Board of Directors
MFC Board of Directors currently consists of seven Directors. Four of Directors are selected through a nomination process involving MFC member organizations and three Directors are selected directly by the existing Board. About Composition of the Board of Directors read from Association Principles.
Jhale Hajiyeva – MFC Chair
Executive Director, AMFA, Azerbaijan
Jhale Hajiyeva is the Executive Director of Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA). She has worked in microfinance since 1999 and has microfinance experience from the microfinance programme of International Organization for Migration and UNDP. Mrs. Hajiyeva established a successful strategic partnership with government authorities and several in country donor organizations including, UNDP, USAID, ADB, MIX MARKET and ACDI/VOCA. She has been a Board Member of the MFC since May 2008. Since November 2009 Jhale has been on SEEP Network Board of Directors.
Emmanuel de Lutzel – MFC Vice-Chair
Head of Group Microfinance, BNP Paribas, France
Emmanuel de Lutzel has 28 years experience in banking (Cash Management, Export Finance, corporate relationship management at BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, CCF), industry (Project finance, Siemens) in France, Germany, Belgium and Taiwan. Since 2007 he has been building a microfinance portfolio for the BNP Paribas in 8 countries with 17 microfinance institutions, for an amount of 50 M € and a social impact of 350 000 micro-entrepreneurs. He is the initiator and chairman of the Paris European Microfinance Platform Working group about microfinance funds, and of the EUROPLACE Microfinance Committee, promoting a new legal framework for Microfinance funds in Europe and in France. He is member of the Board of the European Microfinance Platform (EMFP, Luxembourg) and of Epargne sans Frontières (ESF, Paris). He is also initiator and Member of the Board of two associations of volunteers for microfinance supported by BNP Paribas, Microfinance sans Frontières (MFSF) and Bénévolat de Compétences et Solidarité (BCS).
Cristian Jurma - MFC Treasurer
General Manager, SC Express Finance, Romania
Cristian is the General Manager of SC Express Finance IFN S.A - a nonbank financial institution headquartered in western Romania, the successor of CHF International Romania. He has great practical experience in microfinance and has been working in the field since 1998 and over time he has fulfilled in different positions, including top management positions with different microfinance institutions since 2001. Mr. Jurma has over 7 years of direct management experience in SME, housing and community infrastructure lending in Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina and over 3 years of management experience in MIS and IT for microfinance, developing and implementing a web based Loan Portfolio Management System for a network of development financial institutions in Eastern Europe and Middle East, in charge with collecting business requirements and analysis, planning and budgeting as well as training and support of users. He has been working as a consultant for microfinance projects in Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia and Pakistan and currently he is also Member of the Board of MKF Lider Bosnia.
Maria Nowak - Board Director
President, Association por le Droit a L’Initiative at ve Economique (ADIE), France
Maria Nowak is the President of the Association pour le Droit a L'Initiative Economique (ADIE), France. She initiated a replication of the Grameen Bank approach in West Africa in 1986, founded ADIE in France in 1989, established the Village Credit Funds in Albania in 1992 and initiated the Local Initiatives Project in Bosnia in 1995. In 1990 she was the director of the Policy and Research Department at the Caisse Francaise de Developpement, seconded to the World Bank. She was a member of the Policy Advisory Group of the CGAP and member of the Cabinet of Laurent Fabius, the French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry.
Zhanna Zhakupova - Board Director
Executive Director, Asian Credit Fund, Kazakhstan
Zhanna Zhakupova is the Executive Director of Microcredit Organization Asian Credit Fund LLC (ACF), one of the leading non-bank financial institutions in Kazakhstan with a unique Small and Medium Business lending approach. Ms. Zhakupova has more than nine years of experience in managing an SME lending organization, strategic planning, operations management and creative marketing approaches. In her current post, she is leading a growing organization, raising debt and equity to support ACF's growth promoting SME development and microfinance. Ms. Zhakupova serves on the Supervisory Boards of the Association of Microfinance Organizations of Kazakhstan and Kompanion Financial Group, Kyrgyzstan (Mercy Corps affiliated financial company). She holds an MBA degree from Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP) and a certificate from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking of the American Bankers Association.
Lucija Popovska - Board Director
Habitat for Humanity International, Program Director
Lucija works in Habitat for Humanity International, as a director of Program -Europe and Central Asia. She is a senior international development management professional, having achievements in the field of strategy development, operations management, complex partnerships, grants management, innovation and management of change. She has extensive experience in product development and program design, funding and financing, monitoring and evaluation. Lucija specialises in financial services downscale with focus on housing finance; organizational development and governance; and intercultural learning and context analysis.
