Our communications work aims to ensure Accion and our partners serve as demonstration models and a catalyst for a more inclusive world. As Senior Manager, Digital Content, Elizabeth creates and promotes content to inspire and inform new audiences about Accion’s work and support our mission of building a financially inclusive world. She publishes content across Accion’s website, email, and global social media channels. Elizabeth has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Marketing from the University of Pittsburgh. She is based in Washington, D.C.

Senior Manager, Digital Content

Elizabeth Winters

alex

Since starting her career in the social impact space, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/bio/alexandra-alex-rizzi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alex Rizzi</a> has become an <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/understanding-the-decision-consumer-rights-and-algorithmic-decision-making" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advocate for consumer protection</a> and champion of evidence-based inclusive finance practices. In 2012, she joined the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Financial Inclusion</a> (CFI), an independent think tank that uses rigorous research and advocacy to advance inclusive financial systems for low-income people.  
In her current role at CFI, Alex manages the responsible data practices research portfolio, which focuses on opportunities and risks for underserved people using data-driven financial services. Previously, she helped lead CFI’s Smart Campaign, a global initiative that worked to create an environment where financial services are delivered safely and responsibly to low-income clients.  
Digital financial tools have been top-of-mind for Alex and the CFI team as innovations have proliferated in the past decade, especially through the COVID-19 pandemic. “There are so many insights from our work on MSMEs and research into how small businesses digitalized during the pandemic. We identified how women MSME owners face unique challenges and use digital tools differently. In our enthusiasm for digitalization, we need to ensure products are designed with women in mind and don’t create unnecessary or new harms,” says Alex.  
<div id="attachment_27961" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27961" class="wp-image-27961 size-large" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cfi-team-h.m.-queen-maxima-1024x780.png" alt="CFI team meets with H.M. Queen Máxima" width="1024" height="780" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cfi-team-h.m.-queen-maxima-1024x780.png 1024w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cfi-team-h.m.-queen-maxima-300x228.png 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cfi-team-h.m.-queen-maxima-768x585.png 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cfi-team-h.m.-queen-maxima.png 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Alex Rizzi (second from right) and CFI colleagues meet with H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).</div>
“Digital finance can help women overcome some inequities and systemic factors, like access to healthcare and to financial services, and that’s something our sector has been very excited about. At CFI, we’re also keeping an eye on potential new risks so that digital products don’t exacerbate existing inequalities,” says Alex, reflecting on how gaps in digital literacy, lower access to digital devices, and <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-stories-algorithms-tell-bias-and-financial-inclusion-at-the-data-margins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">potential risk of algorithmic bias</a> can leave women further behind as digitalization accelerates. “As these transformative digital tools become more widely available, we want to keep an eye on making sure they help narrow the gap and not widen it in new ways.”
On ensuring that we understand how low-income customers actually use financial services, Alex says, &#8220;Keep your impact and outcomes as your North Star in any of these exciting new developments. There’s so much learning for all of us to do, and measuring our impact can help us to improve our work.”
To those aiming to work in the social impact space, Alex says, “Our field is at such an exciting inflection point. In my work, there’s this intersection of digital finance, impact, responsible tech, and new regulations coming up the pike for some of these new technologies. Be open to learning and making new connections between what might have seemed like disparate fields in the past.”

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

Article

The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day this year was <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="https://www.accion.org/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. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-innovate-for-a-more-equitable-world-part-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our first article in this series</a>.

Meet some of the women we’re proud to work with:
<h2>Payal Dalal, Senior Vice President of Social Impact, International Markets at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth</h2>
[caption id="attachment_27952" align="alignright" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-27952" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/payal-dalal-mastercard.jpg" alt="Payal Dalal, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth" width="500" height="375" /> Payal leads girls in Nigeria in sports and games that help build their confidence and agency.[/caption]

Payal Dalal’s passion for creating economic opportunity in low-income communities developed at an early age. “I am the daughter of immigrants. Every year, my parents would save so we could take a trip abroad as a family, and we traveled to emerging markets such as Kenya, India, Thailand, and Turkey. Through those experiences, I saw girls my age working in homes as cleaners and cooks instead of attending school and learning,” Payal remembers. “It struck me very early on that many, especially adolescent girls, didn’t have the same educational and economic opportunities as I did. It felt unfair, so I set about trying to bridge the divide.” Payal later began a career in international philanthropy and politics and now serves as <a href="https://www.mastercardcenter.org/our-team/payal-dalal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Senior Vice President of Social Impact, International Markets</a> at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, a longtime Accion partner. In her role, Payal oversees the Center’s philanthropic investments around the globe.

Throughout her career, Payal has witnessed how women have been disproportionately impacted by ongoing economic, public health, and other global challenges. “We have to be cognizant that women are at greater risk of being left further behind due to existing gender norms and institutional inequities in the formal economy. While the increasingly digital economy could provide a ton of opportunities to bridge the gender divide, it also could exacerbate the existing gap between men and women. We need to apply a gender lens to everything from policy, product, and service design, even down to the level of coding that forms the basis of artificial intelligence and automation. Only through honest examination can we uncover how we might be inadvertently institutionalizing gender bias.”

Speaking further on the promise of innovation and digital to drive gender equality, Payal says, “I am especially bullish about the opportunity for women entrepreneurs. Digital technology and innovations will help women entrepreneurs scale their operations and gain better access to financing and capital. My biggest hope is that innovation will create new ways to de-risk women in the eyes of formal financial institutions.” Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Accion launched a first-of-its-kind partnership in 2018, with the aim of <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">digitally transforming the lives of 10 million underserved people</a>, including millions of women using digital tools and services to grow their businesses and build better futures for themselves and their families.

