Arc Finance

Changing Lives Through Access to Finance for Clean Energy and Water

 

Latest News

Lighting the Lives of the Rural Poor
USAID

Bringing light to Haiti, one solar lamp at a time
CBS Evening News

Interview with Niki Armacost of Arc Finance and Dominique Policard of Sogexpress about Arc Finance's Remittances Project in Haiti
NBC Miami & Tropik TV

Where innovation pays off: Helping low-income Haitians access environmentally-friendly energy products
November 2012 FOMIN

Stima Systems' Group Microleasing Model - Promoting Payment and Reducing Risk at the Group Level
July 2012 Arc Finance Case Study

Arc Finance Podcast: Fiza Farhan, CEO, The Buksh Foundation
July 2012 Arc Finance Podcast

Using Energy Products and Other Initiatives to Spur Growth at a Philippine MFI
August 2012 Arc Finance Blog

How Women Are Powering Energy Access in Uganda
June 2012 Arc Finance Blog

Financing Sustainable Enery: An Optimistic View From Niki Armacost
July 11, 2012 Ashden Blog

Climate Scope 2012 Report featuring Arc's Haiti Remittances Project
July 2012 Inter-American Development Bank Report

Can The Microfinance Sector Help Deliver Clean Energy?
May 14, 2012 CGAP Blog

Managing Director and Co-Founder Nicola Armacost on Microfinance
Link TV: Television Without Borders

Jessica Benjamin
Project Associate

Laura Sundblad

Jessica is an Arc Project Associate, working on projects in Southeast Asia. She is a South African native with several years of experience living and working in international development across four continents.

Most recently, Jessica worked as a pro-bono consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton to assess the management of HIV/AIDS supply chains in Africa, with a view to improving processes and assistance on the ground. Prior to moving to the US, Jessica was an Associate at Genesis Analytics, a leading economics consultancy in Johannesburg. There she worked on a diverse range of projects, with particular emphasis on market-driven solutions to poverty. From 2010-2012, Jessica served as Communications Director for the DfID-funded Financial Education Fund: an innovative financing mechanism that supported 15 organizations across 8 African countries, and aimed at extending financial literacy as a means of improving poor people’s access to and responsible use of financial services. She also conducted extensive research and analysis on the issue of youth unemployment across the continent – work that was published and presented to high-level policy makers and thought leaders in Africa.

Jessica holds an MPA in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs as well as Honour’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Cape Town.

Jessica is fluent in English and speaks Spanish, Hebrew and Afrikaans at an intermediate level.