CURRICULUM
VITAE (mid 2005 edition)
Name: Stuart Edward RUTHERFORD,
An independent researcher,
practitioner, teacher and consultant in financial services for the poor,
especially in south and south-east
As a
practitioner:
Stuart Rutherford is the founder and Chairman of SafeSave, a financial services Co-operative which pioneers
ultra-flexible savings and loans services for urban and rural poor in
Bangladesh. SafeSave operates from
seven urban branches in Dhaka and one rural branch and more information can be
found on its web site, www.safesave.org He has been a Board Member of ASA, a
Bangladeshi NGO which is the world’s fastest growing and most cost-effective
microfinance institution for the poor. He runs Binimoy, a not-for-profit venture which promotes innovation in
financial services for the poor and develops products.
As a writer
and researcher: In
late 1995 Stuart Rutherford published
the first full-length book which examines NGO involvement in micro-finance in
As a
consultant: Stuart
Rutherford has carried out field-work commissions, including research studies,
product design, and programme evaluations, for many clients including World
Bank, UNDP, DFID, ADB, EU and many NGOs including Oxfam, CARE, Save the
Children, ASA, BRAC, BURO, Proshika, and ActionAid.
As a teacher: Stuart Rutherford has spoken at many
international conferences on financial services for the poor. From 1998 through
2002 he was a lecturer on the Microfinance Training Course in
Stuart
Rutherford
has a first class degree from
Education:
Exhibitioner, Gonville and
BA
(First Class),
MA,
Student, Architectural
AA Diploma 1976
Registered Architect (ARCUK) since 1976
Academic status:
Senior
Visiting Research Fellow, Institute
for Development Policy and Management,
Lecturer, Microfinance
Training Course, Economics Institute,
Lecturer, Micro-enterprise
Training Course,
Membership:
Member, Royal Institute of British Architects
Member, European Network of
Senior Associate, International Development
Support Services,
Chairman, SafeSave
Chairman, Binimoy
former Board Member, ASA
Languages:
|
English |
native language |
|
Bengali |
good spoken, basic written |
|
French |
fair spoken, fair written |
|
Spanish |
fair spoken, fair written |
|
Japanese |
beginner’s level |
Has
worked as a resident in:
UK (home); USA (two years); Mexico (six months), Nicaragua (six months); Burundi (one and a half years); The Gambia (two years), Bangladesh (fifteen years), Japan
Has also worked as a consultant in:
Has also travelled extensively in North and
South America, Africa, Europe and
Employment
and self-employment:
1999 - 2005:
Freelance
Consultant, Independent Researcher, Teacher, Practitioner
Practice: continuing
development of
Books: The Poor and Their Money, OUP
Book chapters: several,
including Sustainable Urban Livelihoods
(DFID); in Savings (ed Madeline
Hirschland, forthcoming); for a full list please contact by email
Articles: numerous articles
for the Finance and Development (DFID-IDPM) research project, available on www.man.ac.uk/idpm
Other articles in: ADB
Microfinance News (first edition); Small Enterprise Development Journal;
several ‘Focus Notes’ for CGAP (World Bank, Washington DC); Ideas in
Development Journal (Corporation for Enterprise Development, Washington DC);
paper ‘The Microfinance Market’ prepared for conference at Wageningen
University, The Netherlands, April 2001. Numerous other articles: for a full
list please contact by email
Research on ‘Grameen Bank
II: a Grounded View’, from late 2002, continuing
· this is my current main research work, looking at how the Grameen Bank’s new approach is being received by clients and staff at ground level
· research funded by MicroSave-Africa with support from various national and international bodies
· research is being conducted in close collaboration with the Grameen Bank
Topic Presenter,
KfW Conference on microfinance
·
· Paper: ‘Micropensions: Old Age Security for the Poor?’ to be published as a book chapter
Lecturer,
ADB/UNDP distance learning course