For other women looking to make an impact, Payal says, “Don't be afraid to cause trouble. To reach gender equity, we will have to disrupt systems and institutions. This will feel uncomfortable and won’t be welcomed by many. Don't let that deter you. And be sure to find your community of like-minded people, especially women, with whom you can partner and support. Achieving gender equity is a difficult task, and it is easier when you have the right support network. Through partnership and sisterhood, we can achieve scale.”

Women leaders innovate for a more equitable world, part two

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.

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. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="/women-leaders-innovate-for-a-more-equitable-world-part-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our second article in this series</a>.

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

Raliat Sunmonu

Technology brings renewable, affordable energy solutions to farmers in rural Kenya

Josephine Kairu is a smallholder farmer in Nakuru County in the Rift Valley of Kenya who makes her living from farming and selling milk from her cows. As a widow and the head of her household, she’s responsible for tending to her cows, sheep, and chicken, in addition to managing her family’s daily tasks. In places like rural Kenya, <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-7-affordable-clean-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women and girls spend up to 18 hours a week</a> gathering firewood for preparing food and heating water for their families. Reliable and affordable cooking fuel can be challenging to come by. “It is hard to get charcoal, and when you are lucky to find charcoal, the quality is bad,” says Josephine.

But technology is offering a cost and time-saving solution for farmers like Josephine and their families. Biodigesters are systems that break down organic farm animal waste and convert it into biogas and other outputs like fertilizer. They take a resource that’s widely available to dairy and pig farmers – manure – and turn it into an energy source for household and farm energy needs. On top of being a more sustainable and affordable source of energy, biodigesters reduce the amount of time that people, especially women and girls, must spend gathering firewood because they can instead use biogas for their cooking fuel. “When you have biogas, you save a lot. You don’t have to use firewood, charcoal, or petroleum gas, and it minimizes electricity expenses. Secondly, after providing heat, it also provides fertilizer and chicken feed,” says Kelvin Sang, senior sales agent at Sistema.bio, a company that manufactures and distributes biodigesters.

[caption id="attachment_26083" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]<img class="wp-image-26083 size-large" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GAP4661-e1649953701818-1024x673.jpg" alt="Josephine collects manure from her cows" width="1024" height="673" /> Josephine collects manure from her cows that she will repurpose into cooking fuel for her kitchen by using a biodigester. “This biogas has really helped me, and it has saved me a lot. There is a challenge of getting firewood but now I have a very easy time cooking,” she says.[/caption]

Last year, Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team began working with <a href="https://sistema.bio/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sistema.bio</a> to pilot a biodigester rollout in Nakuru County in Kenya. Through this partnership, an initiative funded by <a href="https://www.fsdkenya.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya</a>, we sought to <a href="https://www.accion.org/transforming-waste-into-sustainable-energy-and-cost-savings-for-farmers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">understand why smallholder farmers haven’t widely adopted biodigesters</a> and discover ways to address the obstacles holding them back from installing them on their farms.

One of the major barriers to the adoption of biodigesters is the cost of installation. Biodigesters can be expensive, putting them out of reach for many Kenyan farmers. Typically, equipment manufacturers such as Sistema.bio also offer financing options. To expand the pool of funding available to farmers, we explored partnerships with various types of financial institutions, including a fintech, a commercial bank, a microfinance institution, and a Saving and Credit Cooperative, to offer other avenues for extending financial support to farmers so that they can install biodigesters on their farms. With Accion’s support, Sistema.bio is now making these life-changing biodigesters accessible to farmers through customized, flexible loans from their own books, and with financial partners like Fortune SACCO.

Now that Emily Koech, a farmer and Sistema.bio customer, has been able to install a biodigester on her farm, she’s seeing her investment pay off. “It has helped me reduce the cost of living, and with the money I save, I pay school fees [for my children] and I buy basic needs that are needed in the house. It has helped me a lot,” she says.

[caption id="attachment_26079" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]<img class="size-large wp-image-26079" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/GAP3553-1024x681.jpg" alt="Emily Koech stands by her cow" width="1024" height="681" /> Emily Koech relies on her biodigester for cooking fuel, saying, “Biogas has helped me a lot in my house because I use it for cooking, to boil milk and water. There is no smoke in the kitchen, and I no longer have to buy firewood.”[/caption]

As climate change presents mounting challenges, the need for climate-smart technology and renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly urgent. From our field research in the region, we learned that smallholder farmers recognize the adverse impact of climate change and are willing to adopt climate-smart solutions to protect their farms, but they need solutions that also help them to reduce costs and earn more income for their families. Some farmers are skeptical of new technologies, especially those they perceive as complicated, like biodigesters. Live demonstrations and testimonials from trusted sources, like relatives, other farmers, and local cooperatives, are effective ways to educate farmers about <a href="https://www.accion.org/transforming-waste-into-sustainable-energy-and-cost-savings-for-farmers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how climate-smart practices can benefit their farms and families</a>.

