Marilou van Golstein Brouwers
Senior Fund Manager, Triodos Bank
Zeist, The Netherlands
Advisor for the International Year of Microcredit 2005

(Photo by Ilse Wolfgang)

“One of the most distressing consequences of globalization is the increase in the wealth of a few while hundreds of millions of people still live in poverty. Too many people remain excluded from education, health care, markets and economic opportunities. However, microfinance is a powerful tool to begin to change that; it is essential for entrepreneurship to develop and for the creation of businesses that form the foundation of local economic development. But it does more. It helps people to gain more self-respect by giving them the opportunity to use local resources and be more independent from international aid.”

Marilou van Golstein Brouwers is a Senior Fund Manager for the Triodos Bank in the Netherlands, where she has worked since 1990. She is responsible for international microfinance investments. In addition, she serves on the boards of a number of socially responsible institutions, including: INAISE; Akiba Commercial Bank, Tanzania; Centenary Rural Development Bank, Uganda; K-REP Bank, Kenya; and Small Business Bank, Russia. She joined WWB’s Board of Trustees in 2003.

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