NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Mónica Fernández Álvarez de Lugo is a Consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ) since March 2013. She works on the design, development and monitoring of research projects and other knowledge products, and contributes in the research agenda for OMJ. Previous to OMJ, Ms. Fernández worked in Research at Elliott Management Corporation, a hedge fund with over $20 billion assets under management in New York City; in Regulatory Affairs at Empresas Polar, the largest Venezuelan consumer goods manufacturer in the country; and in Economic Analysis at the Venezuelan Banking Association in Caracas. Ms. Fernández holds a MPA in Economic Development from Columbia University – School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in New York. In SIPA, she was awarded the Maguire Fellowship, and elected President of Latin American Student Association. Prior to her graduate studies, Ms. Fernández received a BA with a double major in Economics and Political Science from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana where she was awarded the Undergraduate Research Opportunity (UROP) Grant and did a semester abroad study program at the Universite Catholique de l’Ouest, Angers, France.

Lucie Klarsfeld is a project manager at Hystra, which she joined in 2009 after graduate studies at Columbia University. Her previous experiences included strategy consulting at Bain & Company, assignments for the United Nations and short-term positions for two American NGOs. As a theater lover and actress, she also initiated, organized and taught theater classes for disadvantaged 10-year-olds in a Parisian suburb. Since she joined Hystra, Lucie has worked on developing hybrid strategies in the energy, housing, water, sanitation, nutrition and ICT sectors. Hystra works with business and social sector pioneers to design and implement hybrid strategies, innovative business approaches that are profitable, scalable and eradicate social and environmental problems; and combine the insights and resources of business and citizen sectors. Hystra itself is a hybrid organization, a for-profit tool for social change. Since its creation in 2009 Hystra has worked in close to 20 countries serving 25 clients, including large corporations, international aid agencies, foundations and a government, to support business models that change the lives of low-income communities across the globe.