By bringing renewable and cost-saving energy solutions to farmers in Kenya, we’re helping people strengthen their farms and improve their lives. See how biodigesters have made a difference in the lives of three smallholder farmers in rural Kenya:

[embed]

https://vimeo.com/699547518

[embed]

Farmers turn livestock waste into renewable energy and cost savings

adelina

<div id="attachment_25939" style="width: 460px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25939" class="wp-image-25939" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adelina-dasso-accion-visiting-clients.jpg" alt="Adelina Dasso visiting clients in India" width="450" height="609" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adelina-dasso-accion-visiting-clients.jpg 500w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/adelina-dasso-accion-visiting-clients-222x300.jpg 222w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />Adelina Dasso visits women entrepreneurs and clients of RBL FinServe (formally known as Swadhaar FinServe) in Mumbai, India.</div>
Living in Lima, Peru, Adelina Dasso sees the inequalities that women face every day. “I have been involved in initiatives to support those in need, especially related to education and women, since I was in high school,” she says. She brought her passion for making a difference for low-income people to her job when she started her career in investments. In her current role <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/adelina-dasso">as a senior investment officer at Accion</a>, Adelina sees the opportunities that impact investing can create in low-income communities in Latin America and around the world, saying, “I truly believe in the power of capital markets to reduce inequality.”
When it comes to advancing equality for women, Adelina says, “I believe that the only way to reduce the gender gap is to really focus on addressing it, set up ambitious goals, and innovate, always around the client. We should listen to what women need and use innovation to close the gaps that are holding them back. I am optimistic when I see our portfolio and pipeline companies launching products tailored to women and new impact funds with more women on their senior teams.”
As climate change creates increasing challenges for the world, especially for women in low-income communities, people need support to prepare for and respond to climate issues. “Financial service providers need to consider the implications of climate change on their clients and their businesses. They should prioritize facing those challenges by adapting their product offering to their clients’ needs. Tailored solutions, like appropriate insurance and access to education, are key to tackling climate change.” She believes women are well-equipped to lead the charge in this effort, saying, “Given the high adaptability of women, they can help us face this challenge and respond faster.”
For others who want to get involved in social impact work, Adelina encourages people to support organizations that are addressing causes they feel most passionate about, and carve out a niche where they can make a difference in the lives of women and communities around the world. “The social impact space is growing and needs you to reduce inequality. Given that women face the largest gaps, what could be better than women supporting women?”

tanwi

<img class="alignleft wp-image-25938" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/tanwi-kumari-cfi.jpg" alt="Tanwi Kumari" width="450" height="570" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/tanwi-kumari-cfi.jpg 500w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/tanwi-kumari-cfi-237x300.jpg 237w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />While the world faces increasing challenges stemming from the climate change crisis, <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/bio/tanwi-kumari">Tanwi Kumari</a> believes we must stay focused on advancing gender equality as women bear the brunt of some of the worst climate consequences. The climate crisis has a disproportionate impact on women, and women are 14 times as likely as men to die due to a disaster, <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-13-climate-action">according to a UN Women report</a>. Women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to societal and cultural norms. Their roles and responsibilities often make them disproportionate users of natural resources, like water, firewood, and forest products, to make a living or run their households. “With unequal access to resources and limited social mobility, women are disproportionately affected by climate-related hazards. We need to identify gender-sensitive strategies to respond to the environmental and humanitarian crises caused by climate change,” says Tanwi.
As we look to rebuild from the pandemic and create a sustainable future, Tanwi says, “We cannot just leave half of the population behind; we cannot leave women further behind. To turn promises into action, we need to step up and tackle inequalities and discrimination. We need to invest in inclusive green finance policies and programs and design products and services that work for women.” Tanwi stresses that we need better quality sex-disaggregated data — data about individual clients that is broken down by sex and age — to properly assess and respond to the specific needs of women.
Tanwi is a research manager at the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI)</a>, an independent, global think tank organization housed at Accion that uses rigorous research and advocacy to advance inclusive financial systems for low-income women and men around the world. In her work at CFI, and from her previous work at Accion and our partner Dvara Trust, Tanwi says, “I’ve learned that access to finance is an absolutely critical component of equitable recovery and helps to address both economic and social challenges.” Financial tools like cash transfers, savings, insurance, and credit, can help women and their families to stay resilient and respond to climate-related shocks.
To ensure that we build financial solutions that reach women, Tanwi believes we need women in decision-making roles at local, national, and global levels. “To make an impact, we need more women to break the glass ceiling and take up leadership positions, standing for themselves and speaking up with confidence.” Tanwi is inspired by many other women in leadership at CFI and Accion and believes in the value of mentorship and coaching, saying, “All we need to do is ask for support, and follow our path with passion, empathy, and commitment to building a growing economy and a better world.”

nazanine

<img class="alignright wp-image-25937" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/nazanine-scheuer-accion.jpg" alt="Nazanine Scheuer" width="450" height="544" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/nazanine-scheuer-accion.jpg 500w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/nazanine-scheuer-accion-248x300.jpg 248w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />“Women have brilliant ideas, amazing insights, and the ability to instinctively bring people together and find solutions to problems they and their communities face,” says Nazanine Scheuer. “But what they’re often missing is financial services — whether seed funding or working capital — to turn their ideas into viable businesses that can sustain their families and strengthen their communities.” As <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/nazanine-scheuer">Accion&#8217;s Chief Development and Partnerships Officer</a>, Nazanine is helping scale our work to connect low-income people to loans, credit, insurance, and other financial tools needed to grow businesses and improve their financial health.
Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Nazanine has witnessed firsthand the strong entrepreneurial nature of women. Throughout her career, whether working in the private sector in the cacao industry or on the development sector side working at Save the Children, she has met women entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in different parts of the world. In Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and Honduras, amongst others, she observed the constraints that prevent women farmers from turning their small farms and microenterprises into thriving businesses that can provide for their families. Like in many other regions, social norms keep women farmers in West Africa from owning their land or accessing loans, credit, and other financial support to grow their businesses. “Without access to financial services designed to meet their needs, these entrepreneurs miss out on opportunities to improve their incomes. Digital innovations can help us get these tools into the hands of the women who need them most.”
Rural communities and smallholder farmers are a vital part of both local economies and the global food supply. <a href="https://www.accion.org/with-support-from-fintech-farmers-can-grow-an-inclusive-global-recovery">But they’re facing huge obstacles</a>, including very low incomes, disrupted supply chains from the pandemic, fragmented agricultural value chains, and rising threats from climate change. “Agriculture isn’t just the way that millions of farmers make a living; it’s how we feed the world. By working toward localizing and regionalizing value chains, we can help farmers, who are among the most vulnerable to climate shocks, to strengthen their incomes. We need to ensure that people in rural communities have what they need to succeed and secure their futures, especially women who have fewer economic opportunities,” says Nazanine.
“To advance equity for women and communities across the globe, we need to build global and regional strategic partnerships that can help us reach more people with inclusive financial services and improve outcomes,” she says. Alongside several private sector and NGO partners, Accion responded to a White House call-to-action <a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-joins-white-house-call-to-action-to-support-economic-opportunity-in-the-northern-triangle">to help create the Partnership for Central America</a>, which aims to create economic security, stability, and opportunity in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. From Central America to sub-Saharan Africa to Southeast Asia, rural populations are hugely vulnerable to climate shocks and need financial tools that can help them to stay resilient and strengthen their livelihoods. “If we are to move the needle and create real change in the financial services sector, and truly create economic opportunities for everyone, we need partners to join us and work together to address these issues creatively.”

