Explore the latest global and regional insights from Women’s World Banking’s work in policy, leadership, women’s entrepreneurship, gender lens investing, and more.
This Policy Diagnostic on Women in Leadership underscores the importance of gender diversity in leadership positions within the financial sector and highlights persistent disparities in women’s representation. While research demonstrates the positive impact of women in top roles on financial performance, achieving gender parity remains a distant goal. Women’s World
Women’s representation in leadership positions remains a pressing issue globally. According to OMFIF’s 2023 Gender Balance Index, at the current rate of progress, it would take over a century to achieve gender parity in leadership roles for central banks and major financial institutions. Despite significant advancements in recent years, women
Scroll down to download the report. In the last decade, Nigeria’s finance industry has made significant strides in increasing the representation of women. No sector’s success is more quantifiable than that of the banking sector. At the publishing of this report, of Nigeria’s 24 commercial banks, eight have women as
By the Leadership & Diversity Team: Francesca Brown, Sarah Buitoni, Elizabeth Ingerfield, & Nana Ampah On the 5th and 6th September our Leadership & Diversity Team attended the 2022 AFI Global Policy Forum in Jordan. Here the team met with our 2022 Leadership & Diversity Program for Regulators (LDR) participants
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Andy Woolnough, Global Head of Advocacy at Women’s World Banking, and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, discussed the importance of male allyship in breaking gender biases in the workplace and creating more inclusive environments for women to thrive. Watch the full video
As part of our Leadership & Diversity programs, Women’s World Banking tracks the career paths of high-potential women leaders, both to enhance our future program offerings for new generations of leaders and to share their experiences with others. With funding support from Credit Suisse, Women’s World Banking conducted case study
In financial institutions around the world, women continue to be underrepresented in senior leadership, with only 14 holding the governorship at a Central Bank. Previously in this series, Women’s World Banking spoke with the Governors of the Central Banks of Malaysia, San Marino, Serbia, and Seychelles about navigating success and
Across the globe, central banks and other regulatory agencies face a persistent and significant gender gap in leadership. Today, the number of women serving as Governor—the most senior position—at a Central Bank totals only 14, illustrating a clear need for greater diversity in leadership. In Part I of this Q&A,
Whether in the day-to-day context or amid the upheaval wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the struggles of leadership are universal. For women, who continue to battle gender stereotypes in the workplace and shoulder a disproportionate share of care responsibilities (among other obstacles), the choice to exercise leadership comes with additional
Over the last six years, Women’s World Banking has supported leaders of financial service providers (FSPs) through our Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program (LDIP). The LDIP seeks to develop the skills of senior executives and high-potential women leaders to enable them to successfully serve low-income women, while charting a
By Victoria Johnson, Research Associate and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy Investing in women is smart business. Data shows that having women leaders improves financial performance, increases sales, leads to better decision-making, and creates a more inclusive corporate culture. On the other hand, women customers are often underserved,
Why do we focus on women as both leaders and customers? Organizations that invest in women leaders invest in women clients. With this connection between women leaders and customers in mind, Women’s World Banking conducted an in-depth case study of AMK Cambodia, or Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea Co., one of the
By Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO of Women’s World Banking This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual, calling all of us to join together in building a gender equal world. As the IWD website notes, it’s time to make room for “the gender equal boardroom, a gender
All of us at Women’s World Banking are devastated to learn the sad news of Viji Das’ passing. Throughout her life she was a strong, clear and brave voice for women’s empowerment at a time when it was hard, and sometimes even dangerous, for such views to be expressed. Indian
Intro clip (Dr. Tosan Oruwariye): When you have an idea, you really need to have passion for that idea and know the mission. What you’re trying to do if you’re mission driven. Because there’ll be shocks and bumps along the way. That’s guaranteed. So, you need to be persistent. You
Intro clip (Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa): If I have this opportunity, let’s use it not for my own privilege, my own benefit, to get a nice salary, drive a nice car, and that’s it. So, I have really to see what else I can do to uplift them knowing that as
Women’s World Banking brought together more than 300 participants from more than 60 countries to hold its most recent edition of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit. Throughout the two days, attendees tackled the social and cultural barriers preventing finance from working for women as well as the wide
Intro clip (Viji Das): Women should get the kind of a safe space to contribute to their society. And they have to have equal access to all the resources. This is my dream. TRANSCRIPT Karen Miller, Host: Women’s World Banking is bringing you a series of podcasts about trailblazing
Intro clip (Samit Ghosh): In Bengali there is a song, which is a very famous song, which is “Ekla Chalo Re.” Which means be ready to walk alone, even if no one hears your song. Just walk alone and go achieve your purpose. TRANSCRIPT Karen Miller, Host: Women’s World
In April, Women’s World Banking convened policymakers from around the world—including Indonesia—at Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business for a leadership program for regulators focused on the development and promotion of policy initiatives for women and supporting banks in creating a pipeline of women leaders internally. This is not the first time that Women’s World Banking has partnered with regulators in Indonesia to encourage financial inclusion.
