#FinEquity2024 Speakers

Xavier Faz, Lead, Financial Services for Equality and Growth, CGAP

Xavier Faz is the lead for CGAP’s work on technology and business models in digital finance. His area of work includes emerging technologies, fintech and digital banking, as well as open platforms. He is also CGAP’s Regional Head for Latin America & the Caribbean. Prior to CGAP, Xavier was VP of Strategic Planning for a development bank in Mexico, where he helped launch a line of services offering low-cost banking infrastructure and payments to microfinance and nonbank financial institutions in that market. He also worked with McKinsey & Company in Mexico and Central America, supporting large organizations in banking, retail and consumer goods, in leveraging emerging technologies to launch new base-of-the-pyramid businesses. 

Antonique Koning, CGAP Gender Lead

Antonique Koning is the CGAP Gender Lead. Antonique has over 20 years of experience working on a range of topics related to microfinance and financial inclusion, with special expertise in consumer protection and responsible finance, customer centricity and customer empowerment.

Rose Ronoh, FinEquity Africa Facilitator

Rose is a trade economist with over twenty years of work experience drawn from public, private and development sectors in Africa. Rose has been involved in negotiation, design and implementation of trade and gender equality initiatives supporting development partners such as UNECA, CBI Netherlands, GIZ, Expertise France, and USAID amongst many others.

Emmanuel Nyirinkindi, Vice President, Cross-Cutting Solutions, IFC

Emmanuel Nyirinkindi is IFC’s Vice President of Cross-Cutting Solutions. He identifies opportunities for closer collaboration and coordination across IFC and the entire World Bank Group to deliver solutions for clients. This involves overseeing work in four areas: to proactively create markets and enable the conditions for investments; to design effective public-private partnerships and targeted corporate finance solutions to maximize the private sector’s role in development; to ensure that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices are embedded throughout IFC’s projects; and to design private sector strategies that enable all genders and underserved communities to fully participate in the economy.

Carolina Trivelli, Member of the Fiscal Council (Peru), Senior Researcher at Instituto de Estudios Peruanos

Carolina holds a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics from The Pennsylvania State University and is an Economist from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). She is currently a Senior Researcher at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP). She has been Advisor in Strategic Analysis at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Manager of Pagos Digitales Peruanos, consultant for various international organizations, advisor to international society organizations, advisor to civil society organizations and Minister of Development and Social Inclusion of Peru (between the years 2011 and 2013).

Jamie Zimmerman, Deputy Director, Digital Connectivity, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jamie M. Zimmerman leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s work to increase low-income women’s economic empowerment through access to and usage of digital financial services. Prior to this appointment, Jamie led the team’s efforts to drive global scale of digital financial inclusion by cultivating partnerships which accelerate and maximize collective impact. Jamie joined the foundation in 2017 after several years as an independent global advisor to several partners, including the World Bank, CGAP, IFC, USAID, UNCDF, BFA Global, World Food Program and the International Rescue Committee.

Solène Favre, Global Insurance Director, VisionFund International (VFI)

Solène Favre is Global Insurance Director for VisionFund International (VFI) since February 2019. With her team, she supports the 25 MFIs in the network to set up insurance operations for borrowers and their families. Before joining VisionFund International, Solène set up and led the Cambodian subsidiary of the French insurance group Prévoir, the first microinsurance company in Cambodia.

Nandini Harihareswara, Independent Consultant

Nandini has spent a decade focused on ensuring the benefits of the Digital Economy are inclusive of those underserved in emerging markets especially women. She has worked with policy makers, banks, telcos, and fintechs across Asia and Africa to remove market constraints to advancing digital inclusion, leveraging data, research and best practices.

Lucy Kaaria, FinEquity Technical Advisor / CGAP

Lucy Kaaria is a technical advisor at FinEquity working at the intersection of climate change, gender in financial inclusion. Lucy Kaaria joined CGAP as a consultant in 2019 to research the potential of targeted financial services to maximize the benefits of the gig economy for the young and marginalized workers, especially women. She specializes in financial inclusion, women economic empowerment, climate and development research having worked in many markets since 2013. She is a co-author of research and technical guides.

Lorenzo Rovelli, Project Coordination Specialist, Innovation, UN Women West and Central Africa Regional Office

Lorenzo is the Programme Specialist for Women Economic Empowerment and Innovation based at UN Women’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa, in Dakar. He is currently working to support the development of programs and policies to strengthen the economic empowerment and resilience of women and girls, with a focus on women farmers and rural women entrepreneurs in the green economy sectors, by leveraging the opportunities offered by digital and financial technology, private sector partnerships, and accelerating access to clean and sustainable energy sources. Lorenzo has several years’ experience designing and leading innovative programs to accelerate sustainable development at the intersection of women’s economic empowerment, digital technology, financial inclusion, climate change, and energy.

