Austin J. Belton joined the U.S. Small Business Administration in January, 2001 as Director of the New Markets Venture Capital Program. He came from the Inter-American Development Bank where he served as Senior Advisor to the Multilateral Investment Fund. He oversaw a portfolio of loans to microcredit institutions and investments in thirty private equity funds for small businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Previously he was an Investment Officer at the Overseas Private Investment Corp. where he was a member of a small team overseeing a portfolio of loans to private equity funds in developing countries including Africa and the NIS.

Mr. Belton came to Washington approximately six years ago after a career with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co, the private banking firm in New York City. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a LLB from Virginia Law School. His undergraduate degree is from Fordham University, New York City.