Team

Team

Ben Powell, Founder and CEO

Ben became convinced of the power of small business to transform poor communities in Mexico, where he co-founded CityGolf Puebla, a miniature golf course and family recreation center.  After working as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Office of Management and Budget, he left to attend business school and launch Agora Partnerships. Since graduating in 2005, Ben has been named a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur, a BMW Foundation Young Leader, and an Ashoka Fellow. He was a Social Venture Network Innovation Award honoree in 2009 and named one of the top 40 under 40 development leaders in Washington, DC in 2010. He has an MBA from Columbia University, where we was awarded the inaugural alumni social innovation award, and an MSFS with distinction from Georgetown University. Ben has a BA with high honors from Haverford College, where he co-founded Tres Nacos Quesadillas Delivery and the Lighted Fools improv troupe.  A native of Cambridge, Mass., Ben lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three children.

Ricardo Terán Terán, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Agora Accelerator

Ricardo is the co-founder and Managing Director for Central America of Agora Partnerships,  a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to fighting poverty by unleashing the potential of developing world small business Impact Entrepreneurs that create economic, social, and environmental value. Agora has helped over 4000 entrepreneurs grow their businesses and measure their social impact, as well as attracting over U$10M in resources and impact investments. Agora also created and managed one of first Impact Investment funds in Latin America, the Agora Venture Fund.  Today, Agora’s Accelerator program is a regional leader in identifing and catalyzing the best early-stage impact entrepreneurs in the Mesoamerican region, and connecting them to leading Impact Investors from around the world.

Ricardo is a fellow of the inaugural class of the Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI) of the Aspen Institute and was a member of the 2010 Class of the Yale World Fellows Program. In March 2011, the World Economic Forum named Ricardo to its Young Global Leaders network.

Ricardo is himself an entrepreneur, having started several companies and non-profit organizations, including an internet satellite company, a women’s clothing franchise, and an alternative media company. He holds an undergraduate business degree in Marketing and Economics, and Masters of Science in Foreign Service, both from Georgetown University. Ricardo lives in Managua, Nicaragua, with his wife, Isolda, and two kids, Ricardo Antonio and Catalina.

Dorrit Lowsen, Chief Operating Officer

Dorrit was persuaded of the transformative power of business while earning her MBA in International Business.  Dorrit came to business school from Seagate Technology where she gained deep experience leading internationally distributed teams with members from diverse professional, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds.  Following business school, Dorrit spent 14 months leading a division at Ethos Technologies in Beijing, China, before returning to the US to build her own consulting business working for a variety of clients across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.  To Agora she brings experience across many areas including strategic planning, operations, marketing, human resources, program management, IT, and professional development.  Dorrit holds an MBA in International Business and Corporate Strategy from New York University’s Stern School of Business, an MS in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a BA from Haverford College.  She is passionate about cultivating people and loves solving multidimensional puzzles that have meaningful human impact on individuals, groups, and organizations.

Daniela Hammeken, Director of Strategic Partnerships

Before joining Agora Partnerships, Daniela worked on child labor issues and developed a girl empowerment program in Ghana. Soon after, Daniela realized the incredible potential of business to solve social and economic challenges, which led to positions in ACCION San Diego, NYC Small Business Services, and microenterprise consulting in Tanzania. Daniela has BA degrees in International Relations and Psychology from the University of Southern California and an MPA from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. Daniela speaks Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. At Agora, Daniela focuses on building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders, fundraising, communication strategy, and branding.  A native of Mexico, she enjoys board games, foosball, and other socially competitive activities.

Jesse Grainger, Director of Marketing and Communications

After working on a variety of international development projects in Africa during his undergraduate studies ranging from educational initiatives to aid distribution, Jesse was hired as a marketing consultant for a small-business development project called Africa B2B that extended mid-range loans to companies in Uganda. He then returned to the States to work as a reporter and photographer before Jesse attending graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (journalism) where he started his on social media-focused music PR firm, MOB Social Media. He left his company in 2010 in order to apply his experience to the growing field of impact investing. In 2011, Jesse joined the staff of Agora Partnerships as the Director of Marketing and Communications.

Roger Teran, Director of Finance and Administration

Before joining Agora Partnerships, Roger worked as an Equity Research Analyst at Merrill Lynch, and then as a Market Analyst and Hencorp Becstone, LC, a boutique investment firm with a focus on Latin America. After having Excel ingrained into his eyes, Roger decided to work for an organization that used innovative financial approaches to help spur sustainable development. He graduated from Boston College with a BA in International Relations and Economics. A native of El Salvador, Roger enjoys ice hockey and eating pupusas, and is considered a true hamburger snob by most of his Agora colleagues.

Juan Andres Turner, Senior Portfolio Manager

As a Venezuelan, Juan has always been interested in the development of Latin America – politically, socially, and economically. He has a BA in Political Science from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He gained valuable financial experience as a Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial, where he worked until 2009. He then moved to London where he worked as a Financial Controller for UBS and earned an MBA from St Mary’s University. Juan wrote his thesis on SME’s access to financial capital through government programs in Bangkok, Thailand. He is excited to join Agora, work in Central America, and contribute to the development of small and medium enterprises in the region.

Tatiana Toruño Roustan, Program Manager, Local Programs, Nicaragua

Tatiana graduated from the University of Central America (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua with a degree in Translation with a distinction in English. She has also studied implementation and application of quality standards in accordance with ISO and has more than eight years of experience working with small and medium-sized businesses, including Cadin – BID. development projects. Tatiana received a scholarship from the German Academic Foreign Exchange Service (DAAD) to study German.