The <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/announcement/2021/12/international-womens-day-2022-gender-equality-today-for-a-sustainable-tomorrow">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> this year was, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global challenges like climate change, and we must overcome gender gaps to make sure that women aren’t continuously left further behind. We’re working to help all women have the financial services they need to stay resilient in the face of challenges and thrive in the future.

We’re highlighting inspiring leaders who are working to build a more inclusive world in our <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion">annual blog series on the women of Accion and our partners</a>. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="/women-leaders-rebuild-a-more-equitable-world-part-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our first</a> in this series.

Here are a few of the women we’re proud to work with:

Women leaders rebuild a more equitable world, part two

shweta

<div id="attachment_25886" style="width: 560px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25886" class="wp-image-25886" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/shweta-pereira-sierra-leone.jpg" alt="Shweta Pereira in Sierra Leone" width="550" height="413" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/shweta-pereira-sierra-leone.jpg 800w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/shweta-pereira-sierra-leone-300x225.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/shweta-pereira-sierra-leone-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px" />Shweta visits employees and clients of Sierra Leone Commercial Bank</div>
Shweta Pereira first saw the impact that inclusive financial services can have when she worked for one of India&#8217;s largest private sector banks. Partnering with a dairy co-operative, the bank extended credit to dairy farmers based on the amount and quality of milk they supplied, giving these farmers access to credit for the first time and a means to invest in their farming businesses. By building a financial product that matched the unique needs of these dairy farmers, the bank was able to help farmers improve their lives, earn more for their families, and strengthen their communities at a scale that brought rapid improvements to the dairy sector.
In her <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/shweta-pereira" target="_blank" rel="noopener">role at Accion</a>, Shweta continues to keep people and communities at the heart of her work. She’s passionate about finding ways to help people, especially women, overcome challenges so they can thrive in the future. On the setbacks of the pandemic, she says, “The stats on how the pandemic has affected women disproportionately are staggering: The pandemic will push 47 million women and girls into extreme poverty. Nearly 740 million women globally work in informal economic sectors. The pandemic has caused their income to drop by 60%. These statistics are hard to ignore! We know from experience that investing in women results in a better impact for the family, and not only for her generation but also for coming generations.” She believes viewing financial services through gender-disaggregated data, measuring outcomes on women, innovating product design with a gender focus, and engaging men as critical champions of change can help us serve women better.
Shweta is committed to giving women the tools they need to improve their lives and offers encouragement and support to all women. “If it were possible, I&#8217;d love to reach every woman in the world to say, ‘Your say matters.’ Even if you&#8217;re working in your home — what you say and do matters to your family, to the community, at the workplace, and to the world!”

suzy

<img class="alignleft wp-image-25887" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/suzy-ferreira-dinie-headshot.jpg" alt="Suzy Ferreira, Founder and CEO of Dinie" width="450" height="600" />Growing up in Brazil as the daughter of an entrepreneur, Suzy Ferreira saw firsthand the opportunity — and the challenges — behind starting a business. “I had this entrepreneurial DNA. I think that most people coming from Brazil do have that. And not because they choose to, but because it’s the nature of being Brazilian. It’s a country that despite having so much wealth and resources and everything, there are a lot of difficulties as well, economically. So as a Brazilian, you always have to work towards building something.” And build something she did: <a href="https://www.dinie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dinie</a>, an embedded finance company that enables digital platforms to offer lending solutions to the significantly underserved Brazilian small business market.
By embedding innovative capital solutions in leading online marketplaces and e-commerce and payment platforms, <a href="https://www.accion.org/embedded-finance-meets-small-business-lending-in-latin-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dinie enables convenient, instant, and fair access to capital</a> for micro, small, and medium businesses within the platforms they already use to do business. From watching her father’s struggles to get adequate capital for his businesses — which ultimately led her family to go bankrupt due to abusive bank interest rates when she was only 9 years old — Suzy made it her life mission to transform the financial services industry.
After beginning her career in banking, Suzy felt called to pursue entrepreneurship, and to help other women entrepreneurs along the way. “That was a massive driving force for me: to give access to capital for women entrepreneurs,” she says. To stay focused on reaching women, Suzy made sure she had other women in leadership at Dinie. “One of the things I did to build a business that would serve SME’s that were created, owned, run by women was to ensure that I had another woman as a cofounder. Because I wanted our products, our experience, our tone of voice — I wanted all of that to include women.”

