For over a decade, CapPlus has partnered with financial institutions to promote financial inclusion for small businesses, including women entrepreneurs and social enterprises.

Committed to Reducing Poverty by Strengthening Financial Services to SMEs

CapPlus equips financial institutions in emerging economies to deliver finance profitably for social impact. By providing strategic and operational capacity building that increases financial services to small businesses, CapPlus creates sustainable solutions that accelerate job creation, societal benefit and equity.

CapitalPlus Exchange Corporation, an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 2004 by ShoreBank, the USA’s first community development bank holding company. CapPlus was established in tandem with the ShoreCap Investment Fund to demonstrate the power of combining new capital with capacity building services (the “capital plus” approach) to accelerate investees’ financial services to SMEs. We quickly discovered that bankers like to learn from one another, so we created peer knowledge exchange opportunities, which then led to establishing the Small Business Banking Network (SBBN). SBBN’s success prompted the G20’s SME Finance Forum to create a larger network in 2015 into which SBBN has been incorporated.

Today we work closely with financial institutions, investment funds, innovators and other stakeholders committed to scaling small business finance in developing economies around the world.

Services

We thank our past and current funders, partners, and financial institution clients for their support and for the impact we’ve made together.

Our Team Board Members

Global Expertise

The CapPlus team works hand-in-hand with our clients and partners to overcome challenges for the shared purpose of increasing finance to SMEs.

Lynn Pikholz

Lynn Pikholz

President & CEO

Ms. Pikholz is a small business finance expert and specialist who has led CapPlus from its startup to its current place in the global SME finance community. She brings nearly 30 years’ experience in MSME finance, nonprofit management, consulting, impact investing and low-income housing in emerging markets. She has published articles, training manuals and papers on small business and microfinance, risk management, business development services and low-income housing.

Previously, Ms. Pikholz was Senior Managing Director at ShoreBank Advisory Services where she headed the Africa practice and managed multi-year capacity building assignments with downscaling banks and MFIs in the MENA region, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to that, she was an advisor to the Independent Electoral Commission in 1994 for South Africa’s first democratic elections.

lpikholz@capplus.org

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Marta Becker

Marta Becker

Senior Advisor, Education Markets Impact Initiative

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Susy Cheston

Susy Cheston

Senior Advisor

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Dr. Peter Colenso

Dr. Peter Colenso

Director, Education Outcomes

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Rula Dababneh

Rula Dababneh

Vice President

Ms. Dababneh joined CapPlus in 2013 and serves as CapPlus COO; she has over 25 years of banking, MSME finance, private sector development, economic growth, financial management, strategic planning and budgeting, and operations experience in North, East, and South Africa, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and Central and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining CapPlus, Ms. Dababneh led USAID’s efforts in developing the Microfinance industry in Jordan. At CGAP, she served as the regional director of CGAP’s office in Jordan implementing CGAP’s Microfinance Initiative for the MENA region. In addition, Ms. Dababneh served in senior positions at leading commercial bank in Jordan, Chemonics International and Development Innovations Group in DC metro area.

rdababneh@capplus.org

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Ellen Har

Ellen Har

Senior Manager

Ms. Har manages capacity building relationships with microfinance institutions, NBFIs, and banks. She is also responsible for CapPlus’s grant funding, and has managed the publication of toolkits focused on performance management, human capital, and benchmarks for small business banking.

Prior to joining CapPlus Ms. Har worked as an organizer and teacher in South Korea’s TaLK Program where she developed her expertise as a program manager and project manager.

ehar@capplus.org

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Peter Hinton

Peter Hinton

Senior Banker

Mr. Hinton has over 25 years of commercial experience including 22 years on boards in emerging markets, private equity, banking, development and increasing access to finance for SMEs in Africa. He has extensive experience in developing and strengthening governance at FIs, with experience in strategy and business development. He is now applying his experience to developing a sectoral approach to increasing finance to affordable private primary schools in Africa and South Asia. Peter is an associate fellow at Said Business School, University of Oxford teaching on the MBA and Impact Investment programmes. He is a director of Bean There Coffee Company, S Africa, the UK charity Send A Cow supporting rural livelihoods in Africa and the Hugh Pilkington Charitable Trust a UK educational charity operating in Africa.

