Launch Reception Dinner and Thought Leader Symposium

Michael Sherraden, PhD

Michael Sherraden, PhD, is the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor and founding director of the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St Louis. CSD conceives and tests social innovations. Sherraden’s research on civic service–National Service (1982) and The Moral Equivalent of War? (1990)—contributed to the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993. His research on asset building—Assets and the Poor (1991), Inclusion in the American Dream (2005), Assets and Low Income Families (2008), and Asset Building Innovations and Strategies in Asia (2014)—has informed asset building policies in the United States and many other countries.

Dr. Ashu Handa leads the Innocenti Report Card Series, UNICEF’s flagship publication on the well-being of children in rich countries. The 2014 Report Card, which Handa led, focused on the impact of the great recession on child poverty, and was featured in over 100 major media outlets across the globe, including the Washington Post, Financial Times, The Guardian (UK), Republica (Italy), El Pais (Spain), AP, and Rueters. Through the Transfer Project, Handa has led large-scale multi-year evaluations of national cash transfer programs in Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi . The Transfer Project evaluation of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans & Vulnerable Children is the first study to examine the impact of a government poverty program on HIV behavioral risk.

Elizabeth Kellison

Elizabeth (Liz) Kellison is the Gender Lead for the Financial Services for the Poor (FSP) team. Liz leads the team’s work to increase low-income women’s access to and usage of digital financial services. The FSP team works with a wide range of public and private sector partners to foster the development of digital payment systems – such as mobile money – that can reach hundreds of millions of people with the financial tools they need to mitigate risks and capture opportunities to move out of poverty. Prior to joining the foundation, Liz was instrumental in launching and managing WebJunction.org, a learning portal for public library staff run by OCLC, the world’s largest nonprofit library cooperative.

Dennis Haraszko

Dennis Haraszko manages the monitoring, evaluation and research activities within the MasterCard Foundation’s rural & agricultural finance and savings portfolios.  Prior to joining the Foundation, Dennis worked at the University of Notre Dame, where he guided the Ford Family Program’s work in Kenya and Uganda, coordinating community engagement activities and research projects in health, youth entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion.  Previously, Dennis worked in partnership with Columbia University, in roles ranging from the West Africa Operations Manager for the Millennium Villages Project to advising municipal governments in East and Southern Africa through the Millennium Cities Initiative.