FEBEA is an international non profit organisation. Its operations are described in detail in its Internal Rules and Articles of Associations. Its main bodies are the General Assembly, the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly of FEBEA operates on the principle of one member, one vote. The associate and honorary members are invited to attend but have no voting rights.
The General Assembly is held at least once a year. An extraordinary meeting may be called by the Board of Directors or at the request of at least three statutory members.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors consists of minimum 5 and maximum 15 members, elected by the General Assembly, in charge for 3 years.
The current Board is composed of 12 members (see below) and will be in charge till 2026. Also two former board members will act as advisors to the board.
EXECUTIVE COMMITEE
The Board of Directors delegates to its Executive Committee the responsibility for operational management. The current Executive Committe is composed of 5 members: the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, the Treasurer and 2 Board members.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PEDRO M. SASIA - Chairman
FUNDING MEMBERS
Pedro Manuel Sasia Santos holds a Ph.D in Macromolecular Chemistry by the University of the Basque Country. In 20 years he developed his professional activity in the industrial sector, mainly in the fields of water treatment and occupational health. He is currently professor and researcher at the University of Deusto (Bilbao), board member of the Center for Applied Ethics in this University. He teaches Civic and Professional Ethics to undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering, Applied Ethics for Organizations and Business Ethics in the Master of Ethics for Social Construction and in the Master in Industrial Organization. He also teaches Ethical Finance in the Master on Social and Solidarity Economy at the University of the Basque Country. Board member of the Spanish network of Alternative and Solidarity Economy. Author of the books “La empresa a contracorriente. Cuestiones de ética empresarial” and “Banca Ética y Ciudadanía”.
PANAGIOTIS TOURNAVITIS - Vicechairman
COOPERATIVE BANK OF KARDITSA
Mr. Tournavitis studied Electrical & Computer Engineer in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holds a MSc in Business Administration by the National Technical University of Athens (2003-2005). He started his carrier as IT Engineer and in 2008, he joined Cooperative Bank of Karditsa, as Chief Information Officer and responsible for the digital security of the CBK and the training of the staff in the IT systems of the bank. In 2012, he was promoted to the position of Chief Operations Officer and in 2014 as Deputy General Director, responsible for the coordination of the departments and the branches of the CBK and the management of the EU and national programs. In 2015, he was promoted to General Executive Director of the CBK. His main responsibilities are the human resources management, the investment strategy, the strategic planning of the bank, the design of new products and the quality management of the CBK. Mr Tournavitis is member and chief of the project team, formed by the CBK to implement national and international projects.
ANNE SOPHIE BOUGOUIN- Treasurer
SIDI
Mrs. Bougouin is the director of Financial Strategy at SIDI.
Responsible for SIDI’s strategic planning and reporting: coordination of pluri-annual strategic planning process, implementation monitoring, budget drawing up and reporting, investment portfolio monitoring and reporting. She’s also responsible for fund-raising: relationships with public and private investors/donors, grants management and reporting.
She is in the Board of Directors and Advisory Committee preparation and facilitation of FEFISOL SA. SICAV FIS since 2011.
SEBASTIEN FOSSEUR
CREDAL
Sébastien Fosseur is the Managing Director of the solidarity finance cooperative Crédal. He has a master’s degree in business management from UCL and a master”s degree in auditing from KUL. He has worked for more than 20 years in the social economy and development cooperation sector in differents operational and financial functions. He worked for 7 years at Crédal as a credit advisor. He was Head of International at the Belgian Red Cross for 6 and a half years and CFO of the Belgian Red Cross for 3 and a half years. He was a member of the board of Crédal for 4 years before becoming Managing Director.
DANY MAKLOUF
CREDIT COOPERATIF
Current head of Strategy, CSR, External Communication, Governance at Crédit Coopératif. He’s also member of the Genéral Management Committee.
ETIENNE BONVIN
ALTERNATIVE BANK SUISSE
From 1987 to 1997 he was banking auditor at Ernst & Young. Since 1997 he works at the Alternative Bank Switzerland. From 2001 on, he is member of the general management of the Alternative Bank Switzerland, and responsible for the logistics & service sector.
BERNARD HORENBEEK
LA NEF
With a degree in psychology, Bernard Horenbeek has long been involved in the field of social action, in particular with the creation of the association Diogène. For several years, he held various positions related to the social sector in ministerial offices and participated in the creation of Social Accompanied Credit, a Crédal’s product. He then became member of the Board of Credal and became its director in 2008 till 2017. Bernard Horenbeek is Director of La Nef in 2017.
