MFC Interviews 2011: Key takeaways from Rafe Mazer of CGAP

Rafe Mazer of CGAP discusses what he found interesting at the MFC Annual Conference -- the intersection between the private sector and public sector in terms of social performance.

Bio: Rafe Mazer

Rafe is an Associate Microfinance Analysit at CGAP, where he works on a variety of issues, including the use of consumer experience and demand-side analysis to develop effective consumer protection and financial capability policy reforms. Prior to joining CGAP, Rafe worked in a range of areas including community organizing, small-farmer agriculture, fundraising, and communications.

While pursuing a master's degree in international development policy at Duke University Rafe served as managing director of the Duke Microfinance Leadership Initiative, launching a student-run microfinance investment fund that is partnering with a community bank in rural Uganda to expand their microcredit and other financial services.

Rafe's other field experience includes work with Habitat for Humanity and Opportunity International in Ghana conducting market research to develop new housing microfinance products. Rafe has a keen interest in community-based approaches to improved policy and product design. He has witnessed the impacts of community-driven approaches first-hand through a range of experiences that include work in the Fair Trade coffee sector in Guatemala as a Fulbright Scholar, with labor unions in the agriculture and healthcare sectors in Chile and the United States, and two years with Hispanics in Philanthropy, an NGO investing in small but promising Latino community organizations.

In addition to his master's degree in international development, Rafe has a bachelor's degree in international relations from Pomona College and speaks fluent Spanish and some Portuguese.