Ana Kentera
MFI Alter Modus DOO
CEO
Ana Kentera has been Chief Executive Officer since 2015. She began her career in Alter Modus in 2000 holding the position of Finance Manager, and later on became Chief Finance and Legal Officer. With a years-long experience in micro-financing and formal education in law and financial management she has contributed to development of MFI Alter Modus in fields of managing processes, improvement of organizational structure, business planning and financial modelling. She has attended renowned international trainings in field of micro-crediting. She recognizes strong customer focus, quality in operations and high ethical standards as key factors for successful business on the long run.
Paul Kithima
Bondeko Refugee Livelihoods Center
CEO
Paul Kithima
CEO of Bondeko Refugee Livelihoods Center, CEO of GLOs the grassroots consortium, and Chairperson of the Bright Future for Children with Disabilities.
He is a resilient advocate for a localization of humanitarian responses. Surviving persecution and torture in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012, he sought asylum in Uganda. Paul has been a prominent speaker at various international events across the world showcasing his dedication to improve the lives of refugees, including the UNHCR Global Consultations and the HC Dialogue on Protection challenges in Geneva in 2022, the 11th African Union Symposium in Nairobi, the GRF and the linked event for the GRF by the World Bank in Geneva in 2023. He contributed as a co-lead drafter of the NGO statement on oral update on the ExCom Conclusions on durable solutions and complementary pathways, and in March 2024, he delivered the statement during the 89th Standing Committee of the Executive Committee of UNHCR in Geneva. He was a panellist at the UNHCR Global Consultations with NGOs in Geneva in June 2024.
Erdal Kocoglu
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Director
Mr. Erdal Kocoglu joined Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, a leading private university of Germany, in 2008 and currently works as the Director of Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia Regional Office in International Advisory Services department. He manages a large technical assistance project portfolio in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Egypt, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Zambia and a team of over 100 experts in various projects and 5 offices (Ankara, Istanbul, Almaty, Tbilisi and Baku). Credit guarantee schemes, agricultural / rural finance, MSME finance, women's empowerment, integration of refugees and other disadvantaged groups and financial inclusion are the core competences of Mr. Kocoglu. He holds a MSc. Degree in European Business Law, a BSc. Degree in Business Administration and a Minor Degree in European Studies.
Antonique Koning
CGAP
Senior Financial Sector Specialist
Antonique Koning leads CGAP’s work on Women’s Economic Empowerment through financial inclusion. She has more than 25 years of experience working on inclusive finance and has expertise in gender norms affecting women’s financial inclusion and empowerment, young women’s financial inclusion, responsible finance and customer centricity. Antonique is co-author of Addressing Gender Norms to Increase Financial Inclusion: Designing for Impact and chairs the Technical Advisory Committee of FinEquity, the community of practice convened by CGAP on women’s economic empowerment through financial inclusion. Antonique also led CGAP’s work on customer outcomes-based approaches to consumer protection, and is a contributor to CGAP’s Customer Centric Guide.
Before joining CGAP in 2004, Antonique gained hands-on experience developing and implementing microcredit programs in El Salvador and working with savings banks globally. She has a Master’s degree in International Trade Management and Policy from the University of Birmingham, and a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Antonique is based in Belgium, and speaks Spanish, French, and Dutch.
Francesca Krist
Women's World Banking
Global Head of External Affairs
Francesca leads External Affairs at Women's World Banking, engaging with key stakeholders across the public and private sector to position and build greater awareness for all Women's World Banking activities and initiatives that advance women's financial inclusion, their resilience and economic empowerment.
After more than two decades of experience in the international financial sector and driven by her commitment to social responsibility, Francesca has transitioned into and is applying her deep expertise in global branding, marketing, business development, partnership and relationship management in the non-profit sector.
Prior to joining Women´s World Banking she was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse and responsible for the global sustainability partnerships and engaged with senior leaders, global experts and organizations across the ESG and financial services ecosystem. Francesca has served in various senior roles in financial services, tech and consumer goods including leading the Group Marketing and Global Branding function at Credit Suisse.
Francesca holds a Master´s degree in Economics and Business Management from Zurich University. Based in Zurich, Switzerland she is an active impact investor, sits on the Board on various Foundations and is an accomplished speaker, moderator, coach and mentor to young and female talents.