GIACOMO PINAFFO
SEFEA HOLDINGS
Mr. Giacomo Pinaffo holds a degree in Business Economics and a Master’s in Economics of Local Development. He has focused his entire career of study and work on the social economy sector. He was project manager for FEBEA and SEFEA, coordinating several EU-funded projects. He was also Impact Manager at SEFEA IMPACT (Asset Management Company dedicated to impact investing strategies). Since the beginning of 2020 he joined the Messina Foundation, where it coordinates international relations and the EU project department.
ANDREA BARANES
BANCA ETICA
Mr. Baranes has worked as a reasearcher and a camapigner on ethical and sustainable finance from 2006 to present date at the Fondazione Finanza Etica (Ethical Finance Foundation) in Italy. He has been the President of the Foundation for 8 years, from 2011 to 2019. He has been a member of the board of some of the most important European networks working on financial issues and campaigns for a more sustainable finance, like BankTrack (2006 to 2012) and Finance Watch (2017 to 2019), and the spokeperson of Italian campaigns working on financial issues (like Sbilanciamoci! Or the 005 campaign). He has been for 8 years (2008 to 2016) a member of the ethical committee of Etica Sgr, the asset management company of the Banca Etica Group. From 2016 he’s a member of the board of Banca Etica and from 2019 he’s the vice-president of the bank.
Blandine Denoncin
FRANCE ACTIVE
She is the Head of Public Partnerships and European Development at France Active, a prominent French organization in the field of Social and Solidarity-based Finance. She joined France Active in 2015, bringing with her several years of experience in the international solidarity sector gained from various organizations, including Positiv and Emmaüs International.
Furthermore, from 2015 to 2020, she served as an expert within the “Europe and International Commission” of the High Council for the Social and Solidarity Economy in France for several years.
Mikołaj Kowalczyk
TISE
Mikołaj Kowalczyk is CEO of TISE, one of the most important providers of affordable debt to small, medium, and social enterprises in Poland and select CEE countries. TISE is also a major partner for SME and social economy programs managed by the European Investment Fund, the Polish Development Bank and other institutions. Mikołaj is proud to lead a team that offers innovative debt and equity instruments and contributes to financial inclusion of SMEs and social enterprises.
Mikołaj graduated from Sciences Po Paris and Poznan University of Economics. He also holds a Certificate in Business Excellence from Columbia Business School.
Donal Traynor
COMMUNITY FINANCE IRELAND
Dónal Traynor is CEO of The Community Finance Ireland Group. Today it is the most progressive social finance provider across the island of Ireland but there is always more to do. He and his team are driven by their overall mission to ensure that Social Impact is Felt not just Dreamt. He has over 23 years working with charities and social enterprises as well as with stakeholder and government influencers across the island, helping find social finance solutions that supports both ambition and sustainability. Dónal holds a degree in Economics & Geography from UCD, Grad. Dip. in Business Studies from UL, an MBS in Co-operative and Social Enterprise from UCC, and is QFA accredited from the Institute of Banking.
Dominique Lesaffre
ADVISOR TO THE BOARD
Former Managing Director of SIDI – International Solidarity for Development & Investment. 30 years experience in the design, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of funding systems for development projects. Economist from the University of Vienna (Austria) & MBA (ESSCA Angers). He worked in several European solidarity and social investment organizations: Head of the Department CCFD Africa in the 1980s, Executive Director of RAFAD/FIG (Geneva) in the 1990s. He has been working in SIDI since 2001, where he was responsible for solidarity investments on areas as diverse as Latin America, the Sahel, Palestine, as well as relations with continental networks of solidarity finance.
Wlodzimierz Grudzinski
ADVISOR TO THE BOARD
Until the end of the 1980’s he worked as computer scientist at the Institute of Informatics of Warsaw University and in the Center of Design and Applications of Informatics. Between 1990-2007 he was the CEO of the Bank for Socio-Economic Initiatives SA in Warsaw. From 1997 he was the Member of Board of the Associations of Polish Banks and since 2001-2007 its deputy chairman. He was a member of several Supervisory Boards of financial and not financial institutions eg. First Mutual Insurance company in Poland TUW TUW and Ineco bank in Armenia. He was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TISE S.A till June 2020 and is a member of the supervisory boards in several other companies. He is an advisor of the Management Board of the Polish Bank Association and member of the Ethic Committee in that Association. He is also member of the Jury in the Committee’s yearly contest Ethics in Finance for essays on that topic. He is also member of the Councils of Junior Achievements Foundation, Chairman of the EFPA Poland Foundation. He is member of the Financial Committee of Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. He is a members of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Social economy and Social Enterprises (GECES).