About CERISE

CERISE

Created in 1998, CERISE is a French non-profit organization, pioneer in social performance management. CERISE is dedicated to responsible and ethical finance, willing to find solutions for mission-driven organizations to make their social goals a reality. 

CERISE believes finance can be responsible, ethical and inclusive, as long as economic actors adopt approaches to measure and manage their social performance.

As a social innovator, CERISE works with actors in inclusive finance, social business and impact-investing to co-create social standards and social assessment tools that are free to all.

CERISE offers consultancy services to all types of mission-driven organizations equipping them with the skills and tools they need to define and achieve their impact thesis.

 

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Vision: Contribute to building a transparent, responsible, inclusive and high social-impact financial sector that contributes to the reduction of inequality.

Mission: Support impact investors, inclusive finance and social enterprises to achieve their social mission.

Values:

  • Collaboration – CERISE collaborates with a range of partners to facilitate knowledge sharing and collective intelligence. CERISE’s members and partners are catalysts of progress, thanks to their active participation and contributions to our collective thinking on ethical finance.
  • Innovation – CERISE constantly seeks to push the boundaries of our actions, to introduce innovative approaches and tools to respond to the challenges of inequality.
  • Solidarity – CERISE works closely with a rich variety of partners –financial service providers, social businesses, networks, investors, donors, researchers – from the North and South, who enrich each other mutually in their differences.
  • Respect – CERISE treats partners with respect and esteem, with particular attention to equity and fairness, regardless of their origin.

 

Team

Cécile Lapenu is Executive Director at CERISE. Cécile held the presidency of the European Microfinance Platform (eMFP) in 2013, is a Board member of the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF). Before joining CERISE in 2001, Cécile worked as an expert in Rural Finance for IFPRI and CIRAD. A Ph.D in agricultural economics, Cécile defended her doctoral thesis in 1996 on microfinance in Indonesia.
Bonnie Brusky is Deputy Director at CERISE. She has over 20 years of experience in microfinance, specialized in social performance and client-centered research. A seasoned professional with rural and urban field experience in Africa, Asia and South America, Bonnie is a certified lead trainer and assessor for the Smart Campaign and senior advisor to the SEEP Network. Bonnie holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a DESS in development studies from Université Paris-La Sorbonne. 
Célia Fernandez is Head of Communication & SDG Project. She also manages internal administration for CERISE. Célia holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po Paris. She has 9 years of experience in the field of economic and social development. She worked for 5 years in Morocco as a project & Quality manager (ISO 9001 Standard). 







Marc Davoust is Head of Data and Digitalization. Before joining CERISE, he worked as a digital project manager and in marketing, both in France and Canada. He has a diploma from the Toulouse School of Management.





Céciliane Mananjara is Inclusive Finance Project Manager. Before joining CERISE, she worked in the field of Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility. She holds a master’s degree in International Business and Diplomacy from HEIP, the School of Advanced Political studies (Paris).
Snezana Jovic is Head of Inclusive Finance. She has more than 10 years of experience in this sector where she has been working directly with a large number of actors in the field (MFIs, professional associations, regional and international networks), mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Asia and Latin America. She is specialized in areas related to social performance management, client-centricity, and client protection. Prior to that, Snezana Jovic worked more than 7 years in marketing and communication in the private sector. She graduated from Paris IX Dauphine University in “Business Administration in Developing Countries”.



Marion Allet is Head of Environment & Impact. She has over 10 years of experience in inclusive finance, mainly in Africa and Latin America. She is specialized in green microfinance, access to clean energy, environmental performance management, and impact management. A graduate from Sciences Po Paris, she also holds a PhD (defended in 2013) on microfinance and the environmental bottom line.




 

 

 

Governance

CERISE was founded in 1998 by five of the leading French organizations supporting microfinance around the world: CIDR, GRET, IRAM, IRC/SupAgro, and CIRAD. CERISE started as peer-learning platform, to promote knowledge sharing among the founding members.

In 2012, CERISE registered as a not-for-profit association dedicated to ethical finance.

Today, the Board is comprised of four of the founding members, represented by their organizations (CIDR, GRET, IRAM) or as individuals.

Monique Cohen is the President of CERISE since March 2017. International expert on microfinance, Monique Cohen worked on impact issues for USAID before founding in 2002 Microfinance Opportunities, organization dedicated to financial education for low-income populations.

 

 
 

 

Business model

Social innovator

CERISE works with mission-driven organizations to co-develop social standards and create self-assessment tools that are public goods.

Around 40% of CERISE’s budget comes from subsidies, which allows us to innovate as well as uphold our open-access approach.

Service provider

The remaining 60% of CERISE’s budget is self-financed through a service mix designed to support actors in inclusive finance and social business worldwide achieve their social mission.

These partners have provided invaluable support over the years:

Partners & clients

CERISE has worked closely and successfully with a range of partners in the North and South.

Learn more about recent projects and how CERISE helps mission-driven organizations achieve their social goals.

 

Recent projects

CERISE works with Ankuram and the support of the Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) to guide the institution Satin Creditcare Network Ltd in an impact study, including the profile of customers, their satisfaction and expected changes in relation to the SDGs taken into account in the strategy of this large Indian organization. 2020

In 2020, CERISE joins forces with Incofin and M-CRIL on measuring results! Incofin has launched a multi-year partnership that will help beneficiaries of a dedicated fund (agRIF) to rigorously monitor their impact with their target customers, by collecting key information and using pragmatic “impact dashboards”. Read press release

The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation supports rural development in Africa, Asia and Central Europe through investment services and technical support for PSFs and social enterprises. CERISE works with GCAMF to define its impact strategy, set up its impact management system (approach, indicators, data collection protocols) and communicate externally on its results. 2019-2020

With Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, CERISE leads a technical assistance and GPS project in the Caribbean region. The objective is to assess and improve the local PSF’s GPS capabilities, giving them access to best practices and the most recent tools in this area. 8 audits were carried out in 2019, others are to come in 2020 as well as a regional benchmark report. 2019-2020

Between March and December 2019, CERISE and BRAC International worked jointly to train and qualify SPI4 auditors within affiliated institutions and international headquarters. CERISE provided virtual training for auditors as well as remote support for carrying out SPI4 audits and analyzing the results. Thanks to a strong commitment from participants, this project contributed to the creation and appropriation of a clear GPS action plan by all BRAC International affiliates.

Job openings

 

CERISE currently does not have open position right now, but feel free to send us your CV and cover letter to include in our recruitment database.