melissa

<img class="alignright wp-image-25885" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/melissa-baez-accion.jpg" alt="Melissa Baez, Chief Talent Officer at Accion" width="450" height="675" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/melissa-baez-accion.jpg 500w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/melissa-baez-accion-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />When Melissa Baez first started her career at Accion, she didn’t anticipate all the different places and paths that her job would take her. After pivoting from her finance career at a large investment bank, she moved to West Africa. “My passion for creating opportunities in low-income communities was spurred during my first position with Accion as an advisor for one of our MFI partners in Benin. During my years there, I saw firsthand how the availability of financial services helped entrepreneurs grow their businesses and families overcome hardships. This experience was a turning point in my career path and remains an important motivator today.”
Now, after 15+ years of advisory work with financial service providers around the world, Melissa knows that the most impactful financial products and services aren’t just those that are available; they must be built to meet the unique needs of the people we serve. This is especially true when it comes to reaching women who have faced disproportionate challenges during the pandemic. “To ensure women are equally part of the economic recovery, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the women that we are trying to reach. When we prioritize understanding a woman’s wants and needs and keep her at the center of product design and services, we can build effective solutions that truly make a difference in women’s lives.”
Melissa also spent time working in Haiti, which reinforced her belief that inclusive financial services must be developed with clients at the center. Agriculture makes up an important part of the Haitian economy, and two-fifths of Haitians depend on farming, but small-scale subsistence farming is particularly vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters. “Every year, natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes can wipe out a whole region’s crop and therefore people’s livelihoods. Smallholder farmers need a means to protect themselves against the shocks of natural disasters brought about by climate change. Financial products, like crop insurance, are an essential safety net for those who are most vulnerable.”
To other women who want to make an impact, Melissa says, “The best decisions I’ve made in my career have been those I didn’t see coming — whether it was an opportunity to move to West Africa, start up a new unit in Accion, or take a <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/melissa-baez">new leadership role in HR</a>. Follow your passion and be ready for opportunities when they present themselves.”

The <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/announcement/2021/12/international-womens-day-2022-gender-equality-today-for-a-sustainable-tomorrow">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> this year is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global challenges like climate change, and we must overcome gender gaps to make sure that women aren’t continuously left further behind. We’re working to help all women have the financial services they need to stay resilient in the face of challenges and thrive in the future.

We’re highlighting inspiring leaders who are working to build a more inclusive world in our <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion">annual blog series on the women of Accion and our partners</a>. You can learn about more inspiring women in the <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-rebuild-a-more-equitable-world-part-two">second part</a> of this series.

Here are a few of the women we’re proud to work with:

Women leaders rebuild a more equitable world, part one

When education is accessible to women and girls, they can gain the skills and knowledge to seize opportunities and support themselves and their families

Education is a proven pathway for children to build brighter futures. And that effect doesn't stop as kids grow up — continuing education and job training open opportunities for people to adapt to new technology and get better jobs to support themselves and their families. But after years of increasing rates of literacy and school attendance, <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/goal-04/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated progress in education</a>, especially for girls and those living in poverty.

Each year on October 11, the United Nations recognizes <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/girl-child-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">International Day of the Girl Child</a>, a day dedicated to promoting the empowerment of girls around the world and raising awareness of the challenges that girls face, including barriers to education. Girls already lagged in global education levels before the pandemic, and <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/girls-education-and-covid-19-new-factsheet-shows-increased-inequalities-education-adolescent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">now an estimated 11 million girls may not return to their classrooms</a>. Innovative solutions are needed to close educational gaps for girls, help women gain skills to secure employment, and keep education accessible to all.
<h2>How fintech powers education</h2>
<img class="alignleft wp-image-24804" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/henry-student-julieta-768x1024.jpeg" alt="Julieta, a coding student at Henry" width="400" height="449" />Lack of funding for schools and limited financial support options for students prevent many from getting the education they deserve. We’ve seen how fintech can be a powerful tool to support the education sector by connecting more schools and students to financial services. In Latin America, our Accion Venture Lab portfolio company <a href="https://www.soyhenry.com?utm_source=Blog_Accion&amp;utm_campaign=Nota_WomenInTech&amp;utm_id=Accion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Henry</a> offers software development courses for people, especially young women, to receive the training needed to pursue jobs in the thriving tech industry. Henry’s platform attracts students like Julieta, who always wanted to learn computer programming and pursue a career in tech but was held back by the costs of education. Because Henry has <a href="https://www.accion.org/making-sure-fintech-is-an-equalizer-for-women-not-another-barrier#henry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">embedded financial services into their education platform</a>, students are not obligated to pay back their tuition until they secure a job in their new field. This income-sharing agreement allows more women like Julieta to get the education needed for a career in tech, no matter their background, income, or work experience. After completing Henry’s courses, <a href="https://blog.soyhenry.com/la-historia-de-julieta-estudiar-en-henry-y-trabajar-en-silicon-valley/?utm_source=Blog_Accion&amp;utm_campaign=Nota_WomenInTech&amp;utm_id=Accion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">she was hired for a programming job in her chosen field and multiplied her income</a>.

