Tom Gibson has been a pioneer in the field of risk capital for small and medium enterprises in developing countries. From 1989 through 1999, Mr. Gibson was founding President, then Chairman of Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) and chaired a number of SEAF's funds. Mr. Gibson is currently president of the Institute for SME Finance, a group of financial and legal professionals who promote the greater availability and more effective use of risk capital for Small and Medium Sized Entreprises (SMEs) in developing and transitional economies.
Since its founding in mid-2000, the Institute has provided training to more than 300 practitioners in risk capital finance in developing countries and advisory services to a wide range of organizations and governments in the development of SME risk capital funds. Through his work in some 40 countries, he has held in-depth interviews with more than 500 SMEs and some 50 SME equity funds on five continents.