Hi, I’m Andrea Lucas, Managing Director of Club-Asteria. Club-Asteria is an online global membership organization that provides education, business opportunities, e-commerce and innovative programs to empower our membersAndrea Lucas, PMD, MBA, CPA, CMC, former Director of the World Bank, published author and mentor, is founder and Managing Director of Club Asteria. Andrea has over 30 years experience in finance, management, consulting and international project development in developing nations. Andrea is a native of Austria, who emigrated to Canada as a young woman, where she learned first hand about the trials and tribulations of being a stranger in a foreign country. Now, this successful entrepreneur is ready to give back to the expatriate community to enrich the lives of the less fortunate.
I’m often asked why I would leave my prior career at the World Bank to join the Club-Asteria team. My answer is quite simple actually, “I wanted to give admittance to those who had little or no ability to capitalism. Opportunity should not be a monopoly but a chance for all.”
I am often asked why I believe our micro financing programs are successful, and the answer is quite simple – education. Being in the business of financing, I have realized that a loan in and of itself cannot impact lives anymore than a band aide can repair a broken leg. Loans can only change lives when combined with the watchful eye of our lenders and the dedication of our business teachers.
If I give you a bag of seeds but you know nothing about tilling soil, fertilizer, weeding, or watering, will I change your life if you are hungry? If I give you gallons of paint but you don’t have a brush or a ladder, will you transform the house in which you live? If I give you money to start a business but you know nothing about management, budgets, marketing, or strategy, will you revolutionize your community?
Microfinance dollars are only productive when aligned with education. For most of the clients that I work with on a daily basis, lack of money is not as pressing a problem as lack of knowledge. Many of the women have very low self-worth. When we organize educational meetings (sometimes in the middle of town or at someone’s house), one of the first opportunities we have available to impact lives is to convince women they can do it. They have what it takes to build a business and maintain it.
Often as I am listening to one of our advisors explaining how Club-Asteria works and its ability to benefit the community, I catch the eye of a little girl. Maybe she is 8 years old – maybe she is 10 – but she is listening. Her mother thinks she is playing with the other kids just outside of the meeting but she is not. And as one mother pulls her baby to her breast to nurse and another struggles to hear over the sounds of the village animals, I know that little girl is paying attention.
Hank Needham, Director of Sales and Marketing, is responsible for establishing Country, Regional and Network Team Leaders. Hank has 22 Years experience in building Sales Teams throughout Europe, United States, Asia and Africa with special emphasis in the Network Marketing and Communications Industry.