Across the world in Indonesia, access to education — particularly for girls — improved significantly in recent years before the pandemic. As a part of dedicated efforts to achieve gender parity, <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/gender-and-education-indonesia-progress-more-work-be-done">Indonesia has focused on closing the gender gaps in education</a> and economic opportunity for women. Increasing female education rates means that more women are better positioned to earn higher incomes and provide for their families. Doing their part to democratize education in Indonesia, our portfolio company <a href="https://www.accion.org/making-education-accessible-through-fintech" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pintek uses fintech to provide funding for schools and students</a> so that more people from all backgrounds can stay in school. They also support clients like Hacktiv8, an edtech platform that teaches students programming skills to prepare them for future careers in the tech sector. By funding and supporting students and schools, including <a href="/schools-go-virtual-with-fintech-support-in-indonesia" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">helping schools to adapt to virtual learning during the pandemic</a>, Pintek propels more young adults to gain an affordable education and seize future job opportunities.

In India, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">girls are still less educated than boys</a>, and schooling remains especially difficult to access in rural areas. The COVID-19 pandemic led <a href="https://www.unicef.org/india/press-releases/covid-19-schools-more-168-million-children-globally-have-been-completely-closed" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1.5 million schools in India to close in 2020, impacting 247 million children</a>. Without the ability to continue their schooling, children in India are falling further and further behind. To support India’s education sector, our portfolio company <a href="https://www.getanthem.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anthem</a> strives to provide financial solutions for schools. They simplify finance and admin operations for schools and colleges in over 300 cities across India. Their tech-enabled platform allows educational intuitions to manage their cashflows, expenses, and school fees all in one place. By streamlining these administrative tasks at an affordable cost, they help education institutions improve their financial standing and allow them to focus instead on their main goal — providing high-quality education in their communities.

From girls learning to read to women gaining skills to take on new careers, education opens opportunities for women and girls to envision a bright future. We’re proud to invest in fintech startups like Henry, Pintek, and Anthem that are building innovative solutions that get more people into classrooms and closer to achieving their dreams.

Support from our donors helps us to improve the lives of individuals and families in underserved communities. Through our partnerships with inclusive financial providers and investments in fintech startups around the globe, we’re creating a world with economic opportunity for all. <a href="https://donate.accion.org/page/34341/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=blog">Make a gift today to invest in the future of those who need it most</a>.

Putting education in reach for more women and girls

Debdoot Banerjee

When Sadashiva had to close his food stall business during the pandemic, a digital loan provided relief

Twenty years ago, Sadashiva Das started cooking and selling panipuri, a popular street food made of fried flatbread and flavorful fillings. It took several years for him to build his reputation in the bustling market area of Khurda, located in the Odisha province of eastern India. As his panipuri business took off, Sadashiva was able to feed and provide for his family. The income he earned from his business also allowed him to send his son and daughter to college.

Like other street vendors across India, Sadashiva had to close his panipuri business — the only source of income for his family — when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Because coronavirus is highly contagious, he was unsure when he would be able to restart his business, if at all. Without the income from his food stall, the lack of cash became a major problem for him, and he recalled that he nearly slipped into a depression. He didn’t have enough savings to last for another few months, so he picked up a job as a daily wage worker to make ends meet.

After six very challenging months, Sadashiva learned that he could apply online for a loan to give his business some relief during this crisis. Although the online registration process is fairly easy, Sadashiva struggled because he doesn’t have much experience using technology. As a client of <a href="https://annapurnafinance.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Annapurna Finance Ltd.</a>, a microfinance institution and Accion partner in India, he received support through the loan process and Annapurna’s staff walked him through the online registration process.

Annapurna recognizes that technology can help their team to reach more clients, provide better customer support, improve the efficiency of their operations, and launch digital products that help microentrepreneurs stay in business. The pandemic has accelerated their focus on digitization. But many of their clients — especially those living in rural areas — need extra support to learn how to use digital tools. To build digital products that work for Annapurna’s clients, we surveyed Annapurna’s small business owner customers to understand <a href="https://www.accion.org/critical-lessons-from-a-survey-of-small-businesses-in-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their experience and confidence using technology, how gender gaps affect digital access, the role of misinformation, and more</a>. Through <a href="https://www.accion.org/mastercard-and-accions-partnership-to-unlock-millions-of-underserved-microbusinesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mastercard and Accion’s partnership</a>, we're working with Annapurna to develop new digital loan products for the micro, small, and medium enterprises they serve.

One month after he applied for the street vendor loan, Sadashiva received the disbursement he needed to restart his business. He reopened his panipuri stall while following the government’s pandemic safety measures, and his sales slowly returned. But while vaccines have rolled out and infections have dropped in countries like the United States, India is still facing devastating COVID-19 outbreaks. Skyrocketing cases have overloaded India’s health system and new lockdowns have left small business owners out of work again. Digital financial tools can help small business owners to weather this crisis, find a way to reopen their businesses safely, and help us to <a href="https://www.accion.org/growing-disparities-threaten-an-inclusive-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">create a more inclusive recovery for all</a>.

