MicroDreams.org :: Growing MicroBusiness. Empowering Dreams

Team

The MicroDreams team has deep experience in the U.S. and New Zealand private sectors and a history of successfully harnessing private sector expertise to build efficient, sustainable, socially responsible businesses within the non-profit world.

Greg Casagrande
Greg is the Founder and Managing Director of MicroDreams. He is also the Founder of South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Network (SPBD), the leading microfinance institution in the Pacific Islands region.

Greg also serves as a director for the International Association of Microfinance Investors, Microfinance Pasifika Network and Planet Finance and as a fund advisor to Plebys – a for-profit "Base of the Pyramid" investment fund. He also served on the United Nation’s Board of Patrons for its International Year of Microcredit – 2005.

In addition to his microfinance activities, Greg promotes hi-tech entrepreneurship. He is a founding director of the Ice Angels, Australasia’s largest angel investor group and serves as Chairman of three New Zealand software firms: Biomatters Ltd, Calcium Solutions Ltd and English-To-Go Ltd.

Prior to these ventures, Greg recorded significant achievement with Ford Motor Company, Mazda Motor Company and Coopers and Lybrand in product development, manufacturing, marketing and financial management positions and led teams in the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Greg has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, a MS from NYU Stern, a BA from Colgate University and is a CPA.

Polly Kelekis
As Chief Operating Officer, Polly is charged with further developing the organization and growing its resource base with the ultimate goal of empowering poor micro entrepreneurs by providing them with meaningful economic opportunity so they can work their way permanently out of poverty. Polly is responsible for the day-to-day operations of MicroDreams, including new business development, stakeholder relationship management, marketing, outreach and fundraising.

Polly brings more than 17 years of both corporate and non-profit experience to MicroDreams, including six years in the microfinance industry. Her work in microfinance has taken her to diverse countries, including Tanzania, Honduras, Haiti, Armenia and Fiji. Prior to MicroDreams, Polly worked at FINCA International and consulted for the Financial Inclusion Practice Area (FIPA) of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). In 2003-04, she managed the Volunteer Team for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Previously, Polly held posts at Accenture and Booz Allen Hamilton and also worked at the Office of Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Corporate Executive Board. Polly has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business, an MA in International Economics and International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Yale University.

Jerry Casagrande
Jerry is Co-Founder and CEO of CarrotSeed, a firm dedicated to the elimination of single-use, non-biodegradable plastic products. Prior to founding CarrotSeed, he was the President and Founder of a successful outdoor school, serving underprivileged and other teens from across the United States. He also served as the Director of Environmental Initiatives at Ashoka, a global leader in social entrepreneurship. Jerry began his career as a financial and market analyst for the World Bank's Privatization Services division and the InterAmerican Development Bank, where he worked on renewable energy projects in the Brazilian sertao. Jerry holds an MBA and an MA in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, and a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College.

Jim Young
Jim has been a board member of MicroDreams and its predecessor organization since 2002. He is a graduate of Princeton University with an Economics degree and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. He also completed the CFA program. Jim works as an investment analyst at West Family Investments, a private family office, in Evanston IL. Before his current position, he worked at Goldman Sachs for 19 years - Equity Research for 3 years in New York City and Institutional Equities Sales for 16 years in Chicago. He lives in Evanston, IL with his wife, Karen, and children, Stephanie, Henry and Katie. Karen is an active and enthusiastic supporter of MicroDreams. Jim and his family are committed to microfinance and its basic premise of helping people help themselves.

Allyson Lippert
Allyson Lippert is a Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, focusing on retail and marketing work. She received her MBA in 2007 from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with certificates in both Global and Public Management. She interned with South Pacific Business Development Foundation during the summer of 2002, completing marketing projects for the organization. In addition, she created 20 paintings of women at work in the micro-businesses to raise awareness of SPBD and the impact of microcredit. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 with a BS in Business Administration and a BA in Political Science, having written a thesis entitled "The Macroeconomic Impact of Microfinance in Samoa." She currently resides in San Francisco.

Brett Ammundsen
Brett has had a diverse academic and professional background - professional nursing in the UK, Bachelors degrees in both history and science and a PhD in physics and chemistry obtained while living in France. He now lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where he is involved in the executive management of a number of young technology and life sciences businesses through his company Diablo Management Limited (co-established with Mark Talbot).

Brett was born in Samoa and spent much of his childhood in the South Pacific. His interest in microfinance developed after traveling through rural, impoverished parts of Africa, where he was impressed by the enterprising spirit of many people despite their limited access to resources.

Mark Talbot
Born in the UK, Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992. He moved to Bermuda in 1993 and spent six fantastic years working in the offshore investment fund industry, travelling extensively, scuba-diving and generally enjoying island life!

In 1999 he relocated to New Zealand where he initially worked in stock broking and investment banking before establishing Diablo Management with Brett Ammundsen to provide management services to early stage technology companies.

Along with his partner Claire he traveled to Samoa in 2006 and saw the SPBD and MicroDreams project in progress. It was both humbling and inspiring to visit several villages and witness first hand what the project means to the women involved and the significant impact on their day to day lives.

In his spare time he's a keen golfer and squash player although the birth of his first child earlier this year has led to a reshuffling of priorities!