> Posted by Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director, CFI
It’s important to recognize the work of others, but so easy to let the days slide by silently – until a major transition occurs.
Last week there was such a transition, in the form of a gala to recognize the achievements of Alex Counts, founder and for 18 years, CEO of Grameen Foundation. So I decided to mark the occasion with these thoughts.
The story of the organization’s founding is a simple one, reflecting the naiveté and boldness of youth. As a recent college graduate, Alex moved to Bangladesh to apprentice at the Grameen Bank. On returning home to the U.S. seven years later, in 1997, and with $6,000 provided by Muhammad Yunus, he started the Foundation to carry Grameen Bank’s work for the very poor into countries around the world. He didn’t know what he didn’t know, as is the case for most entrepreneurs, social and otherwise. Grameen Foundation operated on a shoestring in those early days.
Over the next 18 years, Alex built an organization that today works in Asia, Africa and Latin America with a multimillion dollar budget and a high-powered board of directors (just a little self-promotion – I’m honored to be a member). Grameen Foundation has assisted some of the best and most mission-driven microfinance institutions in the world – Fonkoze, Grameen Koota, Cashpor, CARD Bank and many more – to raise money, improve their operations and try new things, with a constant eye on serving the very poor and the least-included, especially women. The Foundation was an early entrant into what is now the Fintech space, with the MIFOS initiative and the Grameen Technology Center, and it has become an important innovator in the use of mobile phones as a tool in support of the financial, agricultural and health needs of the poor.
But that’s not why I’m writing this post. I wanted to recognize Alex from a more personal point of view.
Those of you who have worked in or around microfinance for a decade – or two – or three – will remember that it was long divided into two camps: a poverty camp and a commercialization camp. If you think of the way Republicans and Democrats manage the U.S. Congress these days, you’ll get the general idea. Too much passion went into rivalry that would have been better spent moving forward. Standing on the commercialization side, I nevertheless wished to see microfinance come together under a big tent. Apparently Alex, firmly in the poverty camp, thought the same, but it was Alex who reached across the aisle. He systematically sought conversations with leaders at Accion, persisting in the face of initial wariness. He was smart enough to realize that reaching out did not undermine his pro-poor principles – it allowed him to advance them in more places.
When Alex joined the Center for Financial Inclusion’s Advisory Council at its creation in 2009, it was a public statement that the two sides had much to gain by coming together, and that 100% alignment on outlook and objectives was not a prerequisite for learning from and working with others. Since then, Alex has been a dedicated contributor to the Advisory Council. He never holds back his views, on anything from major strategic directions to the quality of the pre-read materials. I appreciate all his input.
More recently, Alex has worked harder than anyone else in microfinance to reconcile the field with the assault launched on it several years ago by the “randomistas” of the Jamal Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) who subjected microfinance to randomized studies and found it less impactful than previously hoped. Alex has repeatedly – almost obsessively – attempted to understand and process the results, to caution the academics against over-hyping the negative, and most important, to take up the challenge the academics are offering: that randomized studies could help test and improve product innovations. With his encouragement, Grameen Foundation has worked with IPA and others on randomized studies. It is characteristic of Alex’s approach to life that he debates Dean Karlan of IPA publicly, even while asking Dean to formally serve as an advisor to the Foundation, as a member of its program committee.
The next chapter for Grameen Foundation will be headed by the incoming CEO, Steve Hollingworth, who is an excellent choice to lead it in new directions while upholding the organization’s mission.
The next chapter for Alex? You have to ask him. It will be exciting to find out.
So, at this moment of transition, I invite you, Readers, to grab the nearest coffee cup (or in Alex’ case, tea with a slice of lemon from the plastic bag in his pocket) and raise a toast to Alex Counts and his 19 years at Grameen Foundation. As they say in England, Well Done!
Have you read?
Considerations for the Pursuit of Financial Inclusion – Beyond Account Access
Part of a Toolbox: Angus Deaton Urges Reconsideration of the Role of RCTs
Facebook
Twitter
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
November 11, 2015 at 11:47 am
Bobbi Gray
Nicely said! It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with Alex on everything from social performance management and pro-poor principles of practice and achievement. Thank you for your leadership in this space and for your real commitment to serving the poor. The innovations that have occurred at Grameen Foundation under your watch have truly pushed the field forward. Thank you for leaving this legacy and fomenting the energy the sector has around poverty measurement!
November 11, 2015 at 12:01 pm
Tom Sanderson
Hear, Hear! (as we also say in England). Thank you Alex, and best wishes.
November 11, 2015 at 12:09 pm
James Militzer
Absolutely agree, the impact of Alex’s work will continue to be felt around the world, and I hope he will continue to be a passionate voice and ongoing presence in microfinance, as it moves into the next phase of its development. It has been a pleasure working with him, and I’m looking forward to following his next moves.