phinton@capplus.org

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Gerry Monteiro

Gerry Monteiro

Senior Advisor

Mr. Monteiro is a technology-oriented banker with over 40 years of experience and strong strategic, business and credit expertise with well-developed negotiation and management skills. He has led or advised start-up and turn-around projects in an array of banks and non-bank financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA region and South Asia. He is skilled in diagnostics, marketing and business development; corporate, SME, microfinance and consumer lending; risk and compliance management; e-commerce; business consultancy and project management and conceptualizing and building infrastructure systems.

gmonteiro@capplus.org

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Lynn Railsback

Lynn Railsback

Vice President

Ms. Railsback has more than 25 years’ experience in development finance and project management, many of them at ShoreBank Corporation where she led implementation of major strategic initiatives, including strategies to serve new customer segments as well as marketing, IT and human resources strategies. At CapPlus, she leads CapPlus’ low-fee private school market research and manages thought leadership and corporate communications, as well as leads performance and impact measurement initiatives.

lrailsback@capplus.org

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Geoff Renk

Geoff Renk

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Renk is a licensed CPA with over 25 years of experience, including more than 15 years as controller at a bank holding company. He has expertise in accounting, finance, regulatory reporting, income taxes, reporting systems, and risk management, and has participated in microfinance technical assistance projects in Bangladesh and Uganda.

Mr. Renk has worked in national and international accounting firms, and provided accounting and consulting services to a broad range of clients, including financial institutions, real estate firms, and nonprofit organizations.

grenk@capplus.org

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David Sheffieck

David Sheffieck

Manager

Mr. Sheffieck manages CapPlus’ performance measurement, in-person and web-based peer learning and internal and external communications initiatives including CapPlus’ web channels. Previously, Mr. Sheffieck led CapPlus’ member outreach for the Small Business Banking Network of over 60 leading SME banks and MFIs in Africa, Asia and MENA regions. In addition, he is CapPlus’ in-house IT support, creative designer, and leads other special projects.

dsheffieck@capplus.org

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Alkis Theodhori

Alkis Theodhori

Project Coordinator

Ms. Theodhori plays a key supporting role in the capacity building business, working closely on management of all capacity building projects and pipeline projects. She also supports in the development and writing of grant proposals and reports, as well as other projects such as CapPlus’s peer learning events.

Prior to CapPlus, Ms. Theodhori supported the formulation, management, and implementation of all youth employment project activities for the International Labour Organization in the West Bank and worked with entrepreneurs at Alpha Bank, a commercial bank in Albania.

atheodhori@capplus.org

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Laura Christman

Laura Christman

Operations Associate

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Meet Our Board and Advisors

CapPlus has a highly committed, experienced and diverse board, both in skills and geographically.

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman

Board Chair

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman (Board Chair) is the creative director / founder of Metropolitan Group. Since Metropolitan Group’s founding in 1989, Eric has served as the key strategist and campaign counsel on hundreds of international, national, and regional projects, and he has developed extensive relationships with nonprofit, corporate, public sector, and philanthropic decision makers. Eric has worked extensively on economic development, development finance, social enterprise, poverty alleviation, food security, public health, human rights and education access and equity campaigns and programs. His clients have included Ford Foundation, World Agroforestry Centre, NASA, USDA Forest Service, IFC and numerous NGOs. He has served as creative director of initiatives in Latin America, Africa, SE Asia and North America. He has led resource development campaigns that have raised over nearly $2 billion in philanthropic and public sector investment for social impact initiatives. Eric is the author of Marketing That Matters (published by Berrett-Koehler in five languages) and is the principle author of the Public Will Building model, a social change engagement approach used internationally to advance systemic changes.

