Elissa McCarter-LaBorde

Elissa McCarter-LaBorde is Vice President of Development Finance at Global Communities, where over the last 10 years she has built the technical department that manages Global Communities’ microfinance, SME, and housing finance operations. In addition to her role as Vice President, Ms LaBorde serves as the CEO of Vitas Group, a commercial holding company established by Global Communities to expand its microfinance operations with a particularly focus on the Middle East region. Ms LaBorde has 15 years' experience as a microfinance practitioner. Prior to Global Communities, she spent 7 years in the field, having started up and managed two microfinance institutions in Armenia and Turkey, and serving as technical advisor to more than a dozen MFIs in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Ms LaBorde has authored two books on microfinance mergers and continues to publish articles and opinion pieces that span a number of topics related to financial inclusion. She has a Master’s degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris; and currently serves as adjunct professor of a Masters level course on Financial Inclusion at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.