Keynote Speaker
Alex Rizzi
Deputy Director, Smart Campaign

Alex Rizzi will share insights about how the principles of The Smart Campaign are being adopted by microfinance organizations around the globe to the benefit of entrepreneurs. Come join us to hear about the power of committing to prioritizing the needs of those who benefit from microfinance-related products and services.

Alexandra (Kobishyn) Rizzi is the Deputy Director of the Smart Campaign and works closely with the Director on Campaign strategy, communications and management. Prior to joining Accion, Alex was a Project Development Manager at Innovations for Poverty Action where she helped create the Microsavings and Payments Innovation Initiative (now part of the Global Financial Inclusion Initiative), a research fund focused on rigorous impact evaluations of savings products and payment systems. She has also worked at the Centre for Micro Finance at IFMR Research in Chennai India, where she was the Head of Knowledge Management and Dissemination and contributed to the launch of the Microfinance Researchers Alliance Programme (MRAP).

Alex holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Princeton University, and a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University where she focused on international development and was part of the business diplomacy program.

Panelists

Valery Belloso - panelist
Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer
AccionSan Diego

Valery Belloso is the Chief Business Development and Strategy Officer at Accion San Diego. Ms. Belloso has worked at Accion since January 2006 in various capacities and joined the management team in 2015. In her current role, she is instrumental in leading the organization’s business development strategy, managing key partnerships, overseeing strategic organizational projects and ensuring programmatic goals are being met effectively.

She holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of San Diego and a Masters in Spanish Language and Literature from San Diego State University.

Craig McIntosh - panelist
Professor of Economics
Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies
University of California, San Diego

Craig McIntosh is a development economist whose work focuses on program evaluation. His main research interest is the design of institutions which promote the provision of financial services to micro-entrepreneurs. He has conducted field evaluations of innovative anti-poverty policies in Mexico, Guatemala, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. He is currently working on research projects investigating how to boost savings among the poor, on whether schooling can be used as a tool to fight HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, and on mechanisms to improve the long-term viability of Fair Trade markets.

Dennis Mello - panelist
Global Program Officer, Women Empowered Initiative
PCI

Dennis Mello is the Global Program Officer for the Women Empowered Initiative at PCI, a position he has held since 2014. Dennis earned a Masters of Pacific International Affairs with a focus on International Development (2013) from the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at the University of California at San Diego and a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (2000) from the University of California at Berkeley.

Prior to working at PCI, Dennis served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Vanuatu (2007-2009), worked in construction project management, and served as a Civil Engineering Officer in the United States Air Force (2001-2005). Dennis was a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at UC Berkeley.

Kasra Movahedi - panelist
Technical Advisor for Economic Empowerment Programs
International Rescue Committee

Kasra Movahedi is the Technical Advisor for Economic Empowerment Programs for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an international aid organization that domestically offers refugee resettlement and related services in 22 communities in the U.S. Kasra’s role is to identify and replicate evidence-based models that help low-income immigrant and refugee families achieve self-sufficiency and ultimately, financial stability. Prior to working for the IRC’s National Programs Unit, Kasra worked for 11 years in the local IRC office in San Diego, where he helped to design and launch a host of economic empowerment interventions which featured related and accessible loan products, including microenterprise development, workforce development, and financial education. Kasra’s current mandate includes launching a subsidiary lending organization for the IRC specifically to allow for broader replication of the San Diego “asset-building loan” model throughout IRC’s US network. Kasra has a BSBA in Economics and an MA in International Business from the University of Florida, and is fluent in Farsi.

Stephen Conroy, Ph.D. - panel moderator
Professor of Economics
Faculty Director, Center for Peace and Commerce
University of San Diego

Stephen Conroy is a Professor of Economics and Faculty Director of the Center for Peace of Commerce at the University of San Diego, where he joined the faculty in 2004. Professor Conroy earned a Ph.D. (1998) and M.A. (1995) in Economics from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Creighton University, where he graduated with honors in 1987. He has published over 25 journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings primarily in the areas of applied microeconomics, business ethics and aging. Professor Conroy has won several research and teaching awards including the Outstanding Undergraduate Business Educator award in 2007 and the prestigious University Professor Award in 2012.