1.24.2008 - 01:20pm ET

(CSRwire) BOSTON, MA - January 24, 2008 – Microfinance pioneer ACCION USA today announced that its president and CEO, William Burrus, will retire from the nonprofit organization on June 30th. ACCION USA also announced that its board of directors has designated a committee to oversee the transition process and search for Burrus's replacement.

"After 35 years of work dedicated to ACCION, it's an appropriate time to take some time off, recharge the batteries and determine my next endeavor," Burrus said at the time of his announcement.

Burrus began his career as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, and he and his wife later served as co-directors of an integrated rural development program in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. In 1973, he joined ACCION in Costa Rica as regional director for Central America and the Caribbean. He served as executive director of ACCION International from 1980 until 1994, during which time the organization pioneered microlending in Latin America and became a recognized world leader in the field.

In 1994 he helped create ACCION USA, bringing the lessons learned from his international experience to assist low-income microentrepreneurs in the United States. He was named president and CEO of ACCION USA in 2000. Today, the U.S. ACCION Network, comprising AUSA’s direct lending offices, licensees and Internet lending business, is the largest microlending network in the United States.

"Bill was a not only a social entrepreneur long before the term was ever coined, devoting his life to improving others' lives, but also a seminal figure in the field of microfinance, helping to show the world what small loans to the poor could do," said Terri Ludwig, chairman of the Board of ACCION USA. "He will be sorely missed."

About ACCION USA

ACCION USA is a private, nonprofit organization that serves low-income microentrepreneurs, primarily minorities and women, who are unable to access bank credit for their businesses. A pioneer and recognized leader in the domestic microfinance field, ACCION USA is dedicated to providing microentrepreneurs and individuals on the economic margin with the crucial chance to borrow capital at fair rates of interest. In doing so, ACCION USA enables clients to increase family incomes, create jobs and revitalize and empower economically disenfranchised communities. For more information, visit www.accionusa.org.

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