This upcoming Saturday, Liz Bara will be on the panel of a discussion on Microfinance: Empowering women worldwide. On the panel this weekend,

BryAnn Chen is the Executive Director of the Refugee Women's Network based here in Atlanta. Created in 1995, Refugee Women's Network, Inc. (RWN), is a national non profit organization created by women, for women, that focuses on enhancing refugee and immigrant women's strength, skills, and courage, through leadership training, education and advocacy to promote independence, self-sufficiency, and networking among its participants.

Elizabeth Bara is co-founder and Executive Director for ASAP Africa. Created in 1992, ASAP’s mission is to cultivate self reliance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Until 2001, ASAP’s program focused on improving education infrastructure in rural Zimbabwe and maintained a constantly growing orphan scholarship fund. This year over 29,000 women will participate in ASAP’s currently funded projects in rural Zimbabwe, which are completely managed and implemented by ASAP’s local Zimbabwean staff. ASAP is currently replicating their program into Malawi.


Genia Topple is the Executive Director of the Rockdale Foundation. The Rockdale Foundation is a private foundation, established in 1994 through the generosity and passion of philanthropist Bob Pattillo. In 2003, Genia joined the Foundation and served as the organization’s Program Officer for Microfinance for 4 years, developing their strategy for microfinance in the Arab region and building relationships with grantees.


Astrid Yolanda Pregel is the President of Feminomics Inc., a consulting company working at the intersections of gender, leadership, entrepreneurship and the economy. She also serves as an associate with the Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the School of Management at Georgia Tech. Astrid retired from Canada's Foreign Service in 2003, capping her 25 year career as Canada's first woman Consul General to the Southeastern USA. She also was the first woman appointed Minister Counselor at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C., where she oversaw the entire scope of Canada's commercial interests with the U.S. -- the largest trading relationship in the world.