·
Contributor, CGAP
research on savings
· Commissioned by the World Bank, early 2005
· see www,cgap.org/savings/
Keynote speaker,
ADB Conference on microfinance
· Manila February 2005
Lecturer,
Microfinance Course, University of the North,
· August 2004
Contributor,
strategic review of options in microfinance for international donors in
· contributed a paper on microfinance and the very poor
Lecturer, masters
programme in Development Finance,
· delivered a ten lecture course
Lecture, ILO
Meeting,
Lecture,
Interco-operation,
·
speaker at a specially-called
meeting in
Keynote speaker,
DFID ‘Finance and Development’ Final Conference, April 2002
·
summed up the work on financial
behaviour and preferences of the poor
Speaker, Ford
Foundation meeting,
· special guest speaker at Ford’s annual gathering
‘Distance
Learning’ speaker for World Bank Institute, October 2001
·
an internet-based session
linking various capitals of
Microfinance
consultant, DFID
· conducted a ‘product review’ of BURO Tangail, an MFI supported by DFID
· report available from DFID
Microfinance
consultant, BRAC, March 1999
· advised BRAC on developing their financial services products
· report available from BRAC
Microfinance
consultant, UNDP/DFID, April-May 1999
·
researched savings behaviour
and preferences of the poor in East Africa on a six-week mission to
·
report available from MicroSave
Africa
Lecturer,
MicroFinance Training Course,
·
taught an elective course, ‘The
Poor and Their Money in
Microfinance
consultant trainer, CECI,
·
training course for CECI
partners
Microfinance
consultant trainer, SKIP,
·
helped SKIP’s partners in
Lecturer,
Micro-Enterprise Training Course,
·
taught an elective course, ‘The
Poor and Their Money in
Research
Co-director (with Dr David Hulme), Finance and Development, from January 1999
to 2001
·
this three-year project funded
by DFID (1999-2001) looks at the financial services behaviour and preferences
of poor people, mainly in
·
this has required repeated
trips to
1994-98:
Freelance Consultant, Independent Researcher,
Teacher, Practitioner
Books: ASA: The biography of an NGO, ASA,
A typology of financial services for the poor, ActionAid
City Savers: financial services and the poor in
Urban
Articles: The Savings of the Poor, in Journal of
International Development, January 1998
Informal Financial Services for the Poor in Dhaka, in Who Needs Credit?, edited Wood and
Sharif, UPL Dhaka and Zed Books
The following is
a selection of work in the perios, not an exhaustive listing:
Research adviser
(for DFID) on Proshika’s savings policy, November 1998
· advised a team led by Lorna Grace looking at the new savings products offered since mid 1997 by Proshika, a large Bangladesh NGO/MFI: project funded by DFID
Lecturer,
MicroFinance Training Course, Economics Institute,
·
taught an elective course,
‘Going to Scale in
Chairman, SafeSave, from August 1996 to date, and
associated consultancies
·
SafeSave is an innovative
financial services provider for the poor based in Dhaka
· from late 1997 I have acted as a consultant to the international NGO PLAN, one of whose partner NGOs is adopting the SafeSave system
· from mid 1998 I have acted as a consultant to the international NGO CARE, nine of whose partner NGOs are adopting the SafeSave system
Research
Co-Director, IDPM
· Co-Directing, with Dr David Hulme of IDPM, research into the financial services needs of the poor: this is a three year programme requiring some two months per year of my time.
Occasional
Consultant, Swiss Development Corporation,
·
the Swiss have commissioned me
to work with the Credit and Development Forum,
Microfinance
Consultant, ADD,
· a review with recommendations of the interesting attempts being made by ADD, an NGO working with disabled people, to bring financial services to the disabled poor
Microfinance
Consultant, Kashf Foundation,
· field research, programme review, product design and staff training consultancy for this tiny new but innovative microfinance institute run entirely by women.
