Impact Pathfinder: How Does Financial Inclusion Contribute to Development?

Sophie Sirtaine is the CEO of CGAP. She has dedicated her professional career to the development of inclusive and sustainable financial ecosystems around the world, with more than twenty years of experience at the World Bank, where she has held different positions, including Director of Strategy and Operations at the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) and Director for the Caribbean region. Previously, Sophie worked as an expert in financial sector development and stability in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. 

Michael Schlein is President and CEO of Accion, responsible for creating and implementing Accion’s strategy, managing its global team, and maintaining a high-performing organization. Michael joined Accion in 2007 as a member of its Board of Directors and in 2009, became Accion’s President and CEO, bringing nearly 30 years of extensive international banking, management, and public service experience to this role. Prior to Accion, Michael served as President of Citigroup’s International Franchise Management, where he managed the bank’s network of 100 Chief Country Officers. Before that, he ran communications, philanthropy, government relations, branding, and human resources for Citigroup. He served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Clinton Administration and in New York’s City Hall in the Dinkins and Koch Administrations. He began his career in investment banking.

Karina Broens Nielsen is a senior financial sector specialist and leads CGAP’s work on evidence and measurement of financial inclusion impact. She also facilitates CGAP’s strategy development process and leads CGAP’s corporate results measurement and evaluation. Karina has extended experience working for various international development institutions on project management, measurement, learning and evaluation related to digital financial services, rural finance, small and medium-sized enterprise finance, agriculture and local governance. Before joining CGAP, she worked for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the European Commission’s delegation to the United Nations, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Stephanie García Van Gool is Director of Impact Assessment at BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF), which she joined in June 2015 to design and manage the sustainability and impact strategy of the Group. Since joining, she has led several impact initiatives, including the internal multidimensional poverty index and the ESG framework. Prior to BBVAMF, as Senior Associate at Enclude Capital Advisory, she was involved in several equity sale transactions in Southeast Asia and other global fund structuring deals in the dairy industry, renewable energies and financial industry. Previously she worked within the BBVAMF finance department and at UBS Bank Spain, where she participated in several M&A deals in Latin America and in Spain. 

Buhle is a fintech entrepreneur focused on building and supporting technology solutions for consumer empowerment and inclusive growth and finance in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is the Chairperson and Independent Non-Executive Director of Lula, a South African SME digital bank. She is also a Board Director of the catalytic agri-capital platform Aceli Africa and an ExCom Member-at-Large with CGAP. She is the former Africa CEO of JUMO,a Banking-as-a-Service platform. Prior to this, Buhle held leadership roles in commercial, product, consumer, and sustainability sectors at several financial institutions, including Woolworths Financial Services, Barclays Wealth, and Investec Private Bank.

Ed is an impact director and decision maker on Baillie Gifford’s impact investing strategy, Positive Change. He joined Baillie Gifford in 2018. As Impact Director, Ed leads the team conducting impact research on prospective investments, engagement with portfolio companies, and impact measurement and management. Positive Change invests globally and mostly in publicly listed companies which are contributing to more sustainable, healthy and inclusive societies. Prior to joining Baillie Gifford, Ed worked in a boutique consultancy, advising investors, insurers and corporates on risk management and social impact in emerging and frontier markets. 

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.