Gregory F. Casagrande is an American businessman and the founder of South Pacific Business Development Microfinance Network, the leading microfinance institution in the Pacific Islands region. He is also the founder of

MicroDreams The MicroDreams Foundation is an American non-profit organization founded by Gregory Casagrande in 2002 as a microfinance accelerator that helps small, growing micro-enterprise development organizations reach financial self-sufficiency. Founda ...

, a microfinance acceleration fund working with emerging microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and the Pacific and Transformative Ventures LLC, a Microfinance advisory company.

Education

Casagrande graduated from Wardlaw-Hartridge School in 1981. He received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

and Marketing from Northwestern University

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

, an MS in

Accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

from New York University

Stern School of Business The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...

as well as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics with high distinction from

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

. Casagrande is also a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

(CPA).

Career

He recorded significant achievement with Ford Motor Company, Mazda Motor Company and Coopers & Lybrand in product development, manufacturing, marketing and financial management positions. He led teams in the United States,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Europe. Casagrande serves as a director on the boards of the International Association of Microfinance Investors (of New York), Microfinance Pasifika (of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

) and Planet Finance (of Paris), and as a fund advisor to Plebys – a for-profit “Base of the Pyramyd” investment fund based in Irvine, California. He also served on the United Nations Board of Patrons for its International Year of Microcredit – 2005. Casagrande is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities around the world on the topics of poverty eradication, building inclusive financial sectors, building sustainable micro-enterprise development organizations, financing Microfinance institutions and social entrepreneurship.

Business ventures

In addition to his micro-finance activities, Casagrande promotes hi-tech entrepreneurship. He is a founding director of the Ice Angels, Australasia's largest angel investor group and serves as Chairman of three New Zealand software firms: Biomatters Ltd, Calcium Solutions Ltd and English-To-Go Ltd.

Accomplishments and awards

Casagrande was awarded the International Year of Microcredit in 2005. In 2010, Casagrande was awarded the Global Social Innovator Award. Greg has been invited as a guest on several occasions for Fijian, Samoan and New Zealand television stations.

References

External links

MicroDreams

South Pacific Business Development

International Association of Microfinance Investors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casagrande, Gregory Living people American businesspeople Colgate University alumni Kellogg School of Management alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni Wardlaw-Hartridge School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)