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Fonkoze COO appointed to Haiti's Central Bank
Georgette Jean-Louis will bring to he Board of Governors a voice that integrates her experience at the height of Haiti's banking industry with the perspective of the rural poor.
Georgette Jean-Louis will contribute her Fonkoze experience to the Central Bank.
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Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct. 18, 2011 – Chief operating officer of Fonkoze, Georgette Jean-Louis, has been appointed to the board of Haiti’s Central Bank after the Senate approved her nomination on Oct. 13.
Jean-Louis brings to the Board of Governors a voice that effectively integrates her experience from the boardroom tables of Haiti’s most prestigious and successful businesses with the perspective of those living at the other end of the spectrum throughout Haiti’s provinces.
For more than 20 years, Ms. Jean-Louis has been at the height of the banking industry in Haiti. She was recruited as the chief financial officer for Fonkoze Financial Services in April 2009 after decades of leadership in the financial consulting industry. Ms. Jean-Louis played a key role in Fonkoze’s response to the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, which included record remittance payouts and the emergency implementation of catastrophe insurance for clients. She was promoted to chief operating officer of both the Fonkoze foundation and Fonkoze Financial Services in September 2010.
“We are all very proud of Georgette’s accomplishments on behalf of Fonkoze and the microfinance sector in Haiti,” Fonkoze Financial Services CEO Anne Hastings said. “We know that she will continue to represent us well on the Board of Governors.”
Ms. Jean-Louis’s appointment is a return to the Central Bank, where she previously worked for seven years as director of the Department of Supervision of Banks and Financial Institutions. Her past work there included coordination of several efforts aimed at strengthening the supervision of banks such as the development and implementation of numerous preventive measures and control mechanisms for commercial banks, the installation of a structure to observe and address trends that lead to money laundering, and the restructuring of the department responsible for the supervision of Haitian banks. She has also led a number of projects involving financial management and regulation and supervision of banks in collaboration with multilateral partners such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank.
“I see the Central Bank’s potential to act as a leader in our economy, demonstrating an innovative model of inclusion. It’s time for financial institutions at all levels to represent the diverse voices of Haiti,” Ms. Jean-Louis said.
Ms. Jean-Louis’s other expertise includes management, reorganization, restructuring of enterprises, and auditing of financial institutions, which she did for seven years at Mérové-Pierre, member firm of KPMG, Haiti’s leading Certified Public Accounting firm.
This year, Ms. Jean-Louis was invited to participate in the prestigious Advanced Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, hosted by the Women’s World Banking Center for Microfinance Leadership. Elizabeth Lynch, center manager, described Ms. Jean-Louis as “an incredible addition to the program” with energy and enthusiasm for learning, rigor in team discussions, and experience in innovative leadership during challenges. “All of this greatly enriched the course and fellow participants,” she said.
Ms. Jean-Louis made such an impression that she was selected for Creative Metier’s “The Coaching Programme – Coaching for Mission Leadership and Performance,” near Oxford, England, a six-month program that she will finish in December.
About Fonkoze
Fondasyon Kole Zépol (Fonkoze) is Haiti’s largest, most innovative microfinance institution with more than 55,000 borrowers, most of whom live and work in the countryside of Haiti, and more than 255,000 savers. It operates out of 46 branches across Haiti and in every province of the country, including many towns and villages where no other banks operate. Fonkoze’s unwavering commitment to serving Haiti’s poor has driven the institution to develop its Staircase out of Poverty approach—a series of complementary programs and products designed to meet clients wherever they are and accompany them on their journey out of poverty. For more, visit www.fonkoze.org.