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SosteNica President, Alan Wright
and CEPRODEL Executive Director, Miguel González Solórzano
meeting in Managua, Nicaragua in February of 2002. It was
during these meetings that they laid the groundwork of the
Sustainable Rural Development Program.
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The idea behind SOSTENICA was born in 1989 when the Nicaraguan
economy slipped from recession into wide-spread depression.
Following more than 15 years of civil strife and war, Nicaragua's
battered economy had ceased to meet the most basic needs of
the country's rapidly growing population. SOSTENICA's partner
CEPRODEL, founded in 1989, began taking steps to support and
promote economic and community development in and around Managua.
In 1990 a trial micro-loan of $500 went to the Cooperativa
Farabundo Martí y Sandino as an experiment in small-scale
economic development. This women's weaving cooperative, begun
in 1984, had become inactive in 1988 due to lack of working
capital needed to buy yarn. Can a potentially productive group
of women overcome the many obstacles facing producers throughout
Nicaragua?
The results were impressive. Within six months, the cooperative
had set up six looms for full-time production, paid modest
but livable wages to its six members, repaid its first loan,
and accumulated enough capital to reinvest.
The success of this worker-owned, all women's business encouraged
the founder SOSTENICA to expand this initial experiment. In
1992, a handful of individuals invested a total of $75,000
to create a larger credit program in León, Nicaragua. Two
funds were set in motion: the first aimed at medium-sized
producers, the second, a micro-loan fund, aimed at micro-entrepreneurs.
Joining individual investors, the Agencia Española de Cooperación
Internacional, the Spanish government development agency,
contributed $20,000 in matching dollars to the effort. The
US and Spanish partners conducted an extensive survey of Nicaraguan
non-profits, and chose CEPRODEL in 1993 as the micro-loan
fund administrator. León City Hall joined in this experiment
towards municipal economic development. Out of this cooperative
effort, the Río Chiquito micro-loan fund, SOSTENICA's precursor,
was born.
Río Chiquito micro-loan fund focused its efforts on improving
the economy of the poorest neighborhood in the city of León.
In its first 33 months, the Río Chiquito Fund extended 974
loans, worth a total of $335,653.
In 2000 SOSTENICA incorporated as a non-profit and received
its preliminary 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS.
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STAFF OF SOSTENICA, INC.
Alan Wright
founder and President of SOSTENICA, received his master's degree
from University College, Oxford and his doctorate in Philosophy
from Yale University. For twenty years, Dr. Wright has worked for
social and economic justice in Nicaragua. For that work, he has
been recognized by the Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom (recipient of the "Dr. Alice Hamilton Peace and Freedom
Award"), and was awarded the Gandhi Peace Medal (given by Promoting
Enduring Peace). He lived and worked in Nicaragua from 1990 through
1995. During that time he served on the Regional Loan Committee
of CEPAD, and began to organize experimental micro-lending enterprises.
These early trials eventually grew into SOSTENICA. Dr. Wright is
currently collaborating with a team of Nicaraguan professionals
to deliver micro-credit and bio-intensive agriculture to rural Nicaraguan
communities. In addition to his work on behalf of Nicaragua, Dr.
Wright teaches sustainable agriculture and earth literacy at Westtown
School, a 200-year old Quaker school in Pennsylvania. He and his
wife Paula Kline have two teenage children, Justin and Nora.
Christopher Bell
has been the fund administrator for SOSTENICA since 1997. Mr. Bell
attended the University of Kansas. He has spent many years in the
trade union movement as well as working in the wholesale and retail
industries.
Jay Pressman
SOSTENICA's General Counsel, was born and raised in the Philadelphia
area. He majored in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania
where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Since graduating from
Villanova Law School in 1983, he has been engaged in the general
practice of law, with an emphasis on estate planning and administration,
family law, contracts, negligence and real estate. He has traveled
extensively, including overland throughout the United States, Europe
and Asia. He resides in Chester County with his wife Madeline and
son Ben.
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SosteNica Board of Directors
From Left
Back Row: Lee Cruz, Tish Gibbs, Karen Leban, Richard Morgan
Front Row: Mich Zeman, Alan Wright, Jay Pressman
Missing from Picture: Owen Owens
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SOSTENICA, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Eliezer Lee Cruz
has worked for more than twenty years as a nonprofit manager and
community activist, reflecting his commitment to developing healthy,
sustainable communities through the integration of the non-profit,
business and government sectors. Mr. Cruz is currently the Senior
Philanthropic Officer at the Community Foundation for Greater New
Haven. Mr. Cruz has done graduate level study at Brandeis University
in human service management as well as an intensive course of study
in international law and human rights at the University of Strasbourg,
France. His undergraduate degree is from Barrington College .
Elizabeth Gibbs
is a graduate of Wheaton College. She is a former City Counsel Woman
of Norwalk, CT where she was also City Clerk. Ms. Gibbs has been
a long time grant writer for Norwalk Community College and is currently
serving on the Board of Directors for the Norwalk/Nagarote Sister
City Project and the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium.
Karen Leban
received her Masters of Science in Plant and Soil Science from Southern
Illinois University as well as her Masters of Science in Human and
Organization Development from American University. Ms. Leban has
worked for 21 years in international development (including many
years at Save the Children) concentrating on sustainable agriculture
and primary health care. She regularly consults for international
Non-Governmental Organizations developing their capacity building.
She lives with her husband and their son, Alex outside Washington
D.C.
Richard Morgan
was born in England and graduated from Oxford University. He spent
his early professional career doing development work in Africa,
including Sierra Leone. He has helped create several micro-lending
programs in the third world. Mr. Morgan currently serves as Deputy
Program Director at UNICEF. Richard and his wife have one daughter,
Talia.
