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Our portfolio engagement team has published more than 30 resources to help early-stage fintech founders build strong teams and sustainable, impactful businesses. While the availability of high-quality content for startup founders has ballooned in recent years, few resources acknowledge the unique needs that women and other underrepresented founders, employees, and end-customers have; moreover, these resources are not specifically catered to fintech startups. That’s why we’ve refreshed five previously published resources to incorporate a perspective on the role that gender plays in hiring, fundraising, governance, and more. Here are the five resources we’ve decided to republish and why:  
<h3><a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Best-Board-Practices.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to leverage a startup board</a></h3>
Board diversity has taken center stage over the last couple of years, with new mandates emerging (and in some cases repealed) across <a href="https://www.gibsondunn.com/sec-approves-new-nasdaq-board-diversity-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASDAQ</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/business/california-board-diversity-women.html#:~:text=Introduced%20in%202018%2C%20S.B.%20826,to%20comply%20risked%20financial%20penalties." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">State of California</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/23/goldman-wont-take-companies-public-that-dont-have-at-least-one-diverse-board-candidate-ceo-says.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Goldman Sachs</a>, and other entities. While studies have shown that diverse boards outperform those lacking in diversity, most startup board members are venture capitalists, which are 85 percent white and male. With that in mind, how can founders go about crafting a representative board, and why should they? <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Best-Board-Practices.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We’ve updated this resource</a> to tell you just that.  
<h3><a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Equity-fundraise-guide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Series A fundraise guide</a></h3>
It’s well-documented that women face outsized challenges raising venture capital. They often start with smaller investor networks, <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/06/male-and-female-entrepreneurs-get-asked-different-questions-by-vcs-and-it-affects-how-much-funding-they-get" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">get asked different questions</a>, and encounter other biases as they navigate the fundraising process. In the eight women-focused events we’ve hosted with more than 80 women fintech founders attending from around the world, we’ve also seen that many women founders tend to emphasize their traction to date rather than their long-term vision. At the seed stage, while traction is useful, it’s critical for founders to communicate the opportunity in front of them effectively. <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Equity-fundraise-guide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We’ve updated our original resource</a> to acknowledge these obstacles and provide guidance on how to navigate them.   
<h3><a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hiring-Resource.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hiring manager guide</a></h3>
A growing body of research has shown that when team members bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives to the table in an inclusive environment, their companies make <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">better decisions and generate more revenue</a> than homogenous competitors. Diversity doesn’t just happen, though. It takes ample and sustained commitment from leadership. We often see early-stage founders prioritize speed in the hiring process, assuming that they can tackle diversity at a later stage. Over time, though, as teams codify their values and establish norms, it becomes <a href="https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion/small-business-diversity-and-inclusion-hiring-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more</a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/03/welcome-to-diversity-debt-the-crisis-that-could-sink-uber/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more</a> difficult to attract and support heterogeneous candidates. That said, how can startup founders ensure that their hiring processes are equitable from the start? Read <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hiring-Resource.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this addendum</a> to our hiring manager guide for five suggestions. Remember, though, hiring is only one piece of the puzzle for ensuring that diverse teams thrive in the workplace.  
<h3><a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/How-to-successfully-launch-an-employee-engagement-survey.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to launch an employee engagement survey</a></h3>
Over the last decade, we’ve worked with multiple portfolio companies to conduct, analyze, and interpret employee engagement surveys. Regardless of the results, these surveys help founders understand employee sentiment and identify concrete steps to strengthen company culture. However, employees of different genders often experience their workplaces differently. In <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/How-to-successfully-launch-an-employee-engagement-survey.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this</a> resource, we’ve added a survey question on <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hiring-Resource.pdf">Hiring Resource</a>employee gender, allowing founders to disaggregate data on employee happiness within the workplace and determine whether there are disparities across gender lines.  
<h3><a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Operational-Metrics-Reporting.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Operational metrics and reporting</a></h3>
Women continue to be disproportionately excluded by the formal financial system. In developing economies, they’re <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/2018-04/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">9 percent less likely than men to have a bank account and, while women-owned businesses make up 23 percent of all MSMEs, they account for 32 percent of the financing gap.</a> This presents a massive opportunity for fintechs that are able to connect with women effectively. To reach more women customers, startup founders need to understand how certain operating metrics vary across gender lines. For example, are your women customers all coming from specific marketing channels? How do customer acquisition costs and lifetime value differ between men and women? Startups that can answer these questions (among others) will be best positioned to serve more women. 

