Peter Greer


Peter Keith Greer is a Christian advocate for those living in poverty, an author, and the president and CEO of HOPE International, a global faith-based microfinance organization based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, serving entrepreneurs throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Greer and his wife, Laurel, have three children and live in Landisville, Pennsylvania.

Biography

Greer was raised in Carlisle, Massachusetts, graduating from Concord-Carlisle High School. He is a graduate of Messiah College and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. While traveling to Russia through Messiah’s International Business Institute, Greer was first introduced to microfinance and "quickly recognized it as a perfect opportunity to combine my interests in business and missions."
Upon graduation, Greer spent two years in the business sector before World Relief hired him to work as a microfinance adviser in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He also served as a technical adviser for Self-Help Development Foundation in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. In 1999, he became the managing director for URWEGO Community Bank in Kigali, Rwanda, managing there for three years. After gaining experience in microfinance, he attended Harvard University, focusing one of his research projects on HOPE International’s work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In 2004, Jeff Rutt, founder of HOPE International, invited Greer to take leadership of the non-profit. Under Greer’s leadership and Jeff Rutt's help, HOPE has expanded from having a presence in two countries, with an operating budget of $1.2 million to being in 16 countries, with an operating budget of $17.4 million in 2015. He has emphasized HOPE's partnerships with the local and global church as well as initiated HOPE's four distinctives: focus on microfinance, intentional witness for Christ, commitment to stewardship, and dedication to the hard places around the world. During his presidency, he co-founded the HOPE Global-Investment Fund in September 2008 with the intention of raising $6 million in private investments.

Role in international development

As an advocate for the Church’s role in missions and alleviating extreme poverty, Greer has been a speaker at a number of conferences, and he has been featured by Christianity Today, World, Forbes, CNN, and RELEVANT.
Currently, Peter serves as the entrepreneur-in-residence at Messiah College and as a Praxis Venture Partner.

Books