Brian Fikkert

Author, Founder and Executive Director | The Chalmers Center

Bio:

Dr. Brian Fikkert is the founder and executive director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, a research and training center that is dedicated to helping churches and missionaries to declare the kingdom of God by bringing economic development and spiritual transformation to the poor.

Brian also serves as a professor of economics and community development at Covenant College. Brian received a Ph.D. in economics with highest honors from Yale University, and a B.A. in mathematics from Dordt College. Specializing in Economic Development and International Economics, Brian has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.

He has published articles in both leading academic and popular journals and has recently co-authored the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself (Moody Publishers). Prior to coming to Covenant College, he was a professor at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector.

He, his wife Jill, and their three children live in Chattanooga, Tennessee where he is an active member of New City Fellowship Presbyterian Church (PCA).

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Brian McClard

Director of Investments | RonBlue

Brian McClard is the director of investments at RonBlue. He is responsible for managing the company’s Investments Strategy Group (ISG) and overseeing the Investment Operations team. Brian and his team develop and implement investment strategies for the company that seek to increase the probability of successfully meeting clients’ financial planning goals. The ISG is responsible for constructing model portfolios, selecting investment instruments, and performing ongoing due diligence of those investments. The Investment Operations team executes daily investment operations and manages relevant operational business partners.

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Bryce Butler

Links: 

Managing Director | Access Ventures

Before starting Access Ventures, Bryce Butler was the Executive Director of the BlueSky Network, a venture philanthropy family office in Southern Indiana with activities around the world in microfinance, clean energy, sustainable agriculture, mobile payments, and entrepreneurship/innovation. Bryce was also the Executive Producer of a documentary about poverty, gang violence, and those trying to chart a new path through dance set in Guatemala City that premiered at the United Nations in April 2014 called BBOY for Life. Previously, Bryce has worked in Organizational Design & Development at a global manufacturing company and served as an Executive Pastor at one of the 50 fastest growing churches in the US. Following graduation from Iowa State University, he served on active duty for four years as a Captain with the US Army Armor Branch. He has an M.A. in Theology and a B.S. in Economics.

Bryce has taught Social Enterprise as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Kentucky and has served on multiple boards, including, Chair of Village Capital; Greater Louisville, Inc the regional Chamber; the M1Institute; Endeavor Midwest; as a Community Development Advisory Council Member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve; an inaugural Rubinger Community Fellow

with LISC (2018); and 2020 Bingham Fellow.

He is married to Bethany and they have 4 children, 2 dogs, 14 chickens, 3 bunnies and 2 ducks.

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Benjamin Bailey

Vice President of Investments, Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager | Praxis Mutual Funds®

Benjamin Bailey, CFA®, is Vice President of Investments and a Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager for Praxis Mutual Funds® and Everence Financial®, a leading provider of faith based financial products in the United States and a ministry of Mennonite Church USA. He is a member of the organization’s investment management committee and has more than 20 years of experience in fixed-income investing. He has served as co-portfolio manager for the Praxis Impact Bond Fund since 2005 and co-portfolio manager of the Praxis Genesis Portfolios since June 2013. He also acts as co-portfolio manager on internal insurance portfolios and externally managed client accounts.

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Bert van der Vaart

 Links:

Co-founder and CEO | SEAF

Bio:

Bert van der Vaart is the Co-founder and CEO of SEAF, leading SEAF’s global operations, including fund launch efforts, and also serves as a member of SEAF’s Global Investment Committee. Bert co-founded SEAF in 1989, when it was known as the CARE Small Business Assistance Corporation (CARESBAC). In 1992, he negotiated the establishment of CARESBAC/SEAF’s first fund in Poland, which grew to $16.8 million total capital under management under his leadership as the fund’s Director General. While serving as Director-General of CARESBAC-Polska from 1994 until 1997, the company completed 27 SME investments and realized its first 6 exits. In 1997, Bert was appointed CEO and President of SEAF, where he has since been involved with the establishment and supervision of every SEAF fund. In 2008, he became Executive Chairman of SEAF’s Board of Directors and became associated with Discovery Global Citizens Fund, an international investment firm. Bert moved to New Delhi, India in 2010, where he directed the initial phase of SEAF’s India Agribusiness Fund, completing his work in 2012.

From 1984 through 1994, Bert was a Partner and Associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C, Frankfurt, and Brussels where he specialized in corporate and financial transactions. Prior to working for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, he was a management consultant with Bain & Company in London and Munich. Bert co-authored “Defining SMEs: A Less Imperfect Way of Defining Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Countries” in Brookings Global Economy and Development, September 2008. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he also studied finance at Yale School of Management. His other academic achievements include a B.A. in Politics and Economics and an M.Phil in Economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina, where he was a Morehead Scholar. A dual citizen of the Netherlands and the United States, Bert speaks Dutch, English, German, French, and some Polish.

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Bertie Lourens

Managing Director | Waste Plan Holdings (Pty) Ltd

Bertie Lourens is the Managing Director of Waste Plan Holdings (Pty) Ltd. Waste Plan is a national on-site waste management company with operational companies in Western Cape, Gauteng, KZN and Free State that specialize in recycling and landfill reduction. Their services include on-site sorting and cleaning, waste reduction, electronic monitoring, carbon footprint audits and total greening. Waste Plan collects recyclable waste from nearly 150 000 households in Cape Town and Pretoria while servicing over 100 clients in the industrial, commercial, food and beverage and medical industries. Bertie is also the Chairman of the Central Branch (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and Free State Provinces) of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa and sits on the National board of this Institute.

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