Lydia Wafula, Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Accountability Officer, Mercy Corps - Agrifin

Lydia Wafula is the Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Accountability Officer for the Mercy Corps AgriFin program. She is a Research Economist with over 8 years of experience in managing and implementing research for development initiatives in agriculture, climate change, market and value chain development, gender and social inclusion, governance, and institutional development.

Lydia holds a Master’s degree in Agriculture and Applied Economics from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education and Extension from Egerton University.

Justin Archer, Global Quantitative Outcomes Research Lead at Women’s World Banking

Justin Archer is the Global Quantitative Outcomes Research Lead at Women’s World Banking. Prior to joining the organization, he worked as a research consultant for the World Bank, Population Services International, Marie Stopes International, and many other international development organizations. Before consulting, he lived in Ghana for 2 years while managing micro-savings RCT projects for Innovations for Poverty Action. He received a Master’s of Science in Public Policy and Management from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Gettysburg College.

Gareth Davies, Director, Tandem

Gareth is an experienced international development consultant with a wide range of skills and country experience. He is a recognized thought-leader in Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) and Market Systems Development. Gareth is currently a director of Tandem, a development consultancy providing research and MEL services to a range of clients across the world. In the financial sector space, Gareth has provided strategy and MEL support to financial sector development programmes in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia. Gareth has also advised a number of Development Finance Institutions and impact investors.

Dr Rachel Heath, Advisory Board Member, WEE-DiFine

Dr. Rachel Heath is an associate professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Washington and an advisory board member for WEE-DiFine. Her research interests are in development and labour economics. In particular, much of her research focuses on increased labour market opportunities for women in developing countries (such as the garment industry in Bangladesh). She studies how these new job opportunities are changing women’s lives, the factors that influence women’s decisions to join the labour force, and how firms make hiring decisions.

Joanna Ledgerwood, Independent, FinEquity Technical Advisor

Joanna is a former commercial banker with expertise in financial inclusion, market systems development, gender and women’s economic empowerment, policy and regulatory reform, governance, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management. She was the founding Director of Financial Sector Deepening Zambia and is currently a member of CGAP’s gender team and FinEquity Technical Advisory Committee, as well as providing advisory services to the FSD Network, Access to Finance Rwanda, GIZ, and others. Joanna has published widely, including the Microfinance Handbook (1998), Transforming MFIs (2003) and The New Microfinance Handbook (2013). 

Rathi Mani-Kandt, Director of Women's Entrepreneurship & Financial Inclusion, CARE USA

Rathi has over 15 years of experience designing products and services for low-income populations. She has extensive expertise in designing inclusive financial products and services and is currently the Head of Women’s Economic Empowerment at CARE USA, focusing on designing products and services to grow women-owned micro and small businesses. Prior to CARE, she led design teams as the Head of Innovations at a Human-Centered Design firm based in Cambodia (17 Triggers) and as the Head of Design Thinking at an African fintech (Zoona/Tilt). She is based in Atlanta, USA.

Jenny Morgan, Impact Pathways Thematic Lead, FinEquity

Jenny Morgan is FinEquity's Impact Pathways Thematic Lead. She has over 15 years of experience in inclusive financial growth, entrepreneurship and small business development, women’s economic empowerment, and resilience.

Aude de Montesquiou, Global Facilitator, FinEquity

Aude de Montesquiou is the FinEquity Community of Practice Facilitator at CGAP. She has close to 20 years of experience in poverty reduction and has published widely on social protection, livelihoods, and financial inclusion. Previously, Aude was the Senior Advisor at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development and Social Protection specialist in the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice where she co-created the Partnership for Economic Inclusion.

Christian Pennotti, Managing Director, Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF), CARE

Christian Pennotti is a seasoned leader with a 20-year track record working to advance economic, financial and digital inclusion. He has extensive experience defining strategy and building programs, teams and partnerships to deliver lasting change. Christian currently serves as the Managing Director for the Women in the Digital Economy Fund, a $60M initiative committed to meaningfully closing the gender digital divide. As a senior director at CARE, Christian previously led the organizations financial inclusion, economic empowerment and food security programming including the expansion of CARE’s globally-recognized Village Savings and Loans Association initiatives. Outside of CARE, Christian has held leadership or advisory positions with a range of industry associations and social enterprises

Natasha Dinham, Co-CEO - Roots of Impact

Natasha Dinham is the Co-CEO at Roots of Impact, a manager of catalytic capital and pioneer in Impact-Linked Finance. Natasha previously led the Advisory and Advocacy team at Roots of Impact, where she developed tools and advice for implementors of Impact-Linked Finance and managed the Impact-Linked Fund for Gender Inclusive Fintech. Before joining Roots of Impact, Natasha led the Innovative Finance Initiative at the University of Cape Town’s Bertha Centre for Social Innovation. Prior to this, Natasha managed the technical assistance portfolios of financial institutions in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia at FMO. Natasha has had the privilege of serving on the advisory and investment committees of multiple impact funds including the Green Outcomes Fund, the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) and the Credit Guarantee Fund Tajikistan (CGFT). She is deeply passionate about financial inclusion and holds certificates in Rethinking Financial Inclusion as well as Migrant Remittances & Financial Services from Harvard Kennedy School.