A digital loan helps a street vendor get back on his feet

Maria Camila Gomez Silva

Español

Paula Coxaj Acabal nació en Momostenango, una población rural en el altiplano occidental de Guatemala donde la mayoría de la gente vive de la agricultura. Se casó y se mudó a La Gomera, una población más cercana a la costa del Pacífico. Cuando el marido de Paula, siendo aún joven, falleció ella se puso a buscar trabajo desesperadamente para mantener a sus hijos. “Yo era una madre soltera, una mujer viuda de 35 años con 7 hijos. Estaba sola, sin saber leer y con un gran compromiso de sacar adelante a mis hijos&#8221;.  Motivada por su familia y con pocas opciones para ganarse la vida, decidió abrir su propio negocio.
“Yo empecé vendiendo verduras, cargaba el producto en un costal, tenía miedo de ir a un banco por falta de confianza, no me atrevía, pero supe de Génesis y fui a pedir mi primer préstamo de mil quetzales. Así empecé a trabajar hace 30 años: me di cuenta de que podía salir adelante con el crédito y crecer en mi negocio y pronto me dieron un segundo crédito de 2 mil quetzales”, nos dice Paula sobre su experiencia como emprendedora.
Gracias a años de arduo trabajo y a la capacitación recibida de la Fundación Génesis Empresarial, que la ayudó a aprender cómo administrar su negocio y su crédito, Paula convirtió su primer negocio informal de productos agrícolas en un pequeño imperio de tiendas en su comunidad. &#8220;Agradezco a Dios porque me permitió tener el apoyo de Génesis para comprar mi primer local”, dice Paula al pensar en los 40.000 quetzales de préstamo que le permitieron adquirir su propia tienda física. <a href="https://www.genesisempresarial.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">La Fundación Génesis Empresarial</a>, socia de Acción desde hace mucho tiempo, es una organización microfinanciera que atiende a pequeñas empresas en Guatemala.
Los negocios de Paula le han permitido brindar una vida mejor a sus hijos, enviarlos a la escuela y darles trabajo para que a su vez puedan mantener a sus propios hijos. Treinta años después de ese primer préstamo, ha logrado superar todos los desafíos y seguir haciendo crecer sus negocios, incluso expandiéndose hacia la venta de otros productos como ropa. Ahora es propietaria de nueve locales, que dan trabajo a decenas de personas en su comunidad, incluyendo a sus hijos. Hasta el presente continúa trabajando con el apoyo de la Fundación Génesis Empresarial y considera al equipo de Génesis como parte de su familia.
<h2>Una enfermera brinda atención médica a su comunidad marginada</h2>
<div id="attachment_24398" style="width: 345px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-24398" class="wp-image-24398" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Cliente-2.jpg" alt="Jovita stands in the health center that she opened in her rural community in northern Guatemala" width="335" height="573" />Jovita stands in the health center that she opened in her rural community in northern Guatemala</div>
En el norte de Guatemala, Jovita Ester Chub Prado vive en una comunidad rural donde la atención médica y los medicamentos son escasos. La mayoría de las personas no tiene acceso a un vehículo para movilizarse hasta el hospital más cercano, que se encuentra lejos de sus hogares. Debido a su experiencia en enfermería, Jovita entendió cómo ayudar a su comunidad a mantenerse saludable.
“Mi sueño comenzó al ver la necesidad de mi comunidad, sin acceso a asistencia médica ni medicinas: yo quería ayudar a mis vecinos, había mucha necesidad en salud y las personas me buscaban para pedir ayuda, por los conocimientos que adquirí cuando trabajé como enfermera profesional en el hospital.&#8221;  nos comenta.
Jovita decidió abrir una farmacia y un centro de salud en su comunidad ubicada cerca de Playa Grande, en El Quiché. Al igual que Paula, recibió un préstamo para pequeñas empresas de la Fundación Génesis Empresarial para adquirir equipos y disponer de un local para llevar a cabo sus actividades. En su farmacia ofrece medicamentos convencionales y remedios naturales, realiza pruebas básicas en su laboratorio y ofrece consultas médicas a sus vecinos en su idioma local, que es el Qʼeqchiʼ. Su negocio no solo le brinda la oportunidad de ganarse la vida en una región carente de oportunidades económicas sino también, como muchas otras pequeñas empresas, de servir a su comunidad. El centro de Jovita satisface una necesidad crítica de sus vecinos, quienes de otra manera no podrían obtener la atención médica que necesitan. En particular durante la pandemia por COVID-19, poder acceder a servicios de salud en la comunidad es invaluable.
<h2>Creando oportunidades económicas en el Triángulo Norte</h2>
Estamos orgullosos de trabajar con proveedores de servicios financieros como la Fundación Génesis Empresarial, que abren oportunidades económicas en Guatemala al apoyar a propietarios de pequeñas empresas como Paula y Jovita. Junto con otras once empresas y organizaciones líderes, nos unimos a la Asociación para Centroamérica de la vicepresidenta de los Estados Unidos, Kamala Harris, para abrir oportunidades económicas en el Triángulo Norte: Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador. Nos hemos <a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-joins-white-house-call-to-action-to-support-economic-opportunity-in-the-northern-triangle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comprometido a apoyar el crecimiento de las micro y pequeñas empresas en la región</a> durante los próximos tres años, lo que redundará en beneficio de más de 400.000 personas.
Además de la pobreza y la violencia persistentes que enfrentan muchas personas en el Triángulo Norte, se han perdido más de 300.000 puestos de trabajo en la región debido a la pandemia por COVID-19. Las micro y pequeñas empresas necesitan nuestro apoyo para mantenerse operativas y poder recuperarse, especialmente en <a href="https://www.accion.org/growing-disparities-threaten-an-inclusive-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regiones del mundo que enfrentan crecientes disparidades</a>. Al trabajar con nuestros socios para incorporar a tiendas de víveres, talleres de costura y pequeños agricultores al ecosistema digital, podemos mejorar aún más la salud financiera y la resiliencia de los pequeños negocios.  Así como Paula ha creado empleos en su ciudad y Jovita ha brindado atención médica a sus vecinos, cuando los empresarios tienen éxito, este éxito se propaga a las familias y comunidades. Abrir oportunidades para que estos empresarios se adapten y crezcan es fundamental para lograr una recuperación inclusiva y un futuro mejor.