We hope these resources will help early-stage founders adopt gender-inclusive practices that strengthen their teams and deepen their impact. Feel free to pass them over to your portfolio companies, team members, and any other stakeholders willing to take more action toward gender inclusivity in their companies. To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/AccionVLab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/accion-venture-lab/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a>.

Five ways for fintech startups to build gender inclusivity

Luciana’s restaurant in São Paulo, called Barraca da Lu Lu, is inspired by her childhood in a small town in Piauí in northeast Brazil. “Every detail refers to my origins,” she says. “The logo has a cashew, which reminds me a lot of my childhood. I was raised eating a lot of cashews.” Cashew trees surrounded her grandmother’s home in the countryside of Piauí. “I would wake up and see the ground covered in cashews and birds all around,” Luciana recalls.

Before she opened her restaurant, Luciana started by running a stand at a bus stop where she sold egg custard pastries called pastéis, and tapioca crepes that her father taught her how to make growing up. She quickly found success selling her snacks to workers from neighboring businesses and clients at a nearby gym.

“I started in a very small space. I didn't know it was going to get to the size it is today,” she recalls, but time and again, customers showed that they wanted to keep dining at Barraca da Lu Lu. Her secret? “When it comes to the food, we prepare it with love. [Our ingredients] may be the same brand that the neighbor uses. The respect we have for the food differentiates the flavor.” Among her loyal customers, she’s known for her bife a cavalo, a traditional Brazilian dish with steak and eggs, as well as her rice, beans, and vegetable dishes.

When the COVID-19 pandemic reached São Paulo, “Everything closed. Nobody released credit to anyone,” said Luciana. With bills coming due and lockdown measures in place, Luciana began to despair.

After searching online, she was able to find relief through Dinie. <a href="https://www.dinie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dinie</a> is an embedded lender serving micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Brazil. Suzy Ferreira, Andrea Burattini, and Vinícius Cibim co-founded the company to seamlessly provide digital lending products in the same platforms that entrepreneurs already use to run their businesses. Luciana first started delivering her food through iFood's platform, Dinie's partner that offers food delivery services in Brazil. Through the partnership, MSMEs, such as Barraca da Lu Lu, can access credit offers that fit their financial situation.

For Dinie’s founders, <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-rebuild-a-more-equitable-world-part-one#suzy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the company’s mission is personal</a>. “When I was very little, I watched my father as a small business entrepreneur really struggle building his business,” recalls Suzy. “These small businesses don't have working capital. They don't have excess liquidity to be able to cover the cash flow needs of the business.”

These platforms have access to data on clients’ cash flows and other payment behavior, which gives Dinie a basis for providing credit. Dinie’s customers can access flexible credit when they need it and receive the loan instantly. Entrepreneurs like Luciana can use the extra <a href="https://www.accion.org/embedded-finance-for-small-businesses-suzy-ferriera-dinie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">working capital from Dinie</a> for marketing, payments, inventory, and other expenses that help them better serve their customers. <a href="https://www.accion.org/embedded-finance-meets-small-business-lending-in-latin-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Venture Lab is proud to have invested in Dinie</a> to expand these financial services to more of Brazil’s underserved MSMEs.

<img class=" wp-image-27838 aligncenter" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Luciana_de_Almeida_Silva_Oct2022_Brazil3-1024x683.jpg" alt="Luciana in her restaurant" width="563" height="376" />

“It was very easy [to get credit from Dinie],” Luciana recalls. “My contact explained everything clearly to me. In two to three days, the loan was approved and [in my account] to do what I needed, which was to pay my bills.”

Dinie co-founders Suzy Ferreira and Andrea Burattini are acutely aware of the ways women are excluded from the financial system. While their target clients are small business owners who don’t have access to credit, women-led startups like theirs receive only a tiny percentage of investments from venture capital firms around the world.

