Michael Harrington says; “I remember sitting around the table at my first all-firm offsite and feeling part of a mini-United Nations in terms of the experience and background of my colleagues; the work we do is important and dynamic and I feel fortunate to be a part of it.”
Working for the US Peace Corps in Honduras, Michael would often hitchhike to community meetings, sometimes riding with gravel haulers, sometimes in the butcher’s truck. These meetings focused on the basic building blocks of governance; the work was deliberate and improvements gradual, leading to new water systems, organic farms and other businesses growing up in the region. For Michael, Actis works with its partners in a very similar way, patiently building trust and effecting change – it is just that the scale of impact is much larger.
In an average month, Michael Harrington can find himself working with Ministries of Energy or Finance to reduce household energy bills, visiting the site of the largest installation of wind-sourced electricity in Central America, or building a business plan with the next generation of entrepreneurs, committed to tackling the energy deficit. For Michael, Actis is a firm willing to lead in growth markets private equity; its people invest time to develop strategies in challenging, high-growth markets, outside of the BRIC economies.
Michael Harrington’s early career was at Arthur Andersen and NM Rothschild & Sons, based in Mexico. He undertook an internship at Actis in 2007 and then rejoined the firm in 2008. Michael holds an MBA with distinction from the London Business School; was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and has a Major in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
