The Global Center for Economic Enabling Environments Announces Michael A. Krafft's, Appointment to the Board of Directors with the Foundation for Sustainable Development

San Francisco, CA, September 30, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Marc Shapiro, Chair of the Board and Mireille Cronin Mather, Executive Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD), have announced the appointment of Michael A. Krafft and Katherine Rogers to the organization’s Board of Directors.

“We are heartened to welcome these new board members,” Mather said. “The range of experience and talents that Michael and Katherine bring to the Board will do much to advance progress towards our strategic goals in community development globally.”

Michael A. Krafft is the CEO of M&AMG and Founder of the Global Center for Economic Enabling Environments (GCEEE), a thought leadership group creating policy insight so policy makers and small and middle enterprises (SMEs) can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness and impact in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by creating an enabling environment where investments and positive social change can flourish. For more than 20 years, Krafft has built deep funding relationships with leading strategic and institutional investors, private equity funds, and venture capital firms as well as the World Bank, IMF, EBRD, OECD, and OPIC. As an executive with Metromedia (MGM, Sterling, and Orion Films), he helped create global cluster strategies in Asia, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union. Krafft spent eight years in global assignments prior to his appointment as Vice President, Corporate Development for TIW a global telecommunications provider with operations in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Krafft holds a BA degree from DePaul University and an MBA degree in International Finance from Thunderbird School of Global Management; he is presently a Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Management and Decision Sciences Walden University. Bilingual in English and Russian, Krafft is a former Board member of the Russian National Orchestra.

“I am extremely honored to be a part of FSD, whose pre-eminence in the field of international development is widely acknowledged, and embrace my new role as FSD’s Board Member. I am grateful to be in a position to tap into a network of private and public sector global relationships and research skills to help propel FSD to the next level,” Krafft said.

Katharine Rogers is an entrepreneur, consultant and investor with expertise in the application of market-based business principles to address social challenges, such as poverty, healthcare, and environmental conservation. As a former Investment Officer and Global Fellow at LeapFrog Investments, an $135 million impact investing fund, Rogers sourced and executed private equity transactions in Southeast Asia and Africa to expand the market for insurance and financial inclusion to individuals living on less than $2/day. Rogers has also served as a Director of Policy and Market Development at Global Eco Rescue, a forestry management organization. During her time at GER, Katharine engaged with government, business and policy stakeholders to generate and sell forest carbon credits to help finance a conservation project in Indonesia for which GER had won the RFP. She has consulted to the Clinton Foundation and several successful start-ups.

Rogers began her career at Merrill Lynch, gaining solid experience in business, capital markets and finance during her six years in investment banking in New York and Europe. She serves on the Western Regional Council of MedShare and is a producer for "From Scratch" on NPR. Rogers has an MBA from The Wharton School and BA from Wellesley College. A native of San Francisco, California, Rogers has lived, worked and traveled across six continents.

She said, “I am thrilled to join the FSD Board to contribute to and support its incredible team of dedicated staff, volunteers and partners around the globe. FSD has built a virtuous model to facilitate its mission of international development -- by working with and committing resources to grassroots organizations which enhance capacity for sustainable economic growth within their local communities and by engaging and inspiring future generations to become development leaders through its consummate training programs and in-country internships. Having had the opportunity to travel throughout many parts of the world in my own studies and career, I believe there is no greater privilege than experiencing first-hand how other people live and working side-by-side with them to make a better world for all of us.”

Mather advised, “The addition of these accomplished new Board members underscores the reputation of our organization in the development and academic communities,” said Mather. “Their top-drawer professional experience and deep commitment to grass-roots international development will allow FSD, in concert with our existing Board, to meet our strategic 2013 goals, chief among these to expand partnerships in the corporate and non-profit communities, and to increase our leadership development and grants support to our 300 community partners around the world. As well, we actively seek to expand our work into Southeast Asia, particularly Laos, by 2016.”