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Carmen Velasco is co-founder (with Lynne Patterson) of Pro Mujer Bolivia and Pro Mujer International. Currently, she is an adviser in microfinance as a tool for development and socioeconomic inclusion, as well as co-chair of the Truelift Steering Committee. She presents at conferences and training programs regarding the importance and urgency of returning to the essentials of microfinance for socioeconomic inclusion. Velasco worked for 23 years at Pro Mujer, serving as an ambassador throughout Latin America, the United States and Spain, and was a key member of the organization’s development and communications team. From 1990 to 2007, she was the program and country director for Pro Mujer in Bolivia, during which time the organization achieved a worldwide reputation for excellence. She helped develop the training programs in empowerment and health that were linked to microfinance services that form the basis of Pro Mujer’s integrated services. During her tenure, she was also responsible, as part of the international team, for providing technical assistance to the organization’s operations in Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. She served on the Social Performance Task Force board of directors for several years and on the executive committee for the Microcredit Summit Campaign. She also served on the board and later as president of FINRURAL Bolivia, as well as on the board of a health network in Bolivia. In 2007, she won the “Businesswoman Award” from the Veuve Clicquot initiative for economic development in France. Prior to co-founding Pro Mujer, she taught educational psychology at the Universidad Católica Boliviana. She earned a bachelor’s degree in special education pedagogy from the Universidad de Chile and has also completed postgraduate studies at the Boulder Microfinance Institute and Harvard University. In 2007, she and Lynne Patterson were jointly recognized as “Community Crusaders” at the annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” ceremony.