January 5, 2026
CEO Adds Experienced, Accomplished Leader in New Finance Position
IRC's Center for Economic Opportunity announced today that Jesús M. Pizarro Rodriguez joined the organization in a newly created role, Senior Director of Finance. As a Certified Public Accountant with more than 20 years of experience, Jesús brings with him a strong record of supporting financial sustainability, good governance, and expertise in financial systems innovation. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he brings a deep commitment to community well-being, inclusive leadership, and expanding economic opportunities for people who have been historically excluded from the financial system.
In this new role at IRC-CEO, Jesús will work directly with Executive Director Ariana Miller as a key member of the executive leadership team and a strategic partner in shaping CEO's long-term financial growth. He will provide vision, oversight, and accountability for IRC-CEO's finance, accounting, compliance, risk management, and administrative functions, ensuring they support scalability, sustainability, and impact in alignment with CEO's mission as a CDFI.
Since making its first loan in 2015, CEO has financed $43.1 million dollars to borrowers living in the United States. More than 60% of this financing has gone to borrowers who are new to United States. CEO's commitment to serving those the financial system ignores is evident through 94% of loans being made to borrowers from low-income households, and 62% of borrowers having bad or no credit at time of application. And despite those factors, CEO's repayment rate since inception is 95%.
“IRC-CEO has built an extraordinary engine for social impact. I am deeply motivated to serve underserved communities at this critical intersection of political, cultural, and technological change," said Jesús M. Pizarro Rodriguez. "As Senior Director of Finance, my focus is advancing the organization’s strategy for financial sustainability to enable greater long-term impact.”
Jesús holds a Master of Science in Blockchain and Digital Currency from the University of Nicosia, an MBA in Management Information Systems from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, and an MPA from Baruch College, City University of New York. Additionally, he completed both the Chief Financial Officer Program and the AI for Business and Finance Program at Columbia Business School. Bilingual in English and Spanish, he brings multicultural fluency and ethical leadership to the organization. He is the author of Lessons Learned from an ERP (2017) and is currently authoring the upcoming book The Revenge of the ERP, a manuscript focused on the next generation of financial systems.
Throughout his career, Jesús has held a variety of senior finance roles, including CFO, Treasurer, VP of Finance and Innovation, and Global Controller. His experience includes directing financial operations and systems modernization across more than 40 legal entities in over 30 countries with Heifer International.
"Jesús combines extensive financial leadership experience with a passion for thinking creatively about how financial systems can better serve mission-driven organizations. His background in international development, systems modernization, and financial innovation positions CEO well for its next phase of growth," said Ariana Miller. "We are thrilled to welcome him to CEO’s executive leadership team as Senior Director of Finance."
The IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Loan Fund specializing in flexible, affordable, consumer and microenterprise loans to borrowers with limited access to traditional financing. Founded in 2015 based on a successful lending program at IRC San Diego, CEO currently provides loans in 18 U.S. states in partnership with trusted community organizations. Loans are offered in tandem with related training and services to help borrowers build assets, capitalize on opportunities, and transition into the financial mainstream. Learn more at www.irc-ceo.org and follow IRC-CEO on LinkedIn and sign up for our newsletter.
