ANNE FOLAN

Founder & President

Anne Folan’s practice focuses on strategic communications for clients primarily in the financial services sector. Her clients include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, AZMJ/Chemonics, CFED, Women for Women International, Mercy Corps, FINCA International, CGAP, Alternative Credit Technologies, Women’s World Banking, the Social Performance Task Force, Microfinance Opportunities, MICRA Indonesia and MICRA Philippines, the Small Enterprise Education & Promotion Network, the Haiti Democracy Project, the YouthSave Consortium, and many others.

Before launching her own practice, Anne worked as a fundraising and communications executive for FINCA International, a leading global microfinance network, where she exceeded ambitious multi-million dollar fundraising targets each year. She managed FINCA’s brand identity, designed strategic communications plans, produced all web and print publications, led internal communications, and produced high-profile special events.

Anne began her career at Island Press, the only nonprofit publishing house exclusively devoted to environmental issues.

In addition to her professional practice, Anne is a co-founder of WAM (Women Advancing Microfinance) International, the only global network for women professionals in the microfinance industry. She also serves on the board of directors of the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations, and is a member of the John Carroll Society and Washington Independent Writers.

A graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, Anne lives in the historic Capitol Hill district of Washington, DC.

 

ERNIE AGTARAP
Partner & Creative Director

Ernani (Ernie) Agtarap is an internationally recognized commercial artist with more than 25 years experience leading creative direction for major multinational corporate and brand identities. His work has been honored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts and he is a multiple winner of Graphic Design USA and HOW Magazine’s Design Awards.

As creative brand manager for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMS), Ernie was responsible for all aspects of visual communications (marketing collateral, commercials, print advertisement, product literature, interactive communications) for all products in the virology franchise of this leading pharmaceutical multinational. His portfolio included several blockbuster drugs in the treatment of hepatitis, HIV, and cancer. Ernie managed and delivered creative work that helped the Hep B franchise go from a $200 million product to over $1 billion in revenue.

Prior to joining BMS, Ernie served as creative director for Sequel Concepts, Inc., growing this communications and media company from a $250,000 initial investment to $25 million in annual revenue.

Ernie has provided creative direction and graphic design on multiple projects for the Anne Folan team since 2012. A partial list includes: annual reports for FINCA International and FINCA Microfinance Holding Company; major (110-page) interactive PDF for FINCA Pakistan; grant-making toolkit, corporation communications material, and 2014 annual report for MetLife Foundation; major (195-page) interactive PDF for CFED; 120-page technical guide for CGAP/Ford Foundation; suite of reports for YouthSave Consortium; and multiple publications and collateral for the Social Performance Task Force.

  

VIVIANA BARRIONUEVO
Strategic & Technical Counsel

Viviana Barrionuevo brings more than 20 years of project experience as a senior consultant in business process reengineering, organizational restructuring, information systems implementations, and change management. She specializes in complex projects for high profile clients. As one of the team leaders of a major consulting project for the Mexican social security agency, Viviana led the team responsible for modernizing the treasury function, implementing the new system and training the agency’s staff. She has led restructuring and reengineering projects for multinational corporations including IBM, the Ahold Group, Duracell, and Credit Lyonnais. Viviana has specialized expertise in PeopleSoft implementations, leading mid- and large-scale roll-outs of that system throughout Latin America. Viviana’s experience encompasses multiple sectors including government, financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, and engineering. She holds degrees in both law and in business from Buenos Aires University, and has taught courses in accounting, management, and strategic planning at the university level. Viviana has business proficiency in English and speaks Portuguese fluently along with her native Spanish.

DAWN SHEPHERD
Technology

Dawn Shepherd has provided quality professional web design and production services since 1995. Her clients include the Microfinance Gateway, World Bank, Pacific Coast Canola, Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group, Look.Net LLC, South Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, Microfinance Management Institute, and many others. Her websites combine high aesthetic value with functional precision, even for highly complex database-driven sites, and she is a recognized expert in search engine optimization.