Rachel Freeman, Chief Growth Officer, Tyme

Rachel Freeman is an experienced and internationally recognized financial expert, particularly in the areas of financial inclusion and innovative financial technologies.  Before joining Tyme, Ms. Freeman served as the IFC Financial Institutions Advisory Manager for Asia since 2014. In her role, she led IFC’s advisory program for existing and potential investee clients for value enhancement and development impact, to achieve IFC's goals in financial inclusion and climate change mitigation. Rachel led client solutions development and execution in SME finance, bank-fintech collaboration including the creation of the APIX Platform, MFI transformation, Banking on Women, agrifinance and climate change finance for strategic IFC clients. Since 2001 she had several senior positions at IFC in Central Asia, Africa and Asia.  Prior to joining IFC, Rachel was involved in several entrepreneurial ventures in the US and Russia.  

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, Women’s World Banking

Mary Ellen joined Women’s World Banking in 2006 and leads the Women’s World Banking global team. She previously worked at the International Finance Corporation and Lehman Brothers. She is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Women’s Forum and serves on the Board of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Board. A 2017 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Fellow, Mary Ellen holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Most recently, she was recognized in the Forbes 50 over 50: Investment list, which highlights female investors and financial leaders. 

Rachel Murphy, Senior Impact and Gender Officer - Deetken Impact

Rachel Murphy is Deetken Impact’s Senior Impact and Gender Office. She implements the company’s impact and gender lens investing strategy, including related due diligence and monitoring for the Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund. To support companies in achieving business and impact goals, Rachel also leads technical assistance engagements with portfolio and pipeline companies across the region.

Nisha Singh, Gender-Transformative Solutions Thematic Lead, FinEquity

Nisha Singh, FinEquity's Gender-Transformative Solutions Thematic Lead. She has over 17 years of experience promoting access to finance and financial market systems development, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment and inclusion.

Shameran Abed, Executive Director, BRAC International 

Shameran joined BRAC Bangladesh in 2009 and BRAC International in 2012 and has been instrumental in bringing BRAC’s flagship programmes of microfinance and ultra-poor graduation to global scale. Since 2016, Shameran has also led BRAC’s ultra-poor graduation work. Shameran has significant board experience on several non-profit and corporate entities, chairing the board of bKash, BRAC Bank’s mobile financial services subsidiary and one of the world’s largest mobile money providers, and serving on the boards of several institutions including BRAC Bank, BRAC Uganda Bank, and the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Hamilton College in the United States and is a qualified Barrister in the UK.

Audrey Hove, Senior Policy Manager, Gender Inclusive Finance, AFI

Audrey leads the Gender Inclusive Finance (GIF) workstream at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy and regulation with 86 members (central banks and financial sector regulatory institutions) in 82 countries. Her role entails leading the conceptualization, coordination, and implementation of financial inclusion policies and initiatives to support AFI member institutions in their drive to promote gender inclusive finance. Prior to joining AFI, Audrey acquired extensive knowledge, skills and experience in financial sector regulation, supervision of banking institutions and policy development, having worked in the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for close to two decades, leading various functions and portfolios. 

Aude de Montesquiou, Global Facilitator, FinEquity

Aude de Montesquiou is the FinEquity Community of Practice Facilitator at CGAP. She has close to 20 years of experience in poverty reduction and has published widely on social protection, livelihoods, and financial inclusion. Previously, Aude was the Senior Advisor at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development and Social Protection specialist in the World Bank’s Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice where she co-created the Partnership for Economic Inclusion.

Mariana Martínez, Regional Lead, CGAP

Mariana Martínez is an economist with over 15 years of experience in financial inclusion, microfinance, and economic development.  She is FinEquity's Regional Lead, in charge of developing relevant content, building up partnership relationships, and sharing best practices among practitioners and policymakers in the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region. Prior to joining GCAP in 2013, she was an independent consultant specializing in microfinance and worked with international organizations, NGOs, microfinance institutions, and governments in LAC, among other clients. She was also an economic columnist for the BBC between 2002-2007 and a financial writer for the Spanish Language media channel, Univisión, and she regularly contributed to the media in the region.

Sophie Sirtaine, CEO, CGAP

Sophie is responsible for leading the CGAP operational team to develop, resource, and deliver CGAP’s 5-year strategy. She is also a member of CGAP’s Executive Committee. With over twenty years of experience in the World Bank, Sophie has held various positions including as Director of Strategy and Operations in the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank Group from 2016-2021 and as country director for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2013-2016. She also worked in South Asia, and the Europe and Central Asia regions; the Corporate Secretariat; and the Operations, Policy and Country Services Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group. Among others, she led the World Bank’s banking sector crisis response in several EU countries during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Sophie also worked in London in investment banking at JP Morgan and as an infrastructure economist for Halcrow Fox and Associates prior to joining the World Bank.