Nelson Mattos and Eleanor Wagner Join Grameen Foundation Board

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Grameen Foundation today announced the appointment of Nelson Mattos and Eleanor Wagner to its board of directors. It has also made key changes to its leadership team, with Hillary Miller-Wise, Camilla Nestor and Steve Wardle taking on new roles. 

Nelson Mattos' 30-year career as a technical executive includes serving as Google's Vice-President for Europe and Emerging Markets, a Distinguished Engineer for IBM and Vice-President of Information and User Technologies and as an associate professor at the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany. He is currently an independent consultant and helps organizations to create technical solutions that will have a positive impact, particularly in emerging markets.

Eleanor Wagner spent most of her professional career with Citigroup, serving lastly as Chief Risk Officer Asia Pacific, where she oversaw all investment banking and capital markets businesses in the 16 countries of her focus region in Asia. She currently serves on the board of JASA, a New York-based social service agency for the elderly and on the Leadership Council of the Athena Leadership Center at her alma mater, Barnard College.

Robert Eichfeld, Chair of the Board of Directors welcomed the appointments, saying, "Nelson and Eleanor bring an extensive wealth of experience in emerging markets and a deep passion for creating sustainable solutions that address challenges facing underserved communities. We look forward to working with them to deepen the impact of Grameen Foundation's work."

The leadership changes will enable Grameen Foundation to work more closely with key allies to develop integrated solutions that address the complex challenges facing the world's poor.

"Camilla, Hillary and Steve have been instrumental in leading Grameen Foundation's efforts to reach more poor people with innovative, life-changing solutions.  With their leadership, we will continue to expand access to the financial services and information on agriculture and health that poor people need to improve their lives, said Alex Counts, President and CEO of Grameen Foundation.

Camilla Nestor has been appointed Senior Vice President for Global Solutions and will now lead its cross-cutting initiatives around financial services, agriculture and health. She previously served as the foundation's Vice President for Financial Services and has deep expertise in designing and launching financial products, building new business models to reach the poor, and social impact investing. Before coming to Grameen Foundation, she worked in structured corporate finance at Citigroup and spent five years working with microfinance institutions and rural banks in Southeast Asia, the Balkans and Africa.

As Regional CEO for Africa, Hillary Miller-Wise will oversee Grameen Foundation's portfolio across the region. The foundation currently has operations in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Miller-Wise previously led Grameen Foundation's information services team. Before joining the foundation, she served as Deputy Regional Director for Southern Africa as well as Country Director in Tanzania for TechnoServe, and was, a senior consultant at Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI).

Steve Wardle will lead business development as the foundation's new Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Strategy. He was previously Regional CEO for Africa and directed the foundation's work in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. He also served as Manager of Investments and spent a year as Acting CFO of Sevis Finansye Fonkoze (SFF) in Haiti. Before joining Grameen Foundation, he worked in commercial and investment banking.

About Grameen Foundation

Grameen Foundation is a global nonprofit organization that helps the world's poorest people achieve their full potential by providing access to essential financial services and information on health and agriculture that can transform their lives. Founded in 1997, it delivers solutions that respond to the needs of the poor, as well as tools that help poverty-focused organizations become more effective. It focuses on initiatives that can achieve widespread impact and uses an open-source approach that makes it easy for other organizations to adopt them broadly. Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and the Grameen family of companies, is an inaugural member of its Board of Directors, and now serves as director emeritus. Grameen Foundation is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in the U.S., Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org or follow us on Twitter @GrameenFdn.

Media Contact: Liselle Yorke
202-628-3560, ext 128
lyorke@grameenfoundation.

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SOURCE Grameen Foundation