NetNews

Kimberly McClure Pacala '78, of Great Falls, VA, has joined the Five Talents International board of directors. Pacala is the director of development for Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks in Lake George, NY.

Pacala's career has included fundraising positions at Harvard Business School, DePaul University in Chicago, Wolf Trap Foundation and The College of William and Mary.

A press release from Five Talents International announcing her appointment to its board states, "Pacala's interest in serving the poor in developing countries stems from a St. Lawrence University semester abroad experience in Nairobi, Kenya, during the spring of 1977. During that semester, she studied, traveled throughout the country and lived with Kenyan families in both a village and in Nairobi."

A government at St. Lawrence, Pacala was a member of the Laurentian Singers, in addition to participating in the program of study in Kenya.

Established in 1999, Five Talents International has provided funding for business training and thousands of loans, ranging from $50 to $300, in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Each loan finances a microbusiness that in turn employs at least six other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.

Posted: October 24, 2007