THOMAS ENGELHARDT is Access Holding’s Chief Business Officer. He joined LFS Advisory GmbH as a Partner in 1996 and has served on the Access Holding management board since its foundation in 2006. He was also the first General Manager of Access Bank Azerbaijan and held other managerial positions in Berlin and abroad. He is also Chairman of the Board of Access Microfinance bank Tanzania and AB Bank Zambia. Thomas Engelhardt has an M.Sc. degree in Economics, and speaks German, English, Russian and Serbo-Croat.

FARAH KATIA CHAMS has over 18 years of experience in micro and development finance both on executive and investment levels. She holds position of Senior Investment Officer Private Equity at Triodos Investment Management. Her previous positions include Director Finance Strategy and Acting Head of Risks at Edna Tamweel SA (Tunisia), Investment Officer Africa/Mena at Triodos Investment Management, Asset Manager at Cyrano Management SA (Paris) and various positions at Credit Cooperatif a French cooperative bank, a member of Global Alliance for Banking Values. She has received Executive Master’s Degree in Financial and Strategic Analysis – from Summa cum laude Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers – Paris as well as masters degrees in Development Economics and International Economics from Paris X Nanterre University and Dauphine University.

Paul Panciu has vast experience finance services experience in Retail & SME Banking and Non-Bank Financial Institutions in nonexecutive and executive roles in Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Poland and Albania. He has extensive operational expertise in organizational diagnosis, strategy optimization and execution at country and multi-country level: Sales efficiency and organization, Credit Risk, Collections, Audit, Compliance. Currently he acts as Executive Chairman at OMRO IFN SA. He has a Certificate in Global Management from INSEAD and holds Masters in International Business from Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

Johannes Mainhardt, Member (Access Holding). Mr. Mainhardt is the Head of Group Portfolio & Investments at Access Holding. He has worked in several microfinance banks in different geographical regions. He served as Finance & Risk Director at Credo Bank (Georgia), as well as the Chief Credit & Operating Officer at AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria and held various senior positions in other Access Holding network banks. Mr. Mainhardt started his career at Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt (Germany). He serves on the boards of Access Bank Tanzania and AB Microfinance Bank Nigeria. Mr. Mainhardt has a degree in Business Administration specialized on Banking and is fluent in German, English and Russian.

Andrew Pospielovsky has twenty-years’ international management, consulting and Board experience in Microfinance and SME Banking in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. He also serves as a director for MSME focused Banks and MFIs in Ukraine, Serbia and Kazakhstan and advises on strategy, institutional transformation and risk management. Dr. Pospielovsky holds a PhD in Modern History from the University of London, and is fluent in English and Russian.

Olga Tomash has 27 years of experience in financial services, mostly in development-oriented financial institutions. She works as a consultant in strategy development, operational excellence and IT systems, internal audit, and corporate governance. Olga has vast experience in audit and controls; senior executive experience working in ProCredit Bank, Ukraine; and also in multiple roles in the FINCA group. Olga currently serves as an independent Supervisory Board member of PrivatBank, Ukraine and member of the Supervisory Board of Ipak Yuli Bank in Uzbekistan.
Olga is a member of ACCA, holding a certificate of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a diploma of Kyiv State University of Trade and Economics.