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Karim Ahamed

Karim Ahamed

Director

Karim Ahamed is a Partner and Investment Advisor in the Chicago office of HPM Partners LLC, a leading registered investment advisory firm. Prior to joining HPM Partners, he was a managing director with J.P. Morgan Private Banking, Chicago. Karim has spent a considerable portion of his career in the UK, where he held senior investment and wealth management positions with Coutts & Co and UBS AG. Karim received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary and his Master of Management degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is a CFA charter holder and member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Chicago and the UK Society of Investment Professionals.

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Cyrille Arnould

Cyrille Arnould

Director

Cyrille Arnould is Head of the GEEREF Front Office team. Mr. Arnould joined the GEEREF Front Office in 2008. Previously, he was a Senior Officer at EIB’s Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Department, where he oversaw the development of private equity and microfinance portfolios. Prior to joining the EIB in 2003, Mr. Arnould was a Senior Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation’s SME Department, which he joined after four years with IFC’s Financial Markets Group, Sub-Saharan Africa Department. He was previously IFC’s Senior Investment Officer based in Russia. Before joining IFC, Mr. Arnould worked in Russia for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, first as Investment Manager for Smolensk Regional Venture Fund and then as Principal Banker in Moscow. Mr. Arnould holds a Diploma from the Political Science Institute and a Master’s in Law, both from the University of Strasbourg, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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Nicholas Burnett

Nicholas Burnett

Director

Nicholas Burnett is now an independent consultant, a Senior Fellow at Results for Development (R4D), a Founding Partner at Oxford Philanthropic, chairs the Board of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning, serves on the Boards of Educate! and Americans for UNESCO, on the NORRAG Consultative Committee, and on the Advisory Boards of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area and of the Global Business School Network, and is a Special Professor of International Education at Nottingham University. He was previously Managing Director at R4D (where he founded the Global Education Practice), UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, and World Bank Human Development Manager for West and Central Africa. He was educated in economics at Oxford (BA), Harvard (Henry Fellow) and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (MA, PhD).

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Jennifer Hoffmann

Jennifer Hoffmann

Director

Jennifer Hoffmann is an independent consultant with RiskFrontier Consultants Ltd after a career in management in various innovative financial institutions in South Africa which included CEO of TEBA Bank in South Africa. Her consulting work focuses on technology for accessible banking in general, including branchless banking and mobile banking, business strategy, regulatory issues, and the establishment, growth and transformation of microfinance institutions. She has worked with the IFC, Finmark Trust (South Africa), CGAP and clients in West Africa, India, Malawi, Ethiopia, Southern Africa, Eastern Europe etc.

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Matthew Nell

Matthew Nell

Director

Matthew Nell is the Founder & Director of Shisaka Development Management Services in South Africa. He chairs the board of Arrowhead Properties, a Real Estate Investment Trust, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. He has over thirty years of experience in development finance inclusive of urban and housing development and microfinance. Mr. Nell oversaw the establishment of key housing finance and micro-credit institutions and public funding interventions. Mr. Nell has also been responsible for the overall management and direction of the National Housing Forum, which was responsible for negotiating the new National Housing Policy and assisting South Africa’s new democratically elected government. Through Shisaka, Mr. Nell’s consultancy work has provided advisory services to the state, the private sector and the non-governmental sectors.

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Natasha K Quist

Natasha K Quist

Board Alumni & Advisor

Natasha K. Quist has over 25 years of international private and NGO management experience. Currently, she is the Senior Advisor for West and Central Africa for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation based in Abuja.
Prior to joining the Gates Foundation she was the West and Central Africa Regional Director for Save the Children International, based in Senegal and covering 11 countries (Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea). She was highly successful in scaling the World Wildlife Fund Program in Africa, as its Regional Director where she was responsible for 28 field offices staffed by over 300 people. Ms. Quist began her career on Wall Street, where she worked for various firms, including Salomon Brothers. She later worked for Walt Disney Company, and Nike Inc, where she focused on strategy, business planning, and new business development. Ms. Quist holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a BSc from Leeds University.

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Extended Team

With decades of deep, cross-cutting experience in the SME Finance space, we deliver high-impact results targeted to clients' key priorities.

Main Office Address

CapitalPlus Exchange
8001 Lincoln Avenue Suite 201
Skokie, IL 60077 USA

Services