Mariella Llontop
Bank im Bistum Essen (BIB)
Senior Sustainable Finance Officer
Mariella joined Bank im Bistum Essen (BIB) in April 2021 and as Senior Sustainable Finance Officer is responsible to develop and implement the sustainable investment strategy for the BIB microfinance funds. Mariella has more than eight years practical experience in the microfinance sector, including as Investment Officer in Central America, as an Expert for TA projects in Mozambique and Kenya and as Contract and Transaction Manager for an impact fund specializing in microfinance based in Frankfurt.
Mariella holds a master's degree in Economics and Latin American Studies from the University of Cologne (Germany). She is Frankfurt School's Certified Expert in Microfinance and obtained the CESGA (EFFAS Certified ESG Analyst) diploma in 2022. Mariella is based in Germany and is fluent in Spanish, German and English.
Milena LOAYZA AMORIN
BIO S.A.
Manager - Financial Institutions
Milena Loayza is currently Head of Financial Institutions Investments at BIO, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing countries. BIO is a global impact investor with circa 1 billion euro in assets under management.
She displays more than 18 years of experience in the financial sector. She has been with BIO since 2012 and is responsible for building a successful track record of impact investments in equity and debt in banks, fintechs, leasing and microfinance companies, promoting access to finance in emerging markets.
Prior to this she worked in HSBC Bank in the Corporate and Investment Banking team. Ms. Loayza is an Industrial Engineer and holds an MBA from the Vlerick Leuven-Gent Management School in Belgium.
Armande Mahabi
University of Agder
PhD Student
PhD student at the University of Agder. Her research focuses on analysing the performance of women's savings groups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Maria Matteo Iborra
IBISA
CEO and Co-founder
Maria Mateo Iborra, leveraging her expertise in the space and satellite industry since 2005 and her early involvement in blockchain technology in 2015, has now anchored herself in the climate insurance industry. Equipped with a background in Telecommunication Engineering and an Executive MBA, Maria's journey is a unique convergence of technology and impactful business solution creation. Her agricultural roots and personal experiences with climate risks drove her to co-found IBISA in 2019, an insurtech startup delivering customized parametric insurance for climate-related challenges. Maria's curiosity and creativity propel her towards harnessing technology for lasting, positive societal change.
Benjamin Mazzotta
BFA Global
Senior Consultant
Benjamin Mazzotta, PhD is a Senior Social Science Researcher at BFA Global, an impact innovation firm that combines research, advisory, venture building, and investment expertise to build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient future for underserved people and the planet. He leads a multi-methods research team devoted to impact management and measurement, supporting practice areas in financial health, livelihoods, G2P payments, and retail payments. Selected recent topics have included digital merchant payments; healthcare campaigns; smallholder agriculture; and metrics for climate adaptation and resilience with the CIFAR Alliance. He lives and works in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sam Mendelson
e-MFP
Financial Inclusion Specialist
Sam is Financial Inclusion Specialist at e-MFP and is lead author of various e-MFP publications, including the annual Financial Inclusion Compass survey of sector trends, and the annual European Microfinance Award publication. He has published widely on various areas including responsible exits, developing a consumer protection code for the off-grid energy sector, offshore centres, and the history of crises in microfinance, among various others. Sam has worked in various capacities for e-MFP since 2011, but has been part of the core team since 2018. He has undergraduate degrees in Science and Laws from University of Western Australia, and a M.Sc in International Public Policy and a LL.M in Public International Law - both from University College London). He lives in Surrey, UK, and adamantly voted Remain.
Leslie Moreau
Lamessin NYO
Program Manager
I’m Leslie Moreau, a belgian psychologist. After my studies I worked as project manager before working for citizen service as coordinator. In 2021, I traveled in Africa for two years during which I discovered the communities through independent volunteer work. It made me realize how much population lives day by day and doesn’t know how they will cope if something unexpected happens, such as illness. This led me to become Programme Manager for the NGO ATIA and to manage the mutual health insurance, Lamesin Nyo. Lamesin Nyo is aimed at beneficiaries of the Assilassimé Solidarité institution of microfinance who work in the informal sector. This mutual health insurance not only aims to cover as many vulnerable people as possible but also to contribute to the introduction of universal health cover.
Veronicah Gladys Namagembe
Pride Microfinance Limited (MDI)
Managing Director
Veronicah is the Managing Director of Pride Microfinance Ltd (MDI), a regulated and supervised microfinance deposit taking Institution in Uganda. In a special way, she has contributed tremendously to the advancement of financial inclusion in Uganda through promoting gender equality and food security. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Durham Business School UK, & a Master of Science in Accounting & Finance from Makerere University. She has also attended several Executive Leadership programs from Harvard Business School, London School of Economics, Harvard Kennedy School of Public Management, Yale School of Management, Lagos Business School & Strathmore Business. As Managing Director, she is responsible for ensuring sustainable operations, business expansion, growth, risk and compliance management. Veronicah is a Rotarian and an Honorary Fellow with the Uganda Insititute of Banking & Finance Services.