“Being founded by two women, we appreciate a lot, and we want to see the impact of our actions here at Dinie [result] in more female entrepreneurs,” says Andrea. “Historically, women entrepreneurs have had more difficulty accessing credit than men entrepreneurs. And today, our customer base of female entrepreneurs is 45 percent of our customer base.”
<blockquote class="pullquote--right">“I find it very powerful how financial services are interconnected to everything we do. It enables us to fulfill our dreams.</blockquote>
“I find it very powerful how financial services are interconnected to everything we do. It enables us to fulfill our dreams. It enables us to create businesses, create ideas, and basically create wealth through the world,” says Andrea.

An accessible, affordable loan from Dinie helped keep Barraca da Lu Lu afloat through the pandemic. The restaurant remains open, and customers are already asking when Luciana plans to expand again. “This loan has made a huge difference in my life because I was able to continue my dream,” she says. “It means a lot to my family because it’s not just my dream, but also my husband’s and my son’s, too.”

Watch how women entrepreneurs like Luciana have grown their businesses using digital financial tools:

[embed]https://youtu.be/KXCbiDeC6x4[/embed]

Embedded finance enables Luciana to expand her thriving restaurant

The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day this year is <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality</a>, a celebration of women who are “championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education.” With innovative digital tools, we can reach more women with the financial services they need to strengthen their livelihoods and build a better future. This year’s day of observance also recognizes the impact of the digital gender gaps and their potential to leave women further behind, both economically and socially.

In our <a href="/series/women-of-accion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">annual blog series featuring women leaders of Accion and our partners</a>, we’re highlighting inspiring leaders who bring passion and creativity to their vision of building a better world for all people. Meet some of the women we’re proud to work with:
<h2>Erika Eurkus, Vice President, Resource Development at Accion</h2>
[caption id="attachment_27805" align="alignleft" width="400"]<img class="wp-image-27805" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/erika-eurkus-abf-colleagues-south-africa.jpg" alt="Erika Eurkus and program partners" width="400" height="600" /> Erika (left) with Accion program partners in South Africa[/caption]

Erika Eurkus’ relationship with Accion goes back two decades, spanning both US and global work and several different programmatic efforts — from working with peer loan groups and developing individual loan products to raising loan funds and launching corporate partnerships. Now she works with Accion’s engaged and passionate donors who share our values and propel our mission forward.

Erika started her career in her hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. “In my heart, I always knew I would eventually have a career with a purpose, especially one focusing on social justice,” she says. “After graduating from college, I accepted a position as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for a domestic microcredit organization. And my career working to create economic opportunity was launched far sooner than I had expected — and right in my own backyard.” Erika worked as a loan officer and program manager for small business lenders Working Capital and then Accion USA (now Ascendus). “Working directly with small business owners opened my eyes to the vast disparities that exist in access to capital, and I knew I could have a great impact in harnessing increased resources for our clients.” 

In her current role as Vice President for Accion’s Resource Development team, <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/erika-eurkus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Erika Eurkus</a> oversees individual philanthropy, helping Accion further our work to bring opportunity to low-income people worldwide. “We must keep building public-private partnerships locally and globally to impact maternal health, early childhood education, and a financial system that works for everyone,” she says.   

While Erika is energized by the rapid pace of digitization in financial services, she recognizes the reality that profound inequalities in society have contributed to fewer opportunities for women and a resulting loss of economic productivity. “To reach equity, we must continuously generate bold ideas, creative thinking, and action. We can’t quiet any voice who has something to say. And, of course, partnerships – shared values and common goals – can achieve so much and are key to our work at Accion,” says Erika, reflecting on some of the partnerships she’s helped develop over the years. For example, the Brewing the American Dream partnership between Samuel Adams and Accion Opportunity Fund, a program designed to provide food and beverage entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed — including many businesses run by women and people of color who are often shut out of the formal financial system. 

To others who are looking to make an impact, Erika says, “Opportunities to have an impact abound in today’s fast-moving economies. When I studied economics, the only mention of social impact was through optional reading, which happened to lead me to a short Economist piece on microfinance. Today, myriad non-profits, companies of all sizes, and hybrid organizations are focused on some element of impact. The key is to find a connection to a cause that is meaningful to you and seek out an opportunity within that field that provides learning, growth, and the chance to effect change.”

