Six microenterprise entrepreneurs were recognized, and the 2018-2019 Board of Directors was elected.
Santo Domingo. – The Dominican Development Foundation (FDD), held its fifty-first Assembly, leaving the new Board of Directors 2018-2019 and recognizing outstanding entrepreneurs of microenterprise during 2017.
María Virginia Elmúdesi, Amelia Reyes Mora, Jaime Roca y María del Carmen Ramos
The responsibility of continuing to guide the destinies of the FDD was assumed by Amelia Reyes Mora as president of the institution with Jaime Roca, vice president; María Virginia Elmúdesi; treasurer; María del Carmen Ramos, secretary; María del Pilar Cañas, vice-treasurer; Ramón Franco Thomen, Deputy Secretary; Susana Reid, Jean Paul Quiroz, Robinson Bou, Humberto Sangiovanni and Carlos Camilo vocals.
Pedro Rocha, Robinson Bou, Amelia Reyes Mora, Carlos Julio Camilo, and Jean-Paul Quiroz
The new directive reiterated its commitment to the development of the country thanks to the support of professionals and entrepreneurs with high social sensitivity, who donate their time and economic resources to offer an opportunity to progress to more than one million Dominicans with limited resources, excluded from the system traditional financial, which positively impacts a better future of the Dominican productive sector.
“We are nothing more than mere administrators of the gifts and talents God has given us, so we must play with excellence the role entrusted to us. We will continue to focus on using microcredit as a catalyst for prosperity for the neediest class of the Dominican population. We will continue to forge microenterprises through entrepreneurship and training. At the same time, we will identify new paths to create a hallmark of the social responsibility exercised by the FDD,” said Reyes Mora during her speech.
At the event, recognition was given to Ana Mercedes Cruz Mejía, as Woman Entrepreneur of the Year for assuming proactive leadership, which demonstrates working side by side in agriculture with her family and as Entrepreneur of the Year to Rafael Diaz, whose family commitment to the community is evidenced in its actions.
Also, Fermín Collado, María Nelis Medina Matos, Regina Pérez and Altagracia Peguero were selected, selected for demonstrating economic and social growth, thereby confirming the fulfillment of the mission of the FDD, catalyzing the development of the Dominican Republic.
The foundation took the opportunity to recognize the exemplary and generous work of Elías Juliá Calac, with more than 10 years of intense work and dedication to this institution, which he chaired for three consecutive periods; also, René Grullón and María Isabel Fabián, who dedicated a decade of social service and concluded their period within the Directing Council, leaving a great legacy.
More than 50 years of history in the development of the country
Through its more than 50 years of history, the FDD has traveled a path of success in which it has been leaving great fruits and an indelible mark: It advanced in several times to the modern concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, raising the relevance of the services and permanent projects of social, economic and community development, in the sixties.
He developed an agricultural industry in regions such as Fondo Negro and Neyba in the South of the country, in the 1970s. He created projects that boosted the Dominican artisanal sector such as PLANARTE, emerging from there the faceless doll of El Higüerito. It became the pioneer institution of micro-financing in the Dominican Republic, with the introduction of microcredit to the national market in 1981.
We have about 19,000 active Dominicans who are beneficiaries of the micro-financial service we offer in ten provinces of the country. In addition to the thousands of citizens who have annually expanded their horizons by receiving free financial education and training to empower their development and start or improve their own businesses.
FDD 2017 ECONOMIC DATA
For the twelve months of the fiscal year 2017, the Foundation managed to increase its gross microcredit portfolio by 8.9%, concluding with an amount amounting to Two Hundred Ninety-Nine Million Five Hundred Eight Thousand Three Hundred Thirty-Two Dollars (RD $ 299,508,332).
Within this portfolio amount, Eighteen Thousand Two Hundred Eighty-Eight (18,288) customers benefited; The average portfolio balance per client was Sixteen Thousand Three Hundred Seventy-Seven Pesos (RD $ 16,3770. This average amount is one of the lowest within the microcredit metrics under individual methodology in the region.
The percentage composition by gender of our portfolio maintained its traditional tendency to favor women as the main beneficiary, representing 57% of clients and 56% in terms of portfolio amount. Given the importance of women as an entity of cohesion, support and family commitment, we consider this concentration very accurate, and we will continue to increase this percentage of women’s participation in the years to come.
The loan portfolio placed in rural areas as of December 31 represented more than 48% of the total gross portfolio.
During the past fiscal year, we obtained a net income of RD $ 8.6 million. The financial self-sustainability of the Dominican Development Foundation stands out, which has always been a key factor for the permanence throughout the time of the social work that it carries out.
