The Microfinance Information eXchange announced that Blaine Stephens, director of Analysis, and Anne-Lucie Lafourcade, lead analyst for Africa, will teach a course on performance benchmarking at the 13th Annual Boulder Microfinance Training Program, in Turin, Italy.

"It is critical that the microfinance industry focus on performance benchmarking and monitoring. Healthy sectors rely on strong retail institutions. Effective performance monitoring and benchmarking systems provide a powerful tool to assess, and ultimately reinforce, microfinance institutional strength," stated Blaine Stephens. "MIX leads the industry in performance benchmarking and data analysis for microfinance institutions, and I am proud to participate in the Boulder MFT program for the third year, in an effort to highlight the benchmarking process."

The Boulder MFT Program is scheduled from July 16 through August 3; the MIX course is a five-day program scheduled for July 30 through August 3, 2007.  For more information about the Boulder MFT, visit www.bouldermicrofinance.org.

About Blaine Stephens
Blaine Stephens joined MIX in 2002. As director of Analysis, Mr. Stephens is responsible for the organization's global coverage of the microfinance market, through MIX's data services and publications.

Mr. Stephens has hands-on experience working at several microfinance providers, notably Al Amana, Morocco's leading microfinance institution.  Mr. Stephens has a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelors of Arts in International Relations from Claremont McKenna College.

About Anne-Lucie Lafourcade
Anne-Lucie Lafourcade joined MIX in 2004 and is lead analyst for Africa.  Before joining MIX, Ms. Lafourcade, a French and American national, worked for Transparency International, the leading global non-governmental organization devoted to combating corruption.  Ms. Lafourcade holds a Masters of Latin American Studies from Stanford University, and a Bachelors in Human Sciences from Oxford University.

About MIX
The Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) is the leading business information provider for the microfinance industry.  Dedicated to strengthening the microfinance sector, MIX provides detailed performance and financial information on microfinance institutions, funders, investors, networks and service provides associated with the sector.  MIX does this through a variety of publicly available platforms, including mixmarket.org and the MicroBanking Bulletin.

MIX is a partnership between CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), the Citigroup Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Open Society Institute, Rockdale Foundation, and others.