Ramkumar Narayanan
Tameo Impact Fund Solutions
Head of Products & Services
Ramkumar has 15 years of experience in impact investments and currently serves as Head of Products & Services at Tameo, where he oversees the company's offerings and helps implement its strategy. His experience includes data collection, analysis, and reporting on trends within impact funds and financial institutions that serve low-income and underserved communities. Before Tameo, Ramkumar spent eight years at Symbiotics, where he contributed to research on microfinance, co-authored industry reports, and developed fund-level benchmarks. He also led a working group at the World Microfinance Forum Geneva, focusing on private sector microfinance investments in China. Ramkumar holds a master’s degree in Public Management and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Geneva.
Antoine Navarro
CGAP
Financial Sector Specialist
Antoine Navarro is a financial sector specialist consultant working on CGAP’s Responsible Digital Financial Ecosystem project, which focuses on financial consumer protection policy, implementation, and measurement. He also contributes to CGAP’s G2P workstream and to World Bank projects on payment aspects of social protection. Antoine previously worked as a senior microfinance rating analyst and as an internal consultant for the Orange Group’s mobile financial services. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies and a master’s in finance, both from Sciences Po Paris. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
AUDREY Negui
People Power Inclusion
CEO
After obtaining a Master's degree in Development Economics, Audrey Négui began her career as Microfinance Programme Manager at ‘Epargne Sans Frontière’, where she spent 3 years following the ‘PRIME’ programme for capacity building in microfinance. She also followed working groups dedicated to themes such as ‘Microfinance and women’, ‘SME financing’ and ‘Making better use of migrants’ savings’.
She later joined PlaNet Finance (now People Power Inclusion), where she worked first as Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, then Operations Director, before becoming Regional Director for West and Central Africa for 5 years.
Audrey Négui is now Managing Director of People, Power, Inclusion - PPI. Since her arrival at the head of the organisation, PPI has become part of the SOS Group and participated in the new strategy 2023-2025 for inclusion, financial education and the economic empowerment of local players in sustainable development.
Our mission is to give everyone the chance to build their own economic future.
Alessandra Nibbio
BlueOrchard
Head of Blended Finance
Alessandra Nibbio Bonnet is the Head of Blended Finance at BlueOrchard. Alessandra has over ten years of experience in advisory and impact investing in emerging and frontier markets with previous roles at Innpact and Accenture. She obtained her Master of Science in Management from Bocconi University and her bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Organizations from University of Ferrara
PATRICK NKONGO MAMBU
FPM SA & FPM ASBL
CEO
Patrick Nkongo, Congolese from the DRC, has acquired more than 16 years of experience in the financial sector. He is currently serving as Managing Director in two institutions. FPM SA, a financial company that provides financing to banks, MFIs and SACCOs, partial guarantee funds for MSME and FPM ASBL, a NGO that provides technical assistance to financial institutions to promote financial inclusion. Patrick began his professional career at ProcreditBank as a loan officer, before becoming Head of SME. In 2013, he was hired by Bank of Africa as Head of SME, responsible for implementing the SME strategy and expanding the branch network. In 2016, he joined Standard Bank as Head of Personal and business Banking, then as Head of Credit. In 2019, he was hired by FPM SA as Deputy Managing Director. In June 2023, he was appointed Managing Director of FPM SA, and in February 2024, he was also appointed Managing Director of FPM ASBL. Currently, he is implementing several projects with a social impact focus in the Congolese financial sector. This aims to promote the financial inclusion of women and young entrepreneurs, with a focus on agricultural finance, climate finance and digitalization.
Ahmed Ouamara
LuxFLAG
Head of Sustainability Operations
Ahmed Ouamara, CFA charterholder, has joined LuxFLAG in 2020 in the Sustainability Operations team and has been appointed Head of Sustainability Operations since January 2022. Ahmed is responsible for the operational translation of LuxFLAG’s strategy, the overall label developments and leads the team that reviews label applications. Prior to joining LuxFLAG, Ahmed spent his career in asset management in Luxembourg and in the Middle East where he held various business implementation and product management and development roles. In addition, Ahmed is a member of the CFA Institute ESG Technical Committee.