Women leaders innovate for a more equitable world, part one

This blog is co-authored by <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/our-team/shamina-singh" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shamina Singh</a>, Founder and President of Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.

After many years of little progress, we’re finally narrowing the gender gap in financial account ownership. According to the most recent <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex/Report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Findex</a>, the gap narrowed from 9 percent to 6 percent across developing economies as more women gained access to financial tools.

But a large portion of that progress was due to one country: India. If you remove India’s progress, much of the developing world has a double-digit gender gap, and globally women are still more likely than men to be unbanked. About 740 million women—13 percent of all adults globally and 54 percent of the unbanked—don’t have a financial account. We need to do a better job.
<blockquote class="blockquote">Today, women continue to deal with discrimination and restrictive social norms, making it much harder to access capital, skills, and resources. Rising prices, disrupted supply chains, and increasing demand for digital services are adding new challenges.</blockquote>
These barriers help explain why women entrepreneurs faced the most <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/preparing-msmes-for-future-crises-lessons-from-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">severe effects</a> of the global pandemic, including higher rates of business closure and lower profit levels. Digital tools can make it easier to adapt and recover, but <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/digital-adoption-of-msmes-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital uptake</a> among women small business owners was alarmingly slow and sporadic, and even declined during the pandemic. The longer they remain in a cash world, the longer they remain invisible to the financial system.

Investing in the digitization of small businesses, especially those owned by women, will enable them to survive an economic downturn and continue providing jobs, goods, and services to billions of people globally. And connecting more women-led small businesses to digital financial tools can help them build resilience, boost their incomes, and better serve their communities.

Now, after an exciting global project focused on tackling this very challenge, <a href="https://www.accion.org/the-impact-of-digital-transformation-on-underserved-microbusinesses-findings-from-accions-partnership-with-mastercard" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we have new evidence</a> that backs this up.

[embed]https://youtu.be/gqofKmcYF8w[/embed]
<h3>Opening doors to the digital economy—and financial health</h3>
For the past four years, Accion and Mastercard have worked with nine financial service providers and 50 fintech startups around the world to help more micro and small businesses go digital. By working with financial companies with deep ties to their communities, we developed digital products and capabilities that meet the needs of underserved entrepreneurs—and help them participate in the digital economy.

Together, we launched innovation hubs, rolled out savings tools and digital loans, reimagined microfinance lending using mobile apps and texting services, and more. To ensure products were used, not merely accessible, we placed clients’ needs at the heart of our work, applied human-centered design, incentivized usage, and focused on improving clients’ financial health.

Small businesses reported a range of benefits as they started using digital products. Perhaps most importantly, digital usage led to improved financial health, including the ability to repay loans on time, cover business expenses, and purchase sufficient inventory to meet demand. Across five countries, nearly 80% of digital product users said they could better manage these financial challenges.

Digital acceptance grew among women, who now account for more than 70% of these product’s active users. Women entrepreneurs reported significant improvements in their financial health, with more than 70% reporting that digital tools contributed to this improvement. Compared to other products, digital wallets were most popular among women small business owners, with more than 80% reporting their quality of life had improved because of the new services it gave them access to.

[caption id="attachment_27775" align="alignright" width="329"]<img class=" wp-image-27775" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Lourdes.jpg" alt="Lourdes, a BancoSol customer, shows the Accion and BancoSol team the applications she uses to design intricate patterns on fabric. " width="329" height="382" /> Lourdes, a BancoSol customer, shows the Accion and BancoSol team the applications she uses to design intricate patterns on fabric.[/caption]

What explains these results? The answer could be quite simple: digital tools save time. More than 75% of our digital wallet users said that saving time was the most important benefit they received from the products. For small business owners who juggle the needs of their customers while managing their households and providing for their families, time is scarce. Any time savings can be reinvested into their business to drive growth. In fact, digital product users reported improved growth activities, including increased sales revenues, hiring more employees, and starting new businesses.

In one example, we worked with BancoSol, Bolivia’s largest microfinance provider serving 1.5 million clients, to develop a gamified savings tool that rewards users for making deposits and maintaining a minimum balance. Regularly using digital products is key to building financial health and literacy, and nearly 90% of small business clients attributed their usage of this product to their ability to resolve financial health challenges.

