“What creates wealth? People create wealth. The source of wealth is inside our head; it’s our creativity.”

Damian von Stauffenberg is the founder of MicroRate, the world’s first rating agency specializing in microfinance. Through its Latin American and African subsidiaries, MicroRate has conducted over 500 ratings of microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Before dedicating himself to microfinance, von Stauffenberg worked for 25 years in the World Bank and its private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In the past, von Stauffenberg has been closely associated with various institutions that have played pioneering roles in connecting microfinance to capital markets. He has been president of Seed Capital Development Fund (SCDF), chairman of the Investment Committee of ProFund, chairman of the executive committee of MicroVest and member of the executive committee of the Latin American Challenge Investment Fund, LA-CIF.