ProInspire Spotlight: Amitabh Saxena, ACCION International
ProInspire Spotlight is our monthly feature profiling sector switchers and people using their business experience in the social sector. This month we spotlight Amitabh Saxena at ACCION International. Amitabh is doing great work helping microfinance institutions leverage new channels like mobile phones and prepaid cards to reach the poor.
1. What do you currently do?
I manage strategy and implementation projects for ACCION International in Alternative Channels (new ways of delivering financial services to the poor), the workstream I started when I began here in 2006. This chiefly involves consulting to our microfinance partners in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and supporting the overall channels strategy at ACCION.
2. What did you do before coming here?
I was at Capital One for several years working as Product Manager in the company’s Innovation Center. Before that I had a stint in Kenya working for the education unit of one of the country’s larger microfinance institutions, Jamii Bora, teaching computer literacy in one of Nairobi’s largest slums.
3. What inspired you to work in the social sector?
I’ve long wanted to marry my desire for creating a social impact with my fascination for emerging markets. When I saw first-hand the meaningful, measurable difference that microfinance was making to poor people in Kenya, I knew I had found my passion.
4. How did you make the transition?
By taking risks and putting in place the right building blocks. With an eye towards microfinance, I actually decided to work for Capital One to better understand the commercial side of consumer financial services. That set up the transition to ACCION several years later, where I was able to keep the functional skill-set I had developed at Capital One (in marketing and product development) and return to a sector I was most passionate about: microfinance. Quitting a comfortable job at Capital One for a short-term consultancy at ACCION was one of the biggest risks I took, but it ended up leading to the position I have now.
5. What is the most rewarding part of your work?
My workstream of alternative channels, such as using mobile phones, pre-paid cards, and retail stores to deliver financial services such as loans, remittances, and savings, not only is a very new and very cutting-edge field in microfinance, but also has the potential to greatly decrease costs and increase outreach to the poor. Pushing that type of breakthrough innovation forward energizes me.
And since everyone asks: yes, the international travel is exciting, but don’t be fooled, it can actually get quite tiring!
6. What is the most challenging part of your work?
Moving from strategy to implementation in microfinance projects takes time. There are three reasons. The first is that there is a different concept of time and urgency in emerging markets. The second is that as microfinance strives to reconcile a financial and social impact – the so-called “double bottom-line” – strategic decisions are more time-consuming and complex. Third, in my unit at ACCION we chiefly act as consultants to our microfinance partners, thus from a governance perspective we cannot (nor necessarily should) push projects as fast as we would like.
7. How has your business experience helped you?
As microfinance has the “luxury” of being essentially retail financial services with a twist – oriented towards the poor – business experience comes in handy. In my case, I use similar skills I developed at Capital One – functional ones such as marketing and product development, softer ones such as consulting and cross-functional teamwork – at ACCION.
8. What do you believe are the most important qualities to work in the social sector?
It’s often said, but there’s no doubt that passion in the cause is the most essential quality. I would also say that adaptability is important, especially if one is coming from the business sector.
9. Which books or websites do you recommend for people interested in microfinance?
Most people start with Banker to the Poor, written by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Portfolios of the Poor provides fascinating consumer insights from on how poor people manage money. I must also recommend a recent book by ACCION’s own Beth Rhyne, Microfinance for Bankers and Investors, which discusses why and how the private sector should become involved in microfinance.
As far as internet sites, www.microfinancegateway.org is the veritable portal for everything microfinance (research papers, conference events, job postings, etc.). My Communications Director would not be pleased with me if I didn’t also recommend www.accion.org and www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org, which have technical publications and policy notes, respectively.
10. What is your advice to business professionals who want to work in microfinance?
It is important to first understand the landscape of career opportunities in the sector, and then ask some key questions: do you want to work directly in the field for a microfinance institution or remotely from a hub? Do you have a geographic or regional preference? What function excites you most? What type of organization do you want to work for? Once that is clear, the usual job-seeking strategies apply.
Since it’s a distinction that is often missed, I would also note that working in microfinance does not mean working for a microfinance institution. Your perch could be a grant-making organization, a large retail bank, a multi-lateral organization, a start-up payment provider, or a boutique social investment firm. So the range of career opportunities in microfinance is actually quite broad.