Boulder Institute of Microfinance

Rodrigo Bustos is the Regional Microfinance Advisor for Plan International in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Plan International is a child-focused development organization whose mission is to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life for children, their families and their communities. Plan’s vision is of a world in which all children realize their full potential in societies that respect people’s rights and dignities. Programs are primarily in remote rural areas and the central premise of all programs is that Plan is committed to child centered community development in order to empower people to address the causes and consequences of poverty. He is leading in Plan the implementation of a Regional Strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean to scaling up microfinance services for the very poor.

The modality involves working in partnerships with local organizations and the approach applies fundamental principles:

1. use of high performance methodologies
2. focus on poverty outreach (especially women)
3. financial and operational sustainability
4. aligning financial services with other development programs (e.g. education, health, water and sanitation) to increase socioeconomic benefits for children (i.e., Microfinance ‘Plus’).

He has attended the Market Research for Microfinance Institutions (MR4MF) course conducted by Microsave. He is leading the dissemination and training process of the Market Research course and toolkits to all Plan programs and partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.

He has the following areas of interest in Microfinance: Poverty Targeting, Market Research for Product Development, Microfinance ‘Plus’, Social Performance Management and Social Impact. Rodrigo Bustos has a BA in Sociology and Political Sciences in the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and a Master in Business Administration (MBS) in the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.