Ministry of Industry (as a UNDP Consultant for the SME Cluster Development Program), and at the National Bank of Argentina (as a Project Manager for the Regional Development Program). Lucia holds a Masters degree in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she was a Fulbright and Harvard Presidential Fellow. She also holds a graduate degree in Development Economics from FLACSO, and an BA 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 as a consultant for the World Bank Group, and for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she focused on the role of the private sector and private actors in development. She has also held research internships with FINCA Zambia and Reform Scotland. Eleanor received a BA in Economics from Pomona College.
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.
Arielle Bernhardt, Project Associate
Arielle Bernhardt is a Project Associate with the SME Initiative, based in Manila, Philippines. She currently manages the SME-Credit Scoring project, which measures the direct and indirect effects of access to credit on SMEs and their suppliers, competitors and customers. Previously, Arielle interned for IPA in Senegal, where she studied informal moneylending practices among micro-entrepreneurs. Before joining IPA, Arielle conducted research on constraints to growth among Least Developed Countries for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and held an internship in community-led development in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Arielle holds a BA in economics and anthropology from Swarthmore College and is from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Kyle Holloway, Project Associate
Kyle Holloway is a Project Associate based in Kampala, Uganda. His work with the SME Initiative is focused on measuring the returns to business consulting for women entrepreneurs in urban Uganda. Before joining IPA, Kyle was a lecturer in International Relations at the University of Azuay in Cuenca, Ecuador. Previous work experience includes a research position at the University of Notre Dame and an internship with Saint-Gobain. Kyle received his Master’s degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia and a BS in Engineering Physics from Taylor University.
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.