Microfinance
Consultant,
·
field research, programme
review, product design and staff training consultancy for CECAP, an EU project
in northern
Research writer,
Oxfam and
· preparation of background material for a new Oxfam/ActionAid book: material now published separately as a booklet by ActionAid with the name A typology of financial services for the poor
Research writer,
Association for Social Advancement, September 1994 to September 1995
·
preparation of a book on the
history and future of ASA, an NGO on course to become one of the biggest
credit-giving bodies in the country: ‘ASA,
the biography of an NGO: Empowerment and Credit in Rural
Editorial Board
member, BankPoor ’96, May-December 1996
·
BankPoor ’96 is an initiative
of APDC (Asian Pacific Development Council). As an editorial board member I
shared responsibility for a series of assessments of micro-finance in fifteen
Asian and Pacific states, and for the preparation and execution of the BankPoor
’96 Workshop in
Micro-Finance
Evaluator, DFID
· Mid-term evaluation of the NGO ‘BURO Tangail’, an NGO which has developed a market-oriented version of the Grameen Bank micro-finance delivery model. Appraisal of BURO’s application to DFID, July 1996.
Micro-Finance
Evaluator, DFID
·
Mid-term evaluation of ‘Faulu
Micro-Finance
Evaluator, DFID
·
Examination of the group
dynamics of savings groups formed by Proshika, a major NGO partner of DFID in
Savings and
Credit Consultant, ActionAid
·
further review of the ‘Commune
Bank’ developed for ActionAid (AAV) in northern
·
publication: ‘Five Savings Group Case Studies’, ActionAid
Workshops for
ACCU (Asian Confederation of Credit Unions)
· workshops designed to help activists plan and execute better financial services for the poor
Financial
Services Consultant, Urban Poverty Office, DFID
visited DFID-aided cities and reviewed the work of potential partner-NGOs in the field of savings and credit
publications: 'SIPs, NGOs and Financial Services’,
November 1994; ‘Self-Help Savings and
Loan groups:
Financial
Services Consultant, DFID/BAFRU/CARE, August 1994
· short research consultancy to discover how poorer farmers cope with the conversion of paddy land to sweet-water prawn farming in northern Bagerhat.
·
publication: ‘CARE and gher: Financing the small fry’,
BAFRU/CARE,
Credit Development Consultant, Gono Shahajjo
Sangstha, July 1994 and December 1995
· free consultancy for this interesting local NGO that has concentrated on ‘social mobilisation’ and now wants to satisfy its group members’ demand for credit: short appraisal of their savings work, December 1995
Savings and
Credit Consultant, ActionAid and Oxfam/SCF
Reviewed the 'village
bank' developed for ActionAid in northern
Savings and
Credit Consultant, Slum Improvement Projects Office, DFID
devised and ran a workshop to help Slum Improvement Project Officers from seven assisted cities to plan savings and credit activities
publication: 'Workshop on Thrift and Credit: Workshop Document', DFID Delhi
Private research,
· Research focuses on imagining and testing better ways of organising financial services for poor people: in collaboration with local and international NGOs. Output is aimed at local NGOs.
