(above) Barry Lennon, newest member of WOCCU's senior management team

Madison, WI—Barry Lennon, a well respected leader in the international microfinance community, joined World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) this week as part of senior management. Lennon will head up WOCCU's Washington, DC office and act as a liaison with international donors.

Mr. Lennon comes to World Council after a distinguished 26-year career with United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Most recently, Mr. Lennon was the Senior Financial Advisor and Team Leader in USAID's Microenterprise Development Office where he provided technical support to USAID missions throughout the world in the design and evaluation of their microfinance programs.

During his tenure in Washington, Mr. Lennon developed and managed microfinance grant competitions and completed microfinance institutional appraisals, market assessments and program designs in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Prior to joining the Microenterprise Office, he spent 14 years with USAID in Guatemala and Honduras designing and managing financial service programs for poor and low- income households. Lennon also spent six years with the Peace Corps in Guatemala and Mali working with cooperatives providing savings and loan services in rural areas.

Pete Crear, World Council CEO noted, "We are excited to have Barry join the World Council of Credit Unions development team. For years, we have worked collaboratively in the roles of donor and implementer to build stronger financial systems and provide access to affordable financial services to people around the world." Crear continued, "We are happy to take this next step and bring such an experienced and practiced individual on board."

A long-time champion of the credit union approach to broadening and deepening access to financial services, Lennon explained, "From a donor perspective, I have had a unique opportunity to work with many different institutional approaches to the opening of financial markets. I have seen the impact and the potential that well-run credit unions can have on poor and low-income households in the developing world, and I am proud to join the WOCCU team. I look forward to building upon and adding to the innovative work that has already been done by the World Council."

To learn more about World Council of Credit Unions development initiatives, visit the www.woccu.org/development.

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.