A great illustration of the rapid rise of microfinance is the promotion of a leading figure in microfinance to an important government position. Maria Otero, President and CEO of ACCION International, has been chosen by the Obama Administration to fill one of the six positions of Under Secretaries of Global Affairs who lead the U.S. Foreign Relations on democracy, human rights, labor, and population.

Ms. Otero’s promotion to this highly esteemed position is a wonderful step forward for the world of microfinance. While there has been significant progess in private/non-profit groups using microfinance to help the working poor, the U.S. Government has been a bit slower to proclaim that microfinance could be a leading tool used by the federal government to combat both global and domestic poverty.

With the promotion of Ms. Otero to a central position within the Executive Branch, we hope to see a much more cooperative effort to integrate microfinance into U.S. policy the years to come.

Check out the link below to learn more about Maria Otero:

http://www.fdic.gov/about/comein/biosOTERO.html

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