·
Privately funded a smaller NGO
to experiment with radical alternatives to the Grameen Bank for indigenous
people in
1993:
Freelance
Consultant, Independent Researcher, and IDSS Senior Associate
Credit Management and
Delivery Expert, Asian Development Bank: September 1993 - January 1994
an IDSS contract with the ADB to provide technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh to develop a credit delivery scheme for the rural poor based on Grameen Bank methodology
publication: 'Alternative Credit Delivery Systems,
Consultant, Save the
Children Fund (
evaluated SCF's Credit
and Savings scheme in north-central
publication: 'Work in Progress' (SCF-UK Bangladesh, 1993)
Consultant, ActionAid
developed, with the
Womens Union of
the scheme is now running and early reports are encouraging
Private
Research into financial services for the very poor
collaborating with
several NGOs in
publications: in preparation
1991-1992:
Freelance
Consultant, Private Researcher, and part-time Advisor to ActionAid
Advisor, ActionAid
a part-time post (seven
months a year) advising ActionAid on the development of its programmes in
publications: numerous,
including 'AfterWords - ActionAid in
Consultant, ActionAid
advising this new
ActionAid country programme on how to assess the potential for financial
services in a poor mountainous district of northern
publication: 'A Peasant Economy Readjusts', ActionAid
Consultant,
Save the Children Fund (
reviewed this major UK
NGO's experiences in rural savings and credit in
publication: 'Learning to Lend', Save the Children
(UK) Working Paper No 5,
Evaluator, DFID/World
Vision, January 1992
member of a three-person Team assessing World Vision's use of an DFID grant for rehabilitation following the April 1991 cyclone
publication: 'The Cyclone of 1991: Some Thoughts on
Relief and Rehabilitation, Coping, and NGOs' (with Richard Palmer-Jones),
PACT/Community Library,
Consultant, Swiss
Development Corporation, October and November 1991
responsible for designing
and carrying out field research into the performance of the Grameen Bank as
part of SDC's project on 'Poverty Alleviation and Participation in
publication: pending
Consultant, HelpAge
International, various dates since 1990
HelpAge International are
introducing the concept of financial services for the elderly to a number of
NGOs in
publications: various field reports available
1984-1990:
Full-time
employment
Director,
ActionAid
designed and executed
ActionAid's programme in
the programme's main
location is in southern
we successfully adopted, adapted and extended the Grameen Bank's approach to serve 20,000 landless households with a range of financial services
£1.5m (US$2.25m) was lent in almost 100,000 separate micro-loans and achieved a repayment rate of 96% repaid on the due day.
the programme also sank over 1,000 deep domestic water tubewells (average depth 280 metres), set up an immunisation service for the area, supported schools and responded to the cyclones of May 1985, October 1987 and April 1991.
finance came from public and private sources: public sources included DFID, CIDA and DANIDA (British, Canadian and Danish official aid) and UNICEF.
publications: numerous reports
evaluations: 'Group Formation and Savings and Credit'
by Dr Ruth Alsop (
1981-1984:
Freelance
consultant and private architect
during this period I was in practice as an architect (Michael Watts Associates: see below)
I also carried out
occasional overseas consultancies, for example in Somalia in 1981 in connection
with refugee work, Rwanda in 1982 to advise on school construction, and The
Gambia in 1982 to advise on locations for a film made by ActionAid about its
work in the country
1978-1981:
Advisor to
ActionAid in
from July 1978 to
November 1979 I was resident in
from December 1979 to March 1981 I lived in The Gambia as Community Development Advisor to this new ActionAid programme, developing participatory methods of work in credit, schooling, and water supply.
1976-1978:
Private
Architect, Michael Watts Associates,
set up a four-person
Architectural Partnership in
1970-1976:
Architectural
student and consultant
enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, Britain's leading architectural college, and became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1976
during 1973-74 I took a
year out and worked as a consultant in
Principal
Investigator, Centro de Assessoramiento at INCAE,
INCAE (Instituto
Centroamericano de Administracion de Empresas) is the Latin-American campus of the
publication: Study Report, INCAE, 1974
Technical
Researcher, Urbanismo Industrial,
responsible for producing designs for low-cost housing for this engineering firm with contracts from the Mexican government
1966-1970:
College and
University Teacher
Visiting Professor,
Department of Art History,
teaching the history of
architecture to graduates and undergraduates: the
Visiting Professor,
Department of Art,
teaching the history of art and architecture to undergraduates
Senior Lecturer,
teaching the history of architecture to Diploma of Art and Design students at this leading UK Art College
Other skills: clean driving
licence; familiar with conventional computer skills; graduate of various short
management courses
Referees: names available
on request
Health: good