Dr. Brian Branch

President and CEO

Dr. Brian Branch was appointed president and CEO of World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) in 2011. He has worked at WOCCU since 1990 and has been engaged in development fieldwork, research and implementation for more than 30 years.

At WOCCU, Brian also has held positions including economist, manager of research and development, regional manager for Latin America, director of technical services, vice president of development services and executive vice president and COO. He has worked with credit unions, microfinance and other financial institution services for more than 20 years. Brian has developed programs to update and expand the savings-based financial services of credit unions worldwide. His technical duties have included designing programs to transfer financial management practices, policies, procedures, tools, products, technologies and management skills to credit unions in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.

During his career, Brian has undertaken credit-union development assignments in 45 countries worldwide, from Afghanistan and Argentina to Vietnam and Zambia. He co-authored Striking the Balance in Microfinance: A Practical Guide to Mobilizing Savings(2002) with Janette Klaehn and co-edited Safe Money (2000) with Glenn Westley.

In 1990, he received his PhD in economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in 1981 his MA in Latin American studies at the University of Texas-Austin. He received his BA in government and Spanish, graduating magna cum laude from Bowdoin College, Maine, in 1979.