Our organization is diverse, dynamic, passionate about our work and ready to collaborate with the business owners, partners and supporters who play key roles in our ongoing success. On June 30, Bill Burrus who has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCION USA since its inception, retired.  We are pleased to announce that the Board of Directors of ACCION USA elected Gina Harman to serve as ACCION USA’s President and Chief Executive Officer and Paul Quintero to serve as its Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer effective July 1, 2008.  Both Ms. Harman and Mr. Quintero currently serve in those same capacities with ACCION New York.

Gina Harman
President & CEO

Gina Harman assumed the position of President and CEO of ACCION USA on July 1, 2008.  She has functioned in the same capacity at ACCION New York and New Jersey since February 2008. Her appointment as President and CEO was preceded by her seven-year tenure on the Board of Directors of ACCION New York and New Jersey.

Prior to her role at ACCION, Ms. Harman served as President of the over $600 million consumer division of publicly-traded Harman International. As president, she was responsible for the strategy, engineering, product development, marketing, manufacturing, sales and distribution for multiple brands worldwide. Her career with the company spanned 22 years.

Previously, Ms. Harman served in a variety of nonprofit positions in both New York and Chicago focused on child care, labor relations and community development. She was the executive director of the Greater Astoria Development Corporation from 1983 to 1985, a Program Manager with the NYC Youth Bureau and founder and director of the Washington Square Methodist Day Care Cooperative.

Paul Quintero
CFO & COO

Prior to joining ACCION, Mr. Quintero served as Senior Vice President of Business Investments at the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), where he successfully closed over $25 million in direct investments and $57 million in triple-tax exempt financings for community development projects that included the largest "big-box" retail development in Manhattan, the largest microloan fund in New York State history, the first new medical school in Harlem in over 30 years, the first auto dealership north of 57th Street, the first bowling alley north of 42nd Street and other development firsts.

Before joining the Empowerment Zone in 2003, Mr. Quintero was a Vice President at Lehman Brothers, where he worked in the Global Communication and Media Group within the investment banking division. Prior to Lehman, Mr. Quintero was Senior Associate at Schroder & Co., where he worked in the Industrial Manufacturing Group. Mr. Quintero began his investment banking career with Chase Securities (now JPMorgan Chase) where he coordinated and managed syndicated loan financings and merger and acquisition transactions for both domestic and Latin American clients across a range of industries. Prior to investment banking, Mr. Quintero worked as a senior staff accountant for Deloitte & Touche.

Mr. Quintero, a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA), earned a BA in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Washington and was one of the 100 students selected by the Washington state legislature for a four-year full tuition scholarship under the Washington State Scholars Program. Mr. Quintero was selected as a fellow from the Robert F. Toigo Foundation and completed his MBA from Columbia Business School.

Livingston Parsons III
Senior Vice President, Lending Operations and Model Development

Livingston (Livy) Parsons is the Senior Vice President for Lending Operations at ACCION USA, Inc.  Mr. Parsons, who joined ACCION in 1992; oversees the lending operations for ACCION USA’s microlending operations nationwide.  He oversaw the development of ACCION USA’s Internet loan application, character based credit scoring model, and loan servicing partnership with Hope Community Credit Union amongst other unique achievements in the United States’ microfinance field.  He oversees the development of new lending processes, policies and technologies at ACCION USA. 

From June 1997 to January 1998, Mr. Parsons served as the Interim President & CEO of ACCION New York.  Prior to joining ACCION International, Mr. Parsons was a Vice President for the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and Chemical Bank.  During his banking career, Mr. Parsons was involved in Multi-National, Large Corporate and Leveraged Finance/Credit Intensive lending. 

Mr. Parsons received a B. A. degree from Princeton University.  He is the co-author of the Aspen Institute’s FIELD program’s 2007 publication “Credit Scoring for Microenterprise Lenders” and a contributing author to the 2002 FIELD publication “Credit Evaluation Grids for Microlenders”.  He is a graduate of the initial Harvard Business School - ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership in Microfinance.  He is the Board Chair of Union Square Main Streets in Somerville, MA and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Credit Builders Alliance and the Atlantic Salmon Federation (U.S.) and is a past President of the Social Investment Forum of New England.

Elizete P. Groenendaal
Vice President, Marketing and Business Development

As vice president of marketing and business development, Mrs. Groenendaal is responsible for the marketing of current programs and expansion initiatives of ACCION USA. Prior to joining ACCION USA, Mrs. Groenendaal led an extensive marketing career with Clorox and Procter & Gamble. Mrs. Groenendaal holds an M.B.A. degree from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a bachelor's degree from Lafayette College.

Anne Fish
Vice President, Resource Development

Anne Fish joined ACCION USA in June 2007.  She is responsible for strengthening and expanding institutional and individual support for the organization’s  operations, loan fund and financial literacy programs.  A former Peace Corps volunteer and Director of Fundraising Services at Oxfam America, she most recently held senior marketing positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Denison University.

Luz Gomez
Senior Director, Marketing

As senior director of marketing, Ms. Gomez's role is to identify strategic partnerships to expand ACCION USA's distribution and market presence and increase overall marketing effectiveness. In 2003 she launched ACCION USA's Florida program and directed it for three years. Prior to that she worked for four years at ACCION New York, most recently as the business development manager. Before joining ACCION, Ms. Gomez worked as a research analyst for a Latin American online service, Porvenir Inc. She holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.A. from Columbia University.