Inés Paez
Superintendencia de Bancos de Rep Dominicana
Head of Financial Innovation and Inclusion
Ines is an Electronic and Communications Engineer, with a Master's Degree in Senior Management and a postgraduate degree in Corporate Finance. Graduated from Stanford's LEAD leadership and innovation program, she has specializations in Fintech and regulatory innovation, as well as digital transformation and project management. Member of several committees on digital financial services, including the Dominican Financial Innovation HUB, the Fintech Committee of the Central American Council of Banking and Insurance Superintendencies, and she is also a member of the academic council of the Open Finance Institute. She currently leads the Innovation and Financial Inclusion team at the Superintendency of Banks, focused on promoting initiatives related to digital financial services, promotion of financial inclusion and behavioral economics interventions.
Dibyajyoti Pattnaik
Annapurna Finance Pvt. ltd.
Director
Mr. Dibyajyoti Pattanaik brings over two decades of expertise in microfinance, micro-
enterprise development, and development sector consulting. After completing his Post
Graduate Diploma from the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII),
Ahmedabad, he further honed his skills at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance in Turin,
Italy, and attended a leadership program in inclusive finance at Harvard Business School,
Boston. With a rich educational background, he has always been driven by a desire to serve
society, promote financial literacy, and advocate for financial inclusion for underserved
communities.
He currently serves as Director
of Annapurna Finance and President of the Odisha Association of Financial Inclusion
(OSAFII). He is also a board member of the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) and
has been instrumental in establishing Annapurna as a premier financial institution in India.
In recognition of his contributions, Mr. Pattanaik has been honored as one of the Top 100
People Managers by the Great Manager Institute and Forbes India. He was named India’s Top
Mind at the Indian Brand and Leadership Conclave 2022 by The Brand Story, Business
Leader at the International Business Expo by the Asia Africa Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, and one of India’s Top 25 Great People Managers of 2024.
Chiara Pescatori
Investing for Development / LMDF
Manager Investment Servicing
Chiara, Manager of Investment Servicing at Investing for Development SICAV, has over 17 years of experience in the inclusive finance sector, working in different roles on customer-centric design, ESG, and social and environmental performance.
Micol Pistelli
UNHCR
Micol Pistelli is a Senior Financial Inclusion Officer at UNHCR, where she serves as the focal point for promoting initiatives that enable forcibly displaced persons to access and benefit from formal financial services.
Lev Plaves
Kiva
Investment Director
Lev leads Kiva’s work globally catalyzing loans to refugees and displaced populations, including serving as portfolio manager of the Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF). Lev joined Kiva in 2012 managing the Middle East portfolio and was originally based in Istanbul, Turkey. Lev spearheaded the launch of Kiva's work with refugees in 2016, utilizing the Kiva.org crowdfunding platform to demonstrate the viability of lending to displaced populations. Prior to Kiva, Lev spent three years in Palestine, where he worked for a multi-million dollar USAID project. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Wesleyan University and speaks Arabic.
Jade Potgieter
JUMO
Head of Strategic Programmes and ESG
Jade Potgieter is a seasoned programme manager with over 20 years of experience spanning the retail, technology, and finance sectors. Currently the Head of Strategic Programmes and ESG at JUMO, she has spent more than 9 years focused on advancing sustainable practices and leading impactful projects within the organization.
Her extensive project management background provides her with a deep understanding of the complexities involved in integrating ESG principles across diverse business environments. Jade excels at spearheading strategic initiatives that drive innovation while championing environmental, social, and governance objectives.
With a proven track record of success, she is passionate about harnessing technology and fostering collaboration to create meaningful, lasting change that promotes financial inclusion.
Pranav Prashad
International Labour Organisation
Senior Technical Officer
Pranav is the technical lead at the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility’s initiatives related to climate change, Disaster risk and climate risk and agriculture insurance, distribution and building scale and efficiency through use of technology in insurance.
Pranav has more than three decades of experience in insurance and business management. He has initiated and taken to scale agriculture and health insurance projects amongst low-income households, utilizing a diverse set of distribution channels and enabling the projects with technology.
At the Facility, among various projects, Pranav has aided in successful introduction of weather index insurance products in Sri Lanka and index related product for livestock in Kenya. He is also the lead author of the Facility’s paper looking as various ways mobile phone technology can help in building scale and efficiency in insurance operations
He holds an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies and a bachelor's honours degree in Economics, both from Delhi University, India.
linkedin.com/in/pranav-prashad-947a122
Juana Ramirez
Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative
Stakeholder coordinator
Juana Ramírez is the LSFI Stakeholder Coordinator and co-lead of the newly launched GLI Action Group. With over a decade of experience as a project manager specializing in inclusive finance and impact investing on a global scale, she has a strong background in coordinating working groups and international cooperation. She has worked for Colombia’s Social Prosperity Agency, as well as for SPTF, ADA, and e-MFP in Luxembourg. In her recent roles at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), Juana has been instrumental in promoting sustainable, green, and gender-lens impact investment initiatives. Her expertise extends to capacity-building and research on biodiversity and regulatory frameworks for sustainable finance.
