Katherine Oglietti's Page

Organization or School

SEEP

Title

Financial Services Community of Practice Graduate Intern

About Me

I am an intern at SEEP in the Financial Services Community of Practice. Earlier, I was a Social Performance Consultant for MIX in Washington, DC from October 2009 to May 2010 and worked with Fundacion Paraguaya in Asuncion, Paraguay during the summer of 2010. I recently published a Spanish-language training manual on Community Banking based on my research and work experience with village savings groups as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nicaragua. Currently, I volunteer as Executive Director for Help Educate, a non-profit that provides scholarships to university students in Nicaragua. I studied philosophy at Whitman College and I am currently completing an MBA-MA in International Development at The George Washington University. I speak Spanish and English.

Describe your interests in development

Since being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nicaragua, I truly believe in the impact of community driven development. I think that giving tools for development to the local community can have a stronger impact than bringing in development solutions created by external agents. This is why I believe in education and microfinance as tools for international development.

I have lived and worked in Nicaragua and Paraguay, and traveled to several other Latin American and African countries, but I have much to learn and discover.