Reassessing Microfinance as a Development Tool

Greta Bull is the Director of Women’s Economic Empowerment at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She leads the Foundation’s work on Women’s Economic Empowerment, where she oversees a portfolio of investments covering gender data and evidence, women’s economic collectives (WECs) and livelihoods development for poor women. Prior to joining the foundation, Greta worked for 15 years at the World Bank Group, where she served for six years as the CEO of CGAP. 

Tim Ogden is Managing Director of the Financial Access Initiative, a research center exploring how financial services can better meet the needs and improve the lives of poor households. He also serves as the managing director of the Small Firm Diaries project, and was the managing director of the US Financial Diaries project. He is a co-founder of Sona Partners, a thought leadership communications firm. He is the author of Experimental Conversations, a collection of interviews with leading development economists, and co-author of Toyota Under Fire. 

Andrée Simon is the President and Global CEO of FINCA International. From 2016 to 2023, Andrée served as President and CEO of FINCA’s global network of community-based microfinance banks and institutions known as FINCA Impact Finance (FIF). Most recently, Andrée led the transformation of FIF’s business model during the global pandemic toward digitization and optimization, creating better value for customers and resilience for the network.

Bridget Dougherty is the Managing Director of BRAC International Holdings B.V. Bridget is responsible for strengthening and supporting the maturing of their Financial Institutions in line with their Growth for Impact strategy, including digital transformation and impact measurement. Dougherty has 17 years of experience in consulting, project management, process improvement, and systems implementation, working the last 13 years in private sector development and financial inclusion. 

Alexander Sotiriou Senior Financial Sector Specialist. He works across a range of issues at CGAP, including micro and small enterprise (MSE) finance and the linkages between financial services, improved livelihoods and access to basic services. He joined CGAP from MicroVest, where he was the investment manager for Latin America. Earlier, Alexander was an associate in Citi’s Johannesburg and Mexico City offices, and an analyst for a private equity fund in Mexico. 

Valdete Berisha is Senior External Affairs Officer at CGAP. She leads FinDev Gateway, a CGAP platform promoting dialogue on financial inclusion's role in development. She also serves as a communications advisor for CGAP’s Financial Inclusion 2.0 initiative, providing strategic advice on external relations, influence strategy, and editorial excellence. Valdete's international development research and communications experience spans financial inclusion, microfinance, global trade, and agriculture policy.