This innovative product made a difference for BancoSol’s women <a href="https://www.accion.org/gamification-motivates-microentrepreneurs-to-save-in-bolivia">clients</a> like Lourdes, who owns a costume and garment shop in La Paz. She said, “It’s hard to part with your hard-earned money and watch it sit idly in an account collecting dust. I want my money to work hard the way I do.” Now, her savings are working alongside her to build a brighter future.
<h3>Catalyzing investments for a strong, resilient economy</h3>
Looking ahead, we are optimistic about how this work can open pathways to further build the financial health and resilience of women entrepreneurs. We’ve seen that, in addition to supporting established providers, nurturing early-stage fintech companies can radically increase the accessibility and usefulness of financial solutions for underserved small businesses. Fintechs can create game-changing products, embed financial tools in existing platforms to reach millions of people, and find new ways to shift behaviors and build skills among underserved entrepreneurs through innovations like gamification.

We are also eager to catalyze investments that address gender inequalities by developing products with robust business cases and scalability. At the same time, we must ensure that fintechs consider women’s unique needs and digital identities. For example, women’s irregular cell phone top-ups can make them appear like credit risks in the eyes of an algorithm, even though their husbands are often responsible for topping up the phones.

[caption id="attachment_27107" align="aligncenter" width="750"]<img class=" wp-image-27107" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Deasy_Haryuni_Aug2022_Indonesia1-e1667927054385-1024x766.jpg" alt="Desi, laundry business owner, Bina Artha Ventura client" width="750" height="561" /> Desi, a laundry business owner in Indonesia, credits Bina Artha Ventura’s mobile app for helping her stay on top of her bills. “If I want to pay my bills, I can confirm this with the app without needing to go out. I can do this while washing or ironing the clothes. That really helps me,” she said.[/caption]

Our work together reached more than 12.8 million people, with more than 5.6 million micro and small businesses using digital tools on a regular basis. Most encouragingly, 30-day usage rates have increased fourfold over the past year, which shows people are applying these tools to their day-to-day lives.

We encourage other stakeholders to help us build on this progress by leveraging the power of the digital economy to help small businesses build better livelihoods for themselves and their communities. As global challenges continue to spread disruption and uncertainty, collective action offers a means of building a more resilient future for us all, especially women.

With new digital tools, millions of women entrepreneurs are building resilience

Video

[embed]https://youtu.be/sQ_4qp0PdZk[/embed]

“It enables truck drivers to be businessmen, versus the way they are now, which is daily wage laborers,” said Mishal Adamjee, Co-Founders of Trukkr, an online logistics platform aiming to revolutionize Pakistan trucking sector.

Read more about <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/pakistani-fintech-startup-trukkr-raises-64-mln-gets-lending-licence-2023-03-07/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Venture Lab's investment in Trukkr</a>.

Here's <a href="https://www.accion.org/digital-solutions-for-pakistans-small-trucking-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">why we invested in Trukkr</a>.

Inclusive fintech leader stories: Mishal Adamjee, Co-Founder of Trukkr

Liza Curcio-Rudy

Resources for early-stage startups to take a gender-inclusive approach to hiring, fundraising, governance, and more

Sebastian Molina Gasman

Thoughtfully designed digital platforms connect women in Brazil to the financial resources needed to start and grow businesses

