WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: The Dignity Fund, L.P.

The Dignity Fund, a private partnership founded in 2005, brings capital to the microfinance industry in an effort to advance the upward mobility of the poor. The Dignity Fund seeks to increase the number of poor households with access to credit, savings and other financial services by providing debt financing to microfinance institutions (MFIs).

The organization believes that capital will enable MFIs to grow and to reach more poor clients, thus allowing more micro-entrepreneurs to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity. The organization typically offers its services to incorporated MFIs with the following characteristics:

Serves at least 5,000 clients
At operational sustainability with solid financial statements
Administered by a strong management team with internal controls
Affiliated with a microfinance network or have another microfinance fund as an investor

The organization is managed by an experienced executive team, board of directors and investment committee.

Executive Team

Elizabeth Funk, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, is also CEO of CML Global Capital Ltd. (http://www.cmlglobal.com/), a real estate investment and development company. Ms. Funk is actively involved in the microfinance industry and serves as Vice-Chairman of Unitus. She is also on the board of the Deutsche Bank Global Commercial Microcredit Consortium Fund and serves as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Peace Action Network. Ms. Funk is the founder and forum moderator of the YPO Microcredit Forum. Prior to joining CML, Ms. Funk was an early Yahoo! Inc. employee and founded the Yahoo! Shopping service. Ms. Funk headed Yahoo!’s shopping and commerce strategy, as well as business development and strategic planning for several Yahoo! businesses including Yahoo! Finance. Prior to her work at Yahoo!, Ms. Funk served as product manager for Microsoft Word at Microsoft. Ms. Funk earned her undergraduate degree in international relations and economics with honors from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

B. Maya Chorengel is the President and Managing Director at The Dignity Fund. Prior to The Dignity Fund, Ms. Chorengel was a Vice President of the private equity firm, Warburg Pincus. Mr. Chorengel was responsible for investments in a variety of companies, from early stage business service ventures and mature consumer packaged goods companies in the US, to manufacturing, service and food companies located in China, South Korea, the Philippines and the US. Earlier in her career, Ms. Chorengel was an associate in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley Asia Limited. She was also an analyst at James D. Wolfensohn, Inc., a boutique investment bank. Ms. Chorengel earned her bachelor’s degree in social studies with honors from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Board of Directors and Investment Committee

Geoff Davis is the President, CEO and Director of Unitus (http://www.unitus.com/). Mr. Davis has worked with microfinance programs worldwide since 1995, beginning with a program he founded in central Mexico. Mr. Davis was an early employee at Grameen Foundation USA, a global microfinance leader, and has spoken extensively on microfinance, including lectures and speeches at the International Monetary Fund, at Harvard University and on National Public Radio. Mr. Davis is a board member of Pro Mujer Mexico and SKS India, and he is also an advisor to the Miracle Wine Fund. Prior to his work in microfinance, Mr. Davis served as director of international business development for a California biomedical firm and was the founder and president of a translation company. Mr. Davis earned his undergraduate degree in international relations from Brigham Young University and a holds a Master’s degree in development economics and public policy from Harvard University.

Dr. Steven Funk is Founder and Executive Chairman of Grand Marais Investments Ltd., a private equity investment company. Dr. Funk is Chairman of Imperial Parking (Hong Kong) Ltd., Aspen Properties Ltd., and CML Global Capital Ltd., controlled by Grand Marais. Dr. Funk is a member of the World President’s Organization, a director of the WPO Foundation, an YPO Alumni, and a founder, director, and officer of the President’s Action Network Chapter of WPO and founder of PAN within YPO. Dr. Funk is also a director at Unitus, founded and led by Mike Murray and Geoff Davis. Dr. Funk is a former director of the Canada China Business Council, a founding member of the Red Cross Sheldon Kennedy Foundation for Abused Children, and an active participant in the Prince of Wales Foundation and the Hoover Institution. Dr. Funk has 20 years of experience in international corporate debt and equity investment and real estate ownership and development. Dr. Funk holds an undergraduate degree with honors from Purdue University and masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Iowa.

Victor MacFarlane is founder and managing principal of MacFarlane Partners, a real estate investment management and development firm in the United States. Mr. MacFarlane has 26 years of real estate experience and has worked extensively in property development, acquisitions, asset management and portfolio management. After establishing his firm in 1987, he sold the investment management business of MacFarlane Partners to GE Capital in 1996 and then served for three years as CEO of the renamed firm, GE Capital Investment Advisors. In April 1999, Mr. MacFarlane resigned from GE Capital and restarted MacFarlane Partners as an entrepreneurial firm focusing on urban properties and other high-yielding real estate investments. Mr. MacFarlane started his real estate career with Aetna Life & Casualty Company. Mr. MacFarlane sits on the boards of directors of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Stanford Hospital & Clinics. Mr. MacFarlane also serves on the policy advisory board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate at the University of California, Berkeley, and is an outsider director of Developers Diversified Realty Corporation. Mr. MacFarlane holds an undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico, an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, and a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mike Murray is co-founder and chairman of Unitus. He is also president of the Crystal Springs Foundation, an organization that provides capital and management support to projects that create permanent improvements in people’s lives. Mr. Murray spent 20 years in the computer industry, most notably at Apple Computer and Microsoft Corporation, where he served as corporate vice president for Human Resources and Administration. Mr. Murray earned an undergraduate engineering degree and an MBA from Stanford University.

William S. Price III is a founding partner of the Texas Pacific Group, a global private investment firm. Prior to forming TPG in 1992, Mr. Price was Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development for G.E. Capital. Mr. Price was responsible for acquiring new business units and determining the business and acquisition strategies for existing business units. From 1985 to 1991, Mr. Price worked at the management consulting firm of Bain & Company, attaining officer status and acting as co-head of the Financial Services Practice. Prior to 1985, Mr. Price was an associate specializing in corporate securities transactions with the legal firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Price serves on the Board of Directors of Bally International AG, British Vita, Cranium, DoveBid, Inc., Grohe AG, and IRMC Holdings, Inc. He also serves on the boards of four non-profit organizations: COPIA, The California Mentor Foundation, The Gladstone Institute and Just Give. Mr. Price received his undergraduate degree with honors from Stanford University. He earned a law degree with honors from the University of California, Berkeley and is a member of the California Bar.

Stuart Sundlun is Managing Director at Global Emerging Markets, a private investment group specializing in controlling investments in private companies and minority investments in public companies in the US and internationally. Since 1994, Mr. Sundlun has structured transactions and investments in Russia. From 2001, he has also served as an advisor to Triago S.A., a placement agent for private equity funds headquartered in Paris, France. Mr. Sundlun serves on the board of South Oil Corporation, which operates in Russia, and the advisory board of MusicLoads, Inc. and Recipco Inc. Previously Mr. Sundlun was an associate in the investment banking division of Lehman Brothers and a Mexican Liaison Officer at Chase Manhattan Bank. Mr. Sundlun earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations with honors from Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard, Mr. Sundlun was a Rotary Fellow at La Universidad Pontifica Catolica in Lima, Peru. Mr. Sundlun also holds an MBA from Columbia University.

Additional Resources:

The Dignity Fund: http://www.dignityfund.com/

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