Microcredit Means Macro Opportunity
 

Accessing capital in the world of the truly poor is no longer just a dream.  Microcredit is an antipoverty strategy that provides the very poor with tiny loans-often under $100- to allow them to earn income by establishing or expanding microbusinesses.  This is not your typical charity.  This is giving people a chance for economic self sufficiency who might not otherwise attain it. The reason it works is because people operate in groups of five providing social collateral and support to each other as they make their way out of poverty.  With 97% payback rates, companies like Citigroup are investing in microfinance not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is a business solution to poverty and a business investment

 

 Lucy Billingsley

Ms. Billingsley was born and raised in Dallas and earned a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975.   Ms. Billingsley has more than 25 years of experience in real estate with expertise in development and property management.  She has developed and managed office buildings, industrial properties, marts and design centers, and residential communities. 

At 29, Ms. Billingsley became president and CEO of the Dallas Market Center in 1983 and chair and CEO in 1988.  The Market Center expanded three times during these years resulting in a 7.2 million square foot development and a $450 million refinancing of that complex.  The Market Center houses in showrooms and regional offices 3,000 tenants offering wholesale products to retail stores worldwide.  More than 300,000 furniture, gift, and apparel stores attend 32 markets annually at the Dallas Market Center to select merchandising for upcoming seasons.  

In the 80s, Ms. Billingsley expanded Crow Design Centers in Dallas and Houston and then in Boston to encompass 1.5 million square feet of showrooms in those cities.  During this time, it was the largest wholesale trade mart in the world. 

In the mid-80s, Ms. Billingsley founded Wyndham Jade, a corporate travel and incentive company that grew to be the largest regionally-owned travel agency in the Southwest before selling the company in 2001.

Billingsley Company was recognized regionally and nationally in 2002 for design excellence in both its office and residential developments.  In residential developments, the company has earned a reputation for setting the standard for the New Suburbanism.  At Austin Ranch, 1,500 multifamily units have been built and it eventually will be home to 22,000 people.  Austin Ranch is neighborhood-based, amenity rich, activity oriented, and fully leased. 

Lucy Billingsley is active in industry and civic organizations including The Real Estate Council (TREC) Board, NAIOP Board, the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, The University of Texas at Austin Real Estate Advisory Council Board, the Human Rights Campaign (House Council Member), Charter 100, and is a board member of the Dallas chapter of the International Women’s Forum.  

Donna Rohling

Donna Rohling, social entrepreneur and activist, serves as president of The Chiapas Project, a unique grassroots organization dedicated to furthering microfinance as a solution to alleviating poverty among the poorest of the poor. In the past twelve months, Donna has become a serious student of microfinance in an effort to distill its history, understand its possibilities and develop venues to attract the capitalization needed for success.  The Chiapas Project is a support arm for AlSol, a microfinance institution in Mexico currently lending to 4,000 women with the intention of expanding to 15,000 over the next four years.

In 1998, Donna, her husband Ed, and their two young children moved to Deauville, France with a desire to experience living abroad first hand.  Upon return to the United States in 2002, Donna reunited with business leader and long-time friend, Lucy Billingsley.  Having learned of AlSol from a meeting with Alex Counts, President of Grameen Foundation USA, Lucy  founded the Chiapas Project and began to solicit support.  It was an instant marriage of the minds and today, Donna draws upon her twenty years of experience as a business executive to promote microfinance locally and nationally.

Prior to moving to France, Donna logged more than 3 million miles of air travel as a business executive.  Donna began her career as a leasing agent at the Dallas Market Center.  In eight short years, she quickly advanced from that post to president of the Dallas Apparel Mart and became responsible for the leasing, marketing, and operations of 2.2 million square feet of showroom space.  She also was responsible for the promotion and management of more than a dozen trade shows annually, attracting more than 100,000 buyers and more than 2,200 wholesalers per year.  During Rohling’s tenure, she took the Dallas Apparel Mart  from a regionally focused market to an international market attracting buyers and wholesalers from Europe, South America, Mexico, Canada, and South Africa. 

The Menswear Mart, with 400,000 square feet of new showroom space, was added to the Dallas Market Center during Rohling’s tenure, and she was named president, again responsible for overseeing operations, leasing, and marketing.  

In addition to her leadership of the Dallas Apparel Mart, Menswear Mart, and trade shows and conventions, Rohling developed Wyndham Travel from a small unprofitable venture to a highly profitable mart-focused travel management company.  

At age 35, Rohling was named chief consultant by Trammell Crow International for the Kobe Fashion Mart.  In an unprecedented move, Japanese owners of the Kobe Fashion Mart put an American woman in charge of the development of the project, convinced that Rohling had become an international power in the industry. 

Rohling left the Dallas Market Center in 1992 to join Focus Networks, a satellite network company that produced interactive video programs.  In less than a year, she was named president of Focus Networks.  At the company, she built in-house networks for Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, commuting biweekly between New York, San Francisco, and Dallas.

A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Rohling has served on the Board of Directors of Medisend International, The Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Dallas Urban League, Dallas Historical Society, The American Red Cross Dallas and Fashion Group International.  She is a member of the International Women’s Forum, the Human Rights Campaign and serves on the International  Program Committee of Grameen Foundation USA.