Elizabeth Winters

jihan

<img class="alignleft wp-image-27806" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/jihan-abass-founder-ceo-lami.jpg" alt="Jihan Abass, Lami" width="400" height="600" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/jihan-abass-founder-ceo-lami.jpg 750w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/jihan-abass-founder-ceo-lami-200x300.jpg 200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/jihan-abass-founder-ceo-lami-683x1024.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" />Jihan Abass comes from a family of entrepreneurs, setting her on a path to become an entrepreneur herself from an early age. After beginning her career in finance in London, she returned home to Kenya and launched Lami in 2018. Lami, <a href="/tech-opens-the-door-for-low-income-africans-to-get-the-insurance-they-need" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an Accion Venture Lab portfolio company</a>, is an embedded fintech company that provides affordable, accessible insurance products to underserved people across Africa through partner platforms.
On founding <a href="https://www.lami.world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lami</a>, she says, “My main motivation is the fact that a lot of people don&#8217;t have access to insurance products in Africa. A few years ago, I had a conversation with a waiter who told me he didn&#8217;t have medical insurance, and that got me thinking about the insurance space.” She started researching and realized there was a lack of technological infrastructure to distribute insurance products widely and affordably. “I think insurance is one part of financial inclusion that has really been ignored. It brings about a lot of security because here in most of Africa, people rely on single sources of income,” she says. <a href="https://www.accion.org/digital-insurance-offers-security-for-underserved-communities-in-africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lami leverages technology to close those gaps</a> and give people access to the safety net that insurance can provide during illness, accidents, and other disruptions to their income.
Because many people distrust insurance, Jihan and her team stress the importance of building confidence and trust in their customer journey. They’ve found the best way to do that is to <a href="/improving-lives-with-digital-insurance-jihan-abass-lami" target="_blank" rel="noopener">embed their services into apps and interfaces</a> that people already use daily, so they can access Lami’s products through providers they already have a trusted relationship with, including banks, telcos, e-commerce platforms, and logistics companies.
“I think innovation is the backbone of what we&#8217;re doing here,” says Jihan. “We&#8217;re trying to transform how people get access to insurance products. We&#8217;ve digitized the entire value chain, something that hasn&#8217;t really been done in the past. We’re building the infrastructure and the rails for others to quickly launch products through their channels. To be able to overcome some of the hurdles in terms of how people view insurance, you need to have a product that is different, and that has a lot of impact and value.”
On her entrepreneurial journey, Jihan says, “I think being a female founder is unfortunately quite rare in most of Africa, and probably most of the world. It&#8217;s been an interesting experience being a female founder. In general, I would say that, despite the biases, a lot of people are really excited about seeing women leading companies, which has been very positive.” Lami’s team is 55, and Jihan is determined to attract and mentor young women and encourage them to grow within the company. “That&#8217;s a big indication of how we&#8217;re trying to support and cultivate young talent. Providing opportunities is one of the best ways that we can have a gender balance.”
“In the future, our goal is to be the leader in digital insurance. And not just in Africa but the rest of the developing world because we often face similar problems. We’re pushing the boundaries within the insurance space so we can have a transformative effect on the whole industry.”

sandra

<img class="alignleft wp-image-27807" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sandra-calderon-accion.jpg" alt="Sandra Calderon, Accion" width="400" height="600" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sandra-calderon-accion.jpg 750w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sandra-calderon-accion-200x300.jpg 200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sandra-calderon-accion-683x1024.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" />Sandra Calderon is the Digital Strategy and Channels Director for Latin America, part of the <a href="/how-we-work/advise/accion-global-advisory-solutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Accion Global Advisory Solutions</a> team. She supports microfinance institutions and banks across Latin America to help them design, implement, and manage their digital financial service channels. She brings many years of experience in the commercial banking sector to <a href="/bio/sandra-calderon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her role at Accion</a>. “When I was offered this opportunity to do something really tangible for low-income people, it was very exciting for me, and I immediately identified with it.”
Since then, she has managed a wide range of projects, like supporting institutions in adopting new channels such as ATMs, mini-branches, mobile banking, and agent networks – <a href="/the-digital-solution-for-small-business-owners-in-ecuador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bringing life-changing financial tools to people across Latin America</a>, including Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, and El Salvador. She’s passionate about building digital products and services that are easy to use, intuitive, and affordable so that all women can benefit from using them, no matter their level of experience using digital technologies.
Sandra emphasizes that innovation should always factor in an understanding of the realities that women face, and we must design tools from the perspective of women. “No one understands better the journey of a mother at home than another mother in charge of her home. Often, women must take care of their children while they are using digital products or services. For many, it’s also a great challenge to help their children with their homework using the internet or applications that schools use today. It’s necessary to provide learning spaces that make them feel proud of their achievements, build their confidence, empower them to become economically independent, and teach them to create new opportunities for themselves and their families.”
In many communities, women must divide their time between taking care of their family and earning a living, either because they are the heads of their household or because their economic dependence on their partner limits their autonomy. “The role of women in society is critical. We must facilitate their work by providing them with better tools to manage their households, start businesses, and earn a living for their families, including both financial and non-financial products and services,” says Sandra.

Part of Accion’s annual series highlighting women working in financial inclusion

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