Ana María Espin Lanz

Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) is a global impact private equity manager focused on providing growth capital and operational support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets underserved by traditional sources of capital. Utilizing an ESG+ investment approach, SEAF selectively makes structured debt and equity investments in locally-owned enterprises with high growth potential to actively build resilience within SMEs themselves and more largely within their communities, focusing on climate, food security, and inclusion. Our more than 32 years of experience have shown that impact investing and maximizing performance complement each other— we can do good and realize strong financial returns. . SEAF is a global organization, headquartered in Washington D.C., with 15 offices in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past three decades, SEAF has managed more than 40 Funds and across 33 countries. SEAF’s on-the-ground presence in our countries of focus, coupled with our proactive and responsive business model, enables us to source opportunities and work closely with local entrepreneurs, providing the capital, hands-on operational support, knowledge, and networks they need to accelerate their businesses’ growth and profitability and achieve meaningful and measurable impact in their communities. SEAF also supports ten Centers for Entrepreneurship and Development (CEED) around the world to provide training, mentoring, and global access to professional networks and entrepreneur-run businesses.