Members' Council

Peter Ohligschläger is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, and has worked in the field of international cooperation and global partnerships for more than 25 years. He has worked as a lecturer in Southern Africa, as facilitator for global ministries and as head of the Institute for Mission, Ecumenism and Global Responsibility. Since the early 1980s he has been committed to Oikocredit and has served in the West German Support Association as board member and in various other roles, at present as a public speaker.

Anita Clemons is Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Investments for the Presbyterian Foundation. Anita joined the Presbyterian Foundation in 2000 and has more than 30 years of experience serving investors. She is responsible for investment relationship management, insight into the management of endowments, and is a link between the foundation's investors and its fund managers. With oversight of impact investment including Oikocredit investment, she encourages other church organisations to invest in Oikocredit. Anita Clemons holds a BSc in medical technology from the University of Louisville, and also accredited credentials in investment fiduciary, and as a wealth management adviser and asset management specialist.

Aglaë Hagg is vice president of Oikocredit’s Austrian Support Association and thus was nominated by Oikocredit’s long lasting direct member KSOE (https://www.ksoe.at ). She draws on her past work on social impact, sponsoring and micro finance in various countries and uses her communication skills in promoting Oikocredit, in serving equally her support association board as, since 2021, also in the Members’ Council. Aglaë has a recent degree of FS in sustainable finance, participated in social as well as church related activities for many years out of her commitment to Christian values. Personnally she developed a rural cooperative for women out of Micro finance activities in Cameroon. Her coaching is used by local organisations in Kenya and Ghana.

Malu Padilla was an Oikocredit International staff member from 2012 to 2021, starting as Capacity Building Programme Officer and later becoming Senior Operations Officer. She also served as chairperson of the Oikocredit Works Council for four years. As chair, she facilitated professional and respectful collaboration with the management in upholding Oikocredit's mission during consultations and negotiations regarding staff welfare and organisational changes. Malu has more than 40 years of experience and accomplishments in the international development sector; on international migration, gender and development; and in the ecumenical movement. She holds a degree in industrial and management engineering and earned credentials as a trainer in diversity management; gender, migration and development; and intercultural communications.

Wilfried Steen is an ordained minister of the of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony. He served for 18 years as Managing Director, Church Development Service, of the Evangelical Church in Germany and on the Board of Directors of the Protestant Development Service in Bonn (now Protestant Agency for Diakonie and Development, Brot für die Welt, Berlin). Wilfried is involved in the Fairtrade Town movement and has been a board member of Oikocredit Support Association Niedersachsen-Bremen since 2012, chairing the association from 2015 to 2021.

Guido Forsthuber leads fundraising for the Fundación Protestante Hora de Obrar in Buenos Aires, which supports social and environmental projects in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay concerned with gender justice, Indigenous peoples’ rights, education and community development. He has a master’s degree intercultural business studies and has worked for the last 10 years in non-profit organisations in roles involving project coordination, design and monitoring, and fundraising, including six years with Habitat for Humanity International in Argentina.

Michelle Lüchinger is Managing Director of the Oikocredit Deutsche Schweiz Support Association. Prior to this role, she served as a business manager and later as a project and team leader at Partners Group Ltd, a global investment firm based in Zug, Switzerland. During her tenure, she undertook assignments in Switzerland and the Philippines, where she led several strategic projects and developed extensive expertise in strategy, marketing and risk management. Michelle has also held various other roles in finance. She has a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance and a master’s degree in business administration, both from the University of Zurich, where she focused on microfinance in her theses.

Jetti Oliver chairs the Christian Education Council of India and is Chancellor of Sam Higginbotham University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Allahabad. An agriculturalist with a doctorate in development economics, he was a board director of the Ecumenical Development Co-operative Society (EDCS) from 1994 to 2000 and of the restructuring committee that oversaw the EDCS’s transition to Oikocredit in 1999. He served as moderator for the Oikocredit AGM in Chiangmai, Thailand, in 1998. Jetti’s former posts include Director of the Centre for Promoters of Rural Development, Treasurer of the Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches, Vice President and Treasurer of the National Council of Churches in India, and governing council member of the Society for International Development.

Georg Schürmann joined the Supervisory Board of Oikocredit in June 2024. Georg is a member of the Sustainable Finance Committee of the German Government (since 2019), a member of the Diocesan Asset Management Board of the Diocese of Eichstätt (since 2017) and a member of the Sustainability Committee of Barmenia Insurance, Wuppertal (since 2014). Previously he was Managing Director of Triodos Bank N.V Deutschland, Frankfurt, and board member of Sustainalytics B.V., Amsterdam, and held positions in retail and private banking and SME business at Deutsche Bank AG. With skills in leadership and people management, communication and presentation, project management and sustainable finance, Georg has a diploma in economics and business administration from the Universities of Cologne and Wuppertal.

Karen Tsang joined the Supervisory Board of Oikocredit in June 2024. With over 14 years of experience in risk, governance and compliance, spanning the finance, technology and healthcare industries, Karen is currently the Global Head of Risk and Compliance at SNV, overseeing global legal, tax, governance, compliance, contracting and procurement functions across 24 countries. Karen has previously held senior risk and compliance positions at Thomson Reuters and Manulife Financial Corporation. Her work has focused on risk strategy, enterprise risk management, corporate governance, strategic communications management and regulatory compliance. She has also contributed to the field through similar roles at Great-West Life Financial and the Bank of Montreal, developing and maturing risk management programmes. Karen holds an MSc in international management from the University of Liverpool and a bachelor’s degree in international development from York University. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she currently lives in The Hague, the Netherlands. with her partner.

Choose your location

Find out more.

Europe

North America

Looking for funding?

Peter Ohligschläger

Anita Clemons

Aglaë Hagg

Malu Padilla

Wilfried Steen

Guido Forsthuber

Michelle Lüchinger

Dr Jetti A. Oliver

Georg Schürmann

Karen Tsang

Get in touch

Stay informed