Owen Owens
has a Ph.D. in sociology of Religion from UC Berkeley. He is
an ordained minister and the author of several books. He has been
active in Native American affairs as well as issues relating to
ecology and justice for many years.
Michael Zeman
is the Minister of the Talmadge Hill Community Church in Darien,
CT and a practicing psychoanalyst. Rev. Zeman began his career in
1973 working in a remote village in Northern Kenya where he first
wrestled with the challenges of sustainable development. Since that
time, as a teacher, minister, therapist and community builder, he
has maintained a strong commitment to helping the underprivileged.
His wife, Mary is the Director of the Montessori School in Wilton,
CT. They have two grown children, Ben and Joanna.
| El Centro de Promoción del Desarrollo Local (CEPRODEL), founded
in 1989, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. CEPRODEL
objectives are: (1) to contribute to the transformation of families'
survival strategies from bare subsistence to a self-guided productive
economy; (2) to support communities and poor families as they
seek to improve their housing, social services, income and work
opportunities; and (3) to promote self-respect and dignity among
poor Nicaraguan families. In 2001 they created three internal
divisions to focus their work: 1) Bank for Local Develelopment;
2) Housing and Technology and 3) Municipal Development. Based
in Managua, they have field offices in several Nicaraguan communities. |
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CEPRODEL
Miguel González Solórzano
became the Executive Director of CEPRODEL in 1989. Mr. González
graduated from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua with
a degree in Economics. He has done graduate studies at INCAE in
Costa Rica, in Chile, in Moscow, and Washington DC, with a focus
on economic planning, banking and human resources.
CEPRODEL has branch loan offices in eleven Nicaraguan municipalities:
El Sauce, Chichigalpa, El Viejo, Villanueva, Cinco Pinos, Telica,
Managua, San Rafael del Sur, Esteli, Condega, León and Nagarote,
with a total of 109 employees nation-wide. It is a great pleasure
to share with readers a brief description of a few of the many people
who make CEPRODEL a success.
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Julio Cisneros Solórzano, with colleagues,
founded CEPRODEL in 1989. Ph.D. in sociology, Julio serves
as General Secretary of the CEPRODEL Board of Directors. His
dream for Nicaragua is that it become prosperous, embrace
social justice for all, and that its young begin to enjoy
opportunities.
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| Luis Rivas Gálvez provides rural borrowers
with technical assistance. Hailing from Chinandega, Luis has
an engineering degree in animal husbandry. He focuses on strengthening
borrower abilities while protecting the environment. |
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Gerardo Meléndez Reyes is one of the loan
officers in the León office. Trained as an agronomist, 32 year-old
Gerardo is responsible for evaluating, administering, and supervising
agricultural loans in the rural sectors surrounding León. Born
in Telica, Engineer Gerardo, in his spare time, directs a cooperative
of small farm families. He reports that his current goal in
life is to own his own home, while his professional ambition
is to provide a better life for the most vulnerable families
of Nicaragua. |
| Orlando Cortés Maravilla oversees the entire
national credit program for CEPRODEL, formulating goals, policies
as well as loan methodology. Born in León, Orlando studied accounting,
participated in the revolution to overthrow the Somoza dictatorship,
then worked for many years at the BANADES (Nicaraguan National
Development Bank). Having been a great athlete in his youth,
today Orlando serves as the president of the Nicaraguan Little
League, which he founded. He is also director of the Child Welfare
Commission, supporting efforts to assist Nicaraguan children
at risk. He says he dreams of helping CEPRODEL/SOSTENICA become
a leader in improving Nicaraguan quality of life, and making
León a model of environmental stewardship. |
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Fatima Soriano Rodriguez was born in the
town of Cinco Pinos. When not working for CEPRODEL/ SosteNica,
she volunteers as a health brigade worker, educating her neighbors
about preventable illness. She holds a degree in Business Administration,
and works to guarantee that the loan applications and legal
documents are complete and accurate. Only 21 years old, she
longs to make a difference to her town by helping young people
obtain scholarships to continue their studies. |
| Marvin Antonio Garcia, born in Corinto
42 years ago, today serves as CEPRODEL's Chief Financial Officer.
Marvin is responsible for overseeing all income and expenses
of the organization. He has a degree in business administration,
is a member of a Christian Base Community who dreams of someday,
seeing inequality disappear from Nicaragua. |
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Tomás Ochoa Puerto acts as the supervisor
to the León branch office. Born in Malpaisillo, this 45 year-old
accountant oversees all of the operations in this branch. 100%
of SOSTENICA's more than $1 million dollar portfolio serves
the León/Nagarote region, which has 20 employees working under
his direction. In addition to his many work-related obligations,
Don Tomás has volunteered as an adult literacy instructor, has
helped to form a low-income housing cooperative and is an active
member of the Jehova's Witness Church. He reports that, among
his many life ambitions are: the desire to enable Nicaraguans
to enjoy dignity in their housing, and to raise a family that
gives proof of the power of faith. |
| Hugo Fuentes Hernández graduated the National
Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) with a Masters degree
in Agro-Ecology. The Agro-Ecology Masters is a new specialty
taught in Nicaragua. The UNAN recently offered this degree as
an alternative to the traditional education of agronomists trained
in chemical-intensive agriculture. Born in Chanandega, this
24 year-old eco-agronomist is a member of the Mutual Assistance
Housing Cooperative, and is active in the Network of young Adults
Promoting Development. Hugo provides technical assistance in
sustainable agriculture to SOSTENICA's rural borrowers. He specializes
in supporting those families engaged in bee-keeping and the
marketing of honey. When asked about his future goals, Hugo
replied that he would like, one day, to own a home of his own.
There he will raise a family with ethical and spiritual values.
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