Growing Our Board, Growing Our Expertise

by Yanki Tshering

Having an accomplished – and diverse – Board of Directors is critical to the success of any CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution,) particularly one with as important a mission as BCNA’s.

Now more than ever we feel the urgency of our role in helping refugees and immigrants get a fresh start in New York and successfully launch or grow a business, buy a home, or get the education or training they need to thrive and contribute to the New York economy.

That is why we are pleased to welcome a new member to our own Board: Michelle Danso

Michelle Danso is an attorney and the co-head of the Prime Brokerage & Trading legal team at The Man Group, a global active investment management firm. Previously she was on the Global Securities Services legal team at Goldman Sachs International. Her volunteer work includes advising the Sandema Educational Resource Centre, an educational charity based in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Michelle was drawn to BCNA’s mission as well as the city-focused model:

“As I learnt more about BCNA’s mission, I was quite in awe of the work being done and keen to get involved. As an immigrant myself, and knowing how important entrepreneurship is to various immigrant communities, the mission of BCNA is quite inspiring and the opportunity to be involved was one I couldn’t pass.

“I definitely believe other cities could benefit from BCNA’s city-focused model and special outreach to newly arrived Americans. Particularly now, when the word immigrant or foreigner can evoke a negative reaction, it is important for cities throughout the country to have a model that recognizes the contribution of New Americans and to strive to assist their integration into those cities.”

We are very excited to have Michelle as part of the team, and look forward to her input, energy, and expertise.