In the face of a stubborn gender gap across industries, Women’s World Banking is advocating for more sponsors on this year’s International Women’s Day.
In the our latest podcast, we explore lessons learned from building gender-diverse teams externally and how we strive for gender diversity within Women’s World Banking.
Policymakers have the opportunity to play game changer in driving women’s financial inclusion efforts. However, a strong, gender-diverse team within the regulatory body needs to be in place to amplify these efforts. Women’s World Banking and AFI’s Leadership & Diversity for Regulators program provides the tools to design inclusive policies
Program supporter Credit Suisse reflects on the evolution of the Leadership and Diversity for Innovation program to better build diverse institutions.
In this podcast featuring Women’s World Banking Asset Management’s Chief Investment Officer CJ Juhasz, we discuss our approach to impact investing: a strategy called gender lens investing.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian on new evidence from the Business and Sustainable Development Commission that companies with gender diverse leadership perform better.
Google Doodle made Women’s World Banking co-founder Esther Ocloo famous on April 18, 2017. What part did she play in our story?
An interview with our President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian.
We sought to examine the current state of gender-diverse leadership around the world to see just how far the needle has moved and what remains to be done.
Using Martha Chen’s Empowerment Framework, we evaluated whether our leadership training for low-income women had empowerment effects to their lives.
Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program alumni share how supportive training helped them become transformational women leaders in their institutions.
Our research on leadership and diversity in financial services is highlighted.
Despite all the evidence that women leaders are good for business, what keeps more women from reaching the top tiers of their organizations?
Women’s World Banking staff attended the most recent Leadership Conference, hosted by The Wharton School of Business. What were the lessons they took home?
Our President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian extends birthday wishes to one of the “founding mothers” of Women’s World Banking, Swiss entrepreneur and women’s advocate on her 85th birthday.
Our President and CEO comments on the UK Treasury’s “Women In Finance Charter” and what it represents in the move to increase gender diversity in the leadership ranks of financial institutions.
Findings and experiences on advancing gender diversity in corporate leadership from Women’s World Banking, Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index and Deutsche Bank.
In a conversation moderated by Women’s World Banking with panelists from Bloomberg LP and Deutsche Bank AG discussed some of the issues raised by the launch of the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index.
Women’s World Banking studied the staff composition and hiring practices of banks in Southeast Asia to find how to best promote diversity in the labor force.
How did Al Majmoua achieve impressive gender diversity numbers–more than half the staff are female and 60% of senior leaders are women–in a challenging environment?
Two financial institutions in the Middle East are succeeding in advancing gender diversity within their institutions, How they’re doing it.
We conducted a Management Development Program at Ujjivan (India) to support their leaders through the institution’s transformation into a small finance bank.
Our Women in Leadership program was only for women leaders in financial institutions. This visionary leader thought her low-income clients should get it too.
The Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION featured our story collection of pioneering women leaders in financial inclusion, a collaboration with Ujjivan.
A collection of stories highlighting the women leaders who blazed the trail for women’s financial inclusion globally.
Viji Das is an unstoppable force for the financial inclusion of low-income women in India. A profile of her life and work.
A profile of one of Colombia’s pre-eminent and pioneering microfinance institutions dedicated to women’s financial inclusion.
The Gender Performance Indicators workshop we hosted at the recent Asia Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit was highlighted by our strategic partner, Good Return.
Our “visioning” exercise gives high-potential women leaders the time and opportunity to think, plan and grow into strong leaders in financial inclusion.
Our Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program concluded with a series of events in India that corporate America can learn from to enhance their own corporate diversity.
Thirteen high-performing women employees from financial institutions around the world will join Women’s World Banking in Mumbai this week as part of a year-long Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program.
Women’s World Banking Fellow Sandy Salama profiles head of our Tunisia network member, Enda inter-arabe, from her early history in journalism to a prominent financial inclusion advocate for women.
Shahida Pervin, Deputy Director of Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women in Bangladesh interviews the founder of the organization, Humaira Islam.
What did the 14 leaders from women-focused financial institutions from around the world learn at the kick-off forum of the Leadership and Diversity for Innovation program?
Leadership and Diversity Specialist Sarah Buitoni introduces our one-of-a-kind leadership program for senior leaders of financial institutions dedicated to serving the low-income market.
