Dr. Rachmeler is an American development specialist and has been working in international development since 1973. He began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ivory Coast and has had successive long term assignments working principally on USAID-funded projects in Burkina Faso, Niger, Madagascar, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana. Short term assignments have also taken him to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Haiti and China.

His U.S. university degrees are in economics, international development, and crop science/plant breeding. His fields of technical expertise include private sector development, policy reform and structural adjustment, agricultural research and extension, international trade/export promotion, SME development, and sustainable natural resource management. He is currently the BUSAC Fund Manager (www.busac.org), working for COWI A/S (a Danish consulting firm, www.cowi.com) within the Danida sponsored Business Sector Program Support Project in Accra, Ghana. He is also the President of the Vetiver Network (International) with programs in over 60 countries (www.vetiver.org). He is fluent in French. His wife, Susan Wright is a Public Health Specialist with USAID Ghana.

Laurencia Tettey is a development management professional and social worker. She has extensive experience in poverty reduction, gender empowerment and development issues through micro and small enterprise promotion and development. She has MSc. Degree in Entrepreneurial Studies from Stirling University in Scotland.

Her experience in micro and small enterprise promotion and development is based upon her work and previous service with Department of Community Development, assisting individuals and communities to improve upon their living conditions and livelihoods. She also headed the Entrepreneurship Development Department of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) and as part of a team she helped in the establishment of Business Advisory Centres (BACs) in the ten regional capitals of Ghana and provided support including training to entrepreneurs for establishment and expansion of businesses in the country. She was the Deputy Programme Manager and Women-in-Development Specialist on UNDP sponsored National Poverty Reduction Programme, between 1998 and 2001. She is committed to pro-poor approaches to development including women and other development issues.

Currently Laurencia is the Deputy Fund Manager with the BUSAC Fund.

Zak’s career spans 25 years of experience in Credit Delivery and Management.

He holds a BSc. In Agriculture Economics and an M.Phil. in Agriculture Administration from the University of Ghana, Legon. He also has a certificate in Investment Appraisal and Management from Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA.

Prior to his engagement at the BUSAC Fund, Zak worked with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) in the area of credit Delivery and Management and provided consultancy services in Investment Management to private firms.

He was the Implementation manager for BUSAC Fund Phase I and is currently the Grants Manager in BUSAC Fund II.

Mrs. Victoria Lyubytska-Hewlett is currently the Finance Manager with BUSAC Fund. Her role is to implement financial management procedures, supervise of accounting and reporting systems of Management Unit and the Fund, oversight the disbursement of grants funds to contracted grantees and service providers, monitor the operational spending; prepare and monitor project budget, review and analyze funding documents.

Although she is a Mechanical Engineer by profession, her Finance and Administrative career started in Odessa, Ukraine and London,UK, where she worked and obtained a lot of Financial and Administrative experience. In Ghana, she has worked with Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE) an NGO in Kumasi for six and a half years before joining BUSAC Fund team in Accra in 2007.

Victoria is goal-orientated and equipped with powerful communication, coordination and analysis skills. She is fully committed to providing and implementing dynamic, compelling solutions to the ongoing objectives of BUSAC Fund.

Her genuine desire to achieve, excel and evolve has made her accomplish several projects. She has the ability to work in a team and has excellent time management skills.

Kofi has in-depth knowledge and skills in business development accrued from over 20 years in the development and promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises.

He holds a B.A. (Hons) Degree in Economics from the University of Ghana and a M.S. Degree in Entrepreneurial Studies from the Stirling University in Scotland.

He worked as the UNDP Natioanal Poverty Revolution Programme and also as a project coordinator for the Community- Based Poverty Revolution project sponsored by the World Bank. Also, at the National Board for Small Scale Industries, Kofi worked to promote and develop small enterprises in Ghana.

He is the capacity building and training specialist at the BUSAC Fund where he oversees training for Business Service Providers, monitors and client private sector organisations throughout the country.

Dennis holds degrees in Regional Development Planning and Management Development Studies and a Professional certificate in social work.

He became the BUSAC Fund tamale office chief in 2010 due to his high level of specialty in facilitating Private – Public Partnerships aimed at sustaining socio-economic development at all levels.

Prior to his current position, Dennis was a Business Service Provider in the First Phase of the BUSAC Fund assisting business associations to implement advocacy projects.

In his current role, Dennis leads the Tamale Team to support and build the capacity of Private Sector Organisations including farmer-based organizations to access the BUSAC Fund within the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA region).

John is an articulate Development Evaluation Professional with extensive years of work experience with Advocacy Projects in Ghana.

He holds a Degree in Statistics from the University of Cape coast and certificates in Logical Framework for Project Design and Monitoring and Evaluation of Projects. He was previously part of a team which conducted sensitive marketing research studies for Vodafone Ghana and Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana.

At hand, he is the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the BUSAC Fund.

Yambor has a broad technical and geographic development experience specialising in Microfinance and Business development services.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of Cape coast and has previously served with PLANET Finance Advisory as a microfinance consultant and GHAMFIN as the Northern sector coordinator.

He is currently the deputy Chief of the Tamale office of the BUSAC Fund and works to support the Office Chief within the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority operational area.

Genevieve has in-depth knowledge with over 5 years experience in General Office Administration and Management.

She holds a diploma in Business Studies (DBS) in secretarial and Management from Tamale Polytechnic.

Genevieve has amassed a pool of experience working as a Guest House Manageress at Silver-Rose guest house and as personnel under the Savannah Resource Management Project (SRMP) in Tamale.

Genevieve is presently the Administrative Assistant at the Tamale Branch of the BUSAC Fund.