Ariela Nathusius
My name is Ariela Nathusius, a recent graduate from Tufts University in Economics and International Relations. I was born and raised in Guatemala and recently moved to New York to join the microfinance arm of PAN - Presidents Action Network ( http://www.pannetwork.org). My responsibilities include developing several microfinance-related initiatives in Guatemala, such as financing products that will help improve people’s quality of life. I am also responsible for developing the first student-run microfinance organization called Youth Microcredit
International (http://www.ymci.org) - where high school kids will be able to create clubs to spread awareness about microcredit, and raise money in their schools and neighborhoods to invest in microfinance.
During my senior year at Tufts, I became very interested in microfinance and thus researched it thoroughly. My senior thesis consisted of investigating the current microfinance status in Guatemala’s second largest city, Quetzaltenango. Through research and fieldwork, a colleague and I were able to determine how four Microfinance
Institutions (MFIs) in the region worked with their clients, how they perceive competition, and what they expected from the future of microfinance in the region. We quickly learned that access to capital markets would change the way these MFIs would address all of these issues.