Natalia Realpe Carrillo
HEDERA Sustainable Solutions GmbH
CEO
Dr.-Ing. Natalia Realpe Carrillo is director of HEDERA Sustainable Solutions GmbH, member of the Research Advisory Council for AFI Global, Klaus Töpfer Sustainability Fellow 2022 from IASS, and co-head of the Frontier and Emerging Markets working group of the Bundesinitiative für Impact Investing in Germany.
Natalia holds a PhD Degree in access to energy from the Energy Engineering Institute at TU Berlin. She has worked for over a decade in the green microfinance sector as a senior project manager and energy consultant, supporting institutions in enabling access to clean energy in rural, remote regions and managing projects in Latin America, Central Asia, and Africa. Natalia assists institutions in developing climate resilience strategies, assessing the environmental performance and climate risk assessment of FSPs. In the past years, co-leading the Green Inclusive and Climate-Smart Finance Action Group of the European Microfinance Platform, she has co-developed the Green Index 3.0, provided training, and actively promoted green inclusive finance for the microfinance sector.
Noemie Renier
Noemie Renier, Partner and Head of Debt at Incofin IM
Partner and Head of Debt
As Partner and Head of Global Debt, Noémie Renier leads the debt investment activities in financial inclusion and agri food at Incofin Investment Management, pioneer in impact industry and leading emerging market focused investment manager. Noémie has over 15 years of experience in coordinating and leading investment strategies globally. Prior to joining Incofin, she took various investment and risk management functions at BNP Paribas Fortis and European Investment Fund.
Stephan Rudolph
EVITY SA
Founder
Stephan Rudolph is the founder of the FinTech start-up EVITY S.A., which is dedicated to facilitating, measuring and evidencing impact with the goal to make externalities visible, comparable and actionable. He has shaped the Return on Impact monetized (RoIm) concept and strives to make the RoIm tangible. In 2020 he founded APODI (Association pour le développement intégratif A.s.b.l.), a Luxembourg non-profit association, which is dedicated to systemic change with the overarching goal to preserve our biosphere. Out of this endeavor emerged the concept for a new generation impact first fund, providing to its investors a monetary as well as a non-monetary return (RoIm) and thus the raison d'être of EVITY S.A.. Stephan has more than 20 years of experience in the Luxembourg financial industry, in particular the fund industry, first as Management Consultant and then in several management positions within a Depositary Bank and a Management Company / AIFM.
Jon Sallé
SIDI
Social & Environmental performance manager
Jon Sallé is Social and Environmental performance manager for SIDI, a 40-year-old social investor invested mostly in rural microfinance and agricultural entities. Prior to SIDI, Jon managed the Finansol label, the oldest label for responsible finance in Europe, for FAIR, and worked for CERISE, promoting SEPM and the SDGs towards socia entreprises. Jon graduated from Ecole Centrale de Lyon and HEC Paris.
Mohanad Salous
Palestine Monetary Authority
Chief of Financial Inclusion Division
Mohanad Salous is the Chief of Financial Inclusion Division at the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA). Mr. Salous has a Sixteen - year experience in financial inclusion, literacy, education, consumer protection and awareness campaigns. He played a key role in the development of the “National Financial Inclusion Strategy in Palestine”. He is leading the implementation of the NFIS and its action plan including leading the measurements of the Financial Inclusion indicators and Monitoring and Evaluation.
During his work at the PMA, Mr. Salous regularly participate in various international conferences hosted by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion and other institutions. On one hand, Mr. Salous has participated as a Speaker in several conferences on the international level. On the other hand, Mr. Salous is an active member in the (FISPLG WG) by AFI and he is Chaired the WG for the last three years. Such involvement and engagement with the international institutions gives him the exposure and the knowledge to share and support the PMA vision.
Mr. Salous holds a Master’s Degree in International Cooperation & Development, this multidisciplinary program enriched his theoretical and practical experience in project management, international issues, social studies and economics. Thus being instrumental in Financial Inclusion, Financial Stability and Economic Growth on the PMA and the national level.