November 11, 2015 at 5:56 pm
Alexandra Fiorillo
Beth, wonderful tribute to Alex. It’s so refreshing and encouraging to hear you and Michael Schlein talk about the past and how much efforts both Grameen Foundation and ACCION have put into developing a supportive and collaborative relationship, despite differences in approach. Alex is not only an innovative and thoughtful leader; he has been a trusted mentor and guide to so many of the younger talents in the sector. Thank you, Alex, for your support and friendship! Cheers.
November 11, 2015 at 10:35 pm
Susy Cheston
Alex, what a legacy! You have built Grameen Foundation into a major organization that has had broad impact and been pioneering on so many fronts–technology, impact evaluation tools, poverty downreach, etc.– while at the same time serving the broader industry so generously through your policy and advocacy work, advisory roles such as with the Center for Financial Inclusion, and through industry-facing initiatives such as Bankers without Borders. All this while having a rich life outside your work–and being a loyal friend to so many. I am blessed to know you. Susy
November 12, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Larry Reed
Thanks, Beth, for writing a well-deserved tribute to Alex. Let me add to your thoughtful articulation of Alex’ contributions to microfinance and the lives of people living in poverty.
I once sat with Alex at a dinner in Dhaka that brought together many different strands of the Grameen family. Our table included several of the board members of Grameen bank, women clients of the bank. They laughed at Alex as he talked with them in Bangla, and then let us know exactly what they thought about how the government was treating Prof. Yunus. As I watched their delighted conversation, I was struck with how it traversed so many traditional barriers of gender, age, caste, education, experience and income. It was just Alex and his friends, who were not only clients of Grameen but were also mothers, daughters, board members and business owners. He wanted to learn as much as he could from them.
Alex brings that combination of insatiable curiosity and human connection to all that he does. It allows him to reach across boundaries and embrace new technologies and products. He knows the challenges faced by families living in vulnerability with limited income, but he also knows their vitality and determination. This has led to Grameen Foundation pioneering the Progress out of Poverty Index© and creating a Tech Lab and touching the lives of more than 25 million people around the world.
I am looking forward to what comes next for Alex, in books he writes, bluegrass and soul music he promotes, and in advice he gives us at the Microcredit Summit Campaign.
November 13, 2015 at 10:09 am
Alex Counts
Naturally, it is humbling, flattering and a touch embarrassing to read all these tributes. I do appreciate that people seem to have picked up on some of the things I have tried to focus on, and also a few of my (many) personal quirks (the lemons!). Michael Schlein was always very receptive to my overtures and has emerged as a trusted and respected colleague and friend, despite differences in perspective that endure. Beth and her towering intellect have always been collaborative by nature, which has helped her attract similarly inclined people at CFI like Susy Cheston, Alex Rizzi, Anne Hastings, and Isabelle Barres. It’s a great team and I have enjoyed being an adviser. (Now, about those latest pre-reads, Beth — oh, never mind.)
It is true that I feel a debt to my own mentors like Prof. Yunus that will never be fully repaid, so I try to make time for the next generation. But if everyone was as open to input and made the process as fun as you do, Alex Fiorello, I would hardly have time for anything else.
And Larry, like always your curiosity, generosity and eloquence make you stand out as a leader and I am very proud to have led the search committee that appointed you to head the Microcredit Summit Campaign that remains an essential part of our ecosystem 18 years after the original convening which was so catalytic and historic.
I value your frequent comments on my blogs, Bobbi (and much else that you do). The Freedom From Hunger perspective remains unique and badly needed, and you have done a terrific job of infusing it into our movement, and into my consciousness.
And thanks to others who have posted comments or sent private messages.
As Susan Davis would say, Onward ho !
November 17, 2015 at 12:49 pm
Rob Gailey
Alex, This morning, I was sitting in my office in San Diego with a cup of tea (no lemon) when I read the tributes folks were making about your work with the Grameen Foundation and the influence your work has had on the microfinance world. I felt compelled to add my own.
You have been an inspiration to me in so many ways. Your book was one of the first I read when in graduate school (Ken Graber recommended it to me) and it humbled me beyond words that I was able to travel with you to Rome and sit in a meeting where we were discussing poverty measurements soon after I joined the Microcredit Summit. Even though I was new to the Summit at the time (and just months from sitting in a graduate school library reading your book), you treated me as a trusted colleague and friend and made me feel welcomed. Your support of me provided a means by which the rest of the group listened to me and my contributions as I tried my best to represent what Sam and the Summit wanted me to share. That meeting was deeply influential in my own professional development.
Throughout the years, I have enjoyed being with you in various places and I am deeply indebted to the work of the Grameen Foundation on many levels. The organization you built has truly stayed at the forefront of the microfinance industry and leading it in so many ways – ensuring a focus on the poorest, allowing quality research to drive results and adaptations, and pushing the adoption of technology as a force for good and change in the lives of poor people. In fact, my last interaction with your organization was last summer in Ghana when I took a group of college students to learn how Grameen Foundation is using cell phone messages to help pregnant women in rural areas to stay alive through child birth.
Your work has saved lives, improved organizations, and be an example for many to follow. Thank you for the ways you and the Grameen Foundation have impacted and influenced my life and work. look forward to seeing what is next for you.