RUPERT SCOFIELD
An agricultural economist with 40 years of experience in developing countries, Rupert Scofield co-founded FINCA in 1984 with John Hatch, and has served as its President and CEO since 1994. In the intervening years, FINCA has grown from 60,000 clients and a loan portfolio of $5 million to a true global presence with over 1.7 million clients across five continents and a loan portfolio of more than $800 million. He also serves as President and CEO of FINCA Microfinance Holding Company, LLC, a first-of-its-kind, socially responsible investment partnership for microfinance.
As a frequent keynote speaker on microfinance and social entrepreneurship, Mr. Scofield is passionate about inspiring the next generation of young leaders who want to solve big problems like world poverty. His book, The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook: How to Start, Build and Run a Business that Improves the World (McGraw-Hill, 2011) tells the story of how FINCA was built, as well as providing practical advice on how to find personal passion and build social businesses that change the world.
Prior to FINCA, he was the CEO of Rural Development Services, a consulting firm, and country program director of the AFL-CIO’s Labor Program in El Salvador. Mr. Scofield has two Masters of Arts degrees in agricultural economics and public administration from the University of Wisconsin, as well as a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. In March 2013, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Roehampton in the UK. He served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala, where he made his first micro loans in the early 1970s. |