Erika Eurkus
Senior Director, Capital & Brand Development

As Senior Director for Capital & Brand Development, Erika is responsible for the capitalization and management of the ACCION USA Loan Fund specializing in micro loans to low- and moderate-income individuals. In addition, she leads ACCION USA’s branding efforts in positioning the Boston-based organization in the marketplace.

Prior to her current position, Erika served as New England Program Director for ACCION USA, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the area’s largest microlending program, a position she came to after assisting with first ever merger in the domestic microfinance field, the union of ACCION USA and Working Capital. 

Erika served for two years on the advisory board of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship at the Pioneer Institute in Boston.  She currently sits on the advisory council for Onein3, an advisory of young professionals serving the Mayor of Boston.  She holds a B.A. from Northwestern University.  In 2007 Erika was named to the Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40,” which lists the best and brightest young business leaders and innovators in Greater Boston. Read more.

Carolina Velasquez
Senior Director, Credit

Senior Director of Credit, Carolina Velasquez manages the loan underwriting and processing team as well as the Internet & partner loan officers. Carolina has been working in the field of domestic microfinance for seven years. Prior to coming to ACCION USA, in 2004, she worked for four years at ACCION San Diego, most recently as the Director of Operations. A native of Colombia, Carolina holds a Bachelors in Management Science and Engineering from the Medellin School of Engineering and an M.S.B.A in Finance from San Diego State University.

Andrea Stiles Pullas
Senior Director, Financial Literacy

Andrea Stiles Pullas, Senior Director, Financial Literacy, has worked for AUSA since 2001.  During her tenure she has worked on the Resource Development team, where she managed institutional fundraising and was responsible for securing 80% of grant revenue for the organization for 5 years.  In her current role, Ms. Stiles Pullas leads AUSA’s efforts in financial education, spearheading program development, securing resources and developing strategies for implementation and roll out. Prior to joining AUSA, she worked for the Fairfield County Microenteprise Investors Council in Quito, Ecuador as a Communications Associate.  In 2005 Ms. Stiles Pullas earned an MS degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Community and Regional Planning. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder (1999, communication and Spanish literature).

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Wole Ralph
Program Director, Georgia

As program director for Georgia, Wole Ralph oversees the disbursement of loans to microentrepreneurs throughout this state.  He will also be responsible for extending the reach of microfinance to more small business owners in the area.

Prior to joining ACCION USA, Mr. Ralph founded and led Ralph Consulting Services, which specialized in providing strategic planning and assessment programs to enhance organizational effectiveness. He has also served in the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor.  With 10 years' experience in organizational development, fiscal management, performance evaluation and community building, Mr. Ralph brings to ACCION a comprehensive understanding of management, together with a demonstrated commitment to the underserved populations of the United States.  Mr. Ralph holds a Masters in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University and graduated magna cum laude from Morris Brown College with a degree in African Studies. In 2007 Mr. Ralph was named to Georgia Trend's "40 under 40" which recognizes the best and brightest in Georgia's business, politics, nonprofits, academia, healthcare, and the arts. Read more.

ACCION USA Georgia

Nicole Bajalia - Collections Manager, Loan Officer
Jeremiah Govera - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist
Lydia Kim - Summer Intern, Business Development Specialist
Emily Mclemore - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist
Jennifer Thompson - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist
Daniela Trajkovska - Business Development Specialist
Johanna Twersky - Savannah Program Manager, Loan Officer
Sarah Yagoda - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist

Ana Hammock
Program Director, New England and Internet

Ms. Hammock was hired in August 2006 to launch ACCION financial education program, Your Money and You.  The program has succeeded in providing essential financial resources to low to moderate income participants through two primary delivery channels: workshops and one-to-one counseling sessions.  With her promotion to Program Director for New England lending, Ana will build on the strength of community partners to ensure that local entrepreneurs retain access to capital and financial education.  Prior to joining AUSA, Ana worked in community development for Catholic Relief Services in Sri Lanka. In addition to her work overseas, Ana worked for three years at Centro Presente in Boston where she taught classes on citizenship, computers and immigration policies and procedures to Central American immigrants.       

ACCION USA New England

Lily Bower - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist
Rodrigo Cerveira - Loan Officer
Erica Kantor - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist
Sherri Lane - Loan Officer
Mike Minkoff - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist

William Mateo
Program Director, Florida

As program director for ACCION USA in Florida, William Mateo is responsible for the day-to-day operations, including overseeing local marketing efforts, business development and the loan process. Mr. Mateo joined ACCION USA in 2003 most recently as the senior business development officer. His responsibilities included, but were not limited to, business development, loan productivity and loan risk management. Prior to joining ACCION USA, he worked for three years at ACCION New York as a lending team manager. He successfully expanded the program into Queens Borough and Long Island, NY. Mr. Mateo completed a B.S. degree from New York Institute of Technology.

ACCION USA Florida

Christina Bonnet - Senior Loan Officer
Joshua Castro - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist

Rachel Hynes - Loan Officer

Ashley Lau - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist

Samuel Leonard - Americorps VISTA Volunteer, Business Development Specialist

Joanne Milord - Collections Manager, Loan Officer

Sarahi Rivera - Intake Officer

ACCION USA Internet and Puerto Rico Team

Renzo Mendoza - Loan Officer