Find out more about our Board of Directors below
Ms Kersten is the Chief Executive Officer of ASA International. She joined the Group Executive Committee as Corporate Development Director in October 2021. She previously worked for ABN AMRO Bank, where she had a distinguished career, most recently as Managing Director, Trade & Commodity Finance. Ms Kersten is a member of the Supervisory Board of Mondriaan Fonds and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Mondriaan Fonds. She is also a member of the selection committee of Hotelschool The Hague.
Mr Brouwer co-founded ASA International in 2007 and served as its Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer until June 2023. As of 15 June 2023, Mr Brouwer has assumed a new role as (i) Deputy Chairman of the Board of ASA International and (ii) Special Advisor to the CEO, the Executive Committee and the wider management team. He has over 20 years' experience in investment banking and 15 years' experience in microfinance. He is Managing Director of Catalyst Microfinance Investors ('CMI'), which he co-founded in 2006, and Non-Executive Chairman of CarbonX, an advanced materials venture.
Mr Bollen has been the General Counsel of ASA International since 2007 and joined the Board of ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Ltd. in November, 2019. Mr Bollen has over 13 years of experience in the microfinance industry and has worked with Sequoia since 2005 and also serves as the General Counsel of CMI. Prior to this experience, Mr Bollen worked inter alia as an Attorney-at-Law at Loyens & Loeff from April 2000 to June 2004 where he was a member of the banking and finance department and was primarily involved in structured finance transactions and mergers and acquisitions. From 2004 to 2005, he worked inter alia as an In-House Counsel to DSMDyneema. Mr Bollen holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Maastricht in the Netherland and a Bachelor of Laws from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.
Mr Assink has been the Chief Accountant of the Group since 2011 and joined the Board of Directors of ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Ltd. in 2019. He has over 10 years of experience in the microfinance industry. He also is a Financial Controller at CarbonX B.V. since 2014 and Senior Accountant at Sequoia since 2011. He held several positions including Financial Controller at NOTS Impact Enterprises from 2015 to 2017, Senior Manager in the Transaction Advisory Services team at Ernst & Young from 2005 to 2010 and worked in the audit department of Ernst & Young from 1992 to 2005. Mr Assink obtained his degree in Accountancy and Auditing from Nivra Nyenrode in 2005. Mr Assink is a Chartered Auditor and a member of the Institute of Chartered Auditors in the Netherlands.
Mr Malik joined the Board of ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Ltd. in November, 2019. He joined the Pakistan Army in 1973 and after a meritorious 38 years of service retired in 2011. Subsequently he served as Secretary, Defense, Government of Pakistan from 2012 to 2014. He holds two master’s degrees from National Defense University, Islamabad & National Defense University, Washington DC, USA. Mr Malik is on the boards of several think tanks and organizations.
Ms Kemna has been a Non-Executive Director since 2018 and joined the Board of ASA Microfinance Bank (Pakistan) Ltd. in November, 2019. She is the Chair of the Board of Directors for Dutch pension provider and asset manager MN. Ms Kemna is also the Chair of the Audit Committee at insurer Vivat – Athora NL, at healthcare insurer Menzis and at the National ICT Institute for Healthcare in the Netherlands. Since 2020, she is serving as a deputy member of the Board of the Dutch Court of Auditors. She worked for Ernst & Young for 22 years and she is one of Ernst & Young’s former Global Lead Partner of Operations and IT audit. Ms Kemna has a broad experience in working with international financial and government institutions.
Mr. Muhammad Kamran Shehzad is a former Deputy Governor of State Bank of Pakistan & Managing Dirctor, SBP - Banking Services Corpration also. He has also served as Banking Mohtasib Pakistan (BMP) from 2019-2023. Currently, he is doing independent Advisory & Consultancy work for various organizations & business entities in Pakistan & abroad.
His distinguished career/experience is spread over a period of over 45 years in Banking, Finance and Accounting including more than 35 years in Commercial Banks and Central Bank (SBP). He has held various senior level positions in banking sector. He is also a professional trainer and represented SBP in various national and international conferences and events.