Making Cents Conference: Fiona Macaulay, Founder and CEO on the evolution of the conference and key takeaways

Following the Making Cents International Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference on September 7-9, 2011, Making Cents International Founder and CEO Fiona Macaulay sat down with the USAID Microlinks team. In this short interview, Fiona discusses the evolution of the conference, key conference takeaways, and the importance of having a knowledge management framework.

Bio: Fiona Macaulay

Ms. Macaulay is dedicated to equipping youth and adults with the vision, confidence, and skills to find quality employment or to create and grow their own businesses. She has fifteen years of experience in microenterprise development, experiential learning curriculum design, facilitation, and organizational capacity building in more than 20 countries across North America, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central Europe.

Under her leadership, Making Cents International has established itself as a world class social enterprise known for finding practical, yet innovative, solutions to problems and for working closely and respectfully with local partners on the ground. Making Cents has also emerged as a leader in the development of the youth economic opportunities sector by working in a highly collaborative manner to create unique learning opportunities and networks to more effectively share and develop programs, policies, and partnerships that positively impact economic opportunities for youth.

Ms. Macaulay was honored as a D.C. "40 under 40" Leader in International Development, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, AOL smallbusiness.com, and MTV Latin America. Ms. Macaulay is currently on the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF)'s first Advisory Council for the XIV Foromic (Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise), and is the past Chair and Board Member for the Campaign for Female Education USA Foundation (CAMFED). She has been an adjunct faculty member at the annual Microenterprise Development Institute at Southern New Hampshire University, and a guest lecturer at Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs (SIPA) and Johns Hopkins' School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Ms. Macaulay is regularly invited to speak at international training seminars, conferences, and other events that focus on women and youth economic opportunities.