Anjali Banthia interviews Shorebank co-founder and Women’s World Banking board of trustee Mary Houghton on her work with Women’s World Banking and what it takes to be a good leader.
A profile of the CEO of Kenya Women Holding and strong advocate for women’s financial inclusion.
Ujjivan’s Chandralekha Chaudhari profiles the accomplishments of one of the women who helped Muhammad Yunus found Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
Our Leadership Community members share best practices on what institutions and women themselves can do to promote greater gender equity.
“Promoting Women’s Leadership” is a collection of best practices that both companies and women leaders can implement to promote greater gender equity in their institution.
An interview with the Managing Director of ACCION’s Center for Financial Inclusion by guest blogger Surabhi Shahi.
After launching our leadership and diversity program offerings in 2009, Women’s World Banking set out to study how leadership trainings can best translate into bigger and more sustained changes at the institutional level. We asked ourselves: what aspects of our program design most effectively drove this kind of change?
Guest bloggers Prerna Padwal and Praneeta Kanchinadam tell the story of Roshaneh Zafar, founder and executive director of Pakistan network member Kashf Foundation.
Guest blogger Jisha Francis tells the story of the incredible visionary for women’s rights, Elaben Bhatt, founder of Women’s World Banking network member in India, SEWA Bank.
These “Select Five” key indicators are the starting point—the minimum that all industry stakeholders should use to track and improve gender performance.
Fellow Ines shares the lessons she took home with her from a week with the Women in Leadership Program in Mexico, supported by MetLife.
Women’s World Banking has conducted more than a dozen Women in Leadership training programs around the world and each workshop manages to surprise and move us in different ways. This is the story of Mexico.
Besides the extent of their outreach and their ability to offer diverse products, an MFI’s success is now being measured by operational, financial, social, and gender indicators. In February 2014, Women’s World Banking’s Leadership and Gender Diversity program team provided Crecer, Crédito con Educación Rural in Bolivia just this opportunity to strengthen its team of managers through the Management Development Training program.
The Huffington Post”s ImpactX page featured a piece by Sarah Buitoni, a Specialist for our Leadership and Diversity programs, about the launch of Women”s World Banking”s Leadership Community.
It is a rare sight to see a group of women leaders come together to spend a week reflecting on their lives, professions and leadership impact. Yet this is exactly what a group of high-potential women leaders and managers did in Mumbai, India last November to build their skills, confidence
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, Women’s World Banking hosted an online roundtable with three alumni from our signature Women in Leadership program to reflect on their learnings from the program, how they have implemented these to become better leaders in their institution and ways this has inspired positive change among their colleagues and clients.
Women’s World Banking presents the five minimum indicators that financial institutions must track in order to measure and improve gender performance.
By Maura Hart, Manager, Public Relations Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF) was founded in time of crisis in the Philippines 29 years ago. Decades later, NWTF has seen its clients through countless typhoons (an average of 22 per year in the Philippines) and other natural disasters, experiences that proved invaluable when Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Yolanda) hit in November.
A new study from Thomson Reuters finds that companies with gender-diverse boards perform better than companies with zero women on their board. This echoes what the Center for Microfinance Leadership has known all along: that diverse perspectives lead to stronger decisions and healthier institutions…
Under Joyce Banda, Malawi’s economy is recovering, with manufacturing expected to grow six percent and agriculture 5.7 percent (World Bank) and respect for democracy and human rights has returned to the country (International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute).
In 2013, Women’s World Banking’s Center for Microfinance Leadership (CML) was given the incredible opportunity to create a new Senior Leadership Exchange to grow its own product offering while supporting the development of women leaders in microfinance.
Ela Bhatt receives Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace; “her work reflects Indira’s ideals”
Women’s World Banking is proud to announce that two women leaders in its global network have recently been recipients of awards from their regions.
A pesar de los avances obtenidos por las mujeres en términos de integración en los distintos sectores productivos de la sociedad, aún no han logrado igualdad en los puestos de dirección de las distintas empresas y entidades del país.
Women’s World Banking supporter Cordaid recently featured the Gender Performance Manual, the indicators uncovered from the work of our Gender Performance Initiative, on their website.
The Citi Foundation and Women’s World Banking team up to expand the Women in Leadership Program Women have played a critical role since the early days of microfinance, both in the founding of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and as a substantial portion of the client base. In recent years, as the
Microfinance as an industry is still quite young, and when it comes to addressing institutional support for gender diversity, the efforts are nascent. Much has been learned—both about what has worked and what has failed—in the corporate world about engaging women professionals. The question to the microfinance industry is how well can we take advantage of these inroads, these tested efforts and do even better at building inclusive institutions?