How two women grew their businesses and created a positive ripple effect in their communities in Guatemala 

Paula Coxaj Acabal was born in Momostenango, a rural town in the western highlands of Guatemala where most people rely on farming to earn a living. She married and moved to La Gomera, a town closer to the Pacific coast. When Paula’s husband passed away at a young age, she found herself in desperate need of a job to provide for her children. “I was a single mother – a widow at 35 with 7 children. Alone with no help and unable to read, I was determined to give my children a chance at a better life,” she said. Motivated by her family and with few other options to earn a living, she decided her open her own business.

“I started selling vegetables. I loaded the produce in a sack. I was afraid to go to a bank [for a loan] due to my lack of confidence. I didn’t dare,” said Paula about her early days as an entrepreneur. “But I found out about Génesis, and I went to ask for my first loan of 1,000 quetzals. That’s how I started working 30 years ago: I realized that I could get ahead with credit and grow in my business, and soon they gave me a second loan of 2,000 quetzals.”

With years of hard work and training from Fundación Génesis Empresarial to help her learn to manage her business and credit, Paula turned her first informal produce business into a small empire of stores around her community. “I thank God because he allowed me to have the support of Génesis to buy my first store,” says Paula when reflecting on the 40,000 quetzals loan that allowed her to purchase her own brick and mortar store. <a href="https://www.genesisempresarial.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fundación Génesis Empresarial</a>, Accion’s longtime partner, is a microfinance organization serving small businesses in Guatemala.

Paula’s businesses have allowed her to provide a better life for her children, send them to school, and give them jobs so they can support their own children. Thirty years after that first loan, she’s managed to weather every challenge and continue growing her businesses, even expanding into selling other products like clothing. She now owns nine businesses, providing jobs for dozens of people in her community, including her children. To this day, she continues working with the support of Fundación Génesis Empresarial and considers the Génesis team to be part of her family.
<h2>A nurse brings health care to her underserved community</h2>
[caption id="attachment_24398" align="alignright" width="335"]<img class="wp-image-24398" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Cliente-2.jpg" alt="Jovita stands in the health center that she opened in her rural community in northern Guatemala" width="335" height="573" /> Jovita stands in the health center that she opened in her rural community in northern Guatemala[/caption]

In northern Guatemala, Jovita Ester Chub Prado lives in a rural community where health care and medicine are scarce. Most people don’t have access to a car to drive to the nearest hospital, which is far from their homes. With her background in nursing, Jovita saw a way to help her community stay healthy.

“My dream began when I saw the needs of my community, who didn’t have access to medical assistance or medicine. I wanted to help my neighbors. There was a great need for health care, and people came to me for help because of the knowledge I acquired when I worked as a professional nurse in the hospital,” she says.

Jovita decided to open a pharmacy and health care center in her community, located near Playa Grande in El Quiché. Like Paula, she received a small business loan from Fundación Génesis Empresarial to purchase equipment and secure space to open her practice. She stocks her pharmacy with conventional medicines and natural remedies, runs basic health tests in her lab, and offers medical consultations to her neighbors in their local language of Qʼeqchiʼ. Her business gives Jovita a way to earn a living in a region that lacks economic opportunity, but like many other small businesses, it also serves her community. Jovita’s center fills a critical need for her neighbors, who are otherwise unable to get the medical attention they need. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, having accessible health care in the community is invaluable.
<h2>Creating economic opportunities in the Northern Triangle</h2>
We are proud to partner with financial providers like Fundación Génesis Empresarial, who are opening economic opportunities in Guatemala by supporting small business owners like Paula and Jovita. With eleven other leading businesses and organizations, we joined US Vice President Kamala Harris’s Partnership for Central America to open economic opportunity in the Northern Triangle of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. We’ve <a href="https://www.accion.org/accion-joins-white-house-call-to-action-to-support-economic-opportunity-in-the-northern-triangle" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">committed to helping grow micro and small businesses in the region</a> over the next three years, ultimately benefitting more than 400,000 people.

On top of the persistent poverty and violence that many people in the Northern Triangle face, more than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the region due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Micro and small businesses need our support to stay open and recover, especially in <a href="https://www.accion.org/growing-disparities-threaten-an-inclusive-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parts of the world facing growing disparities</a>. By working with our partners to bring grocery shops, tailors, and smallholder farmers into the digital ecosystem, we can further improve the financial health and resilience of small businesses. Just as Paula has created jobs in her town and Jovita has brough health care to her neighbors, when entrepreneurs succeed, their success ripples through families and communities. Opening opportunities for these business owners to adapt and grow is essential for an inclusive recovery and a better future.

Two women entrepreneurs carve out economic opportunity in Guatemala

shannondwyer

<h3>Shannon Dwyer, Investment &amp; Portfolio Associate, Accion Venture Lab</h3>
<img class="alignright wp-image-23604" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab.jpg" alt="Shannon Dwyer, Accion Venture Lab" width="450" height="424" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab.jpg 2294w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab-300x283.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab-768x724.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab-1024x965.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />Shannon Dwyer first discovered the potential of inclusive fintech while working with microentrepreneurs in Cape Town, South Africa. “It became quickly apparent that while they had the hustle and dedication to start and grow their businesses, a lack of access to financial services constantly constrained their operations. Once I got that initial view into the limitations of the financial services industry, the other gaps on both the consumer and MSME sides became readily apparent. The direct link between access to financial tools and the overall livelihoods of these underserved populations made the potential impact of fintech services — and my related excitement around them — too big to ignore.”
Shannon now supports early-stage fintech startups that are reaching underserved populations in her role as <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/shannon-dwyer">Investment &amp; Portfolio Associate</a> at Accion Venture Lab. On her work with fintech founders, she says, “I continue to be struck and inspired by the downstream impact that <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/how_to_begin_considering_a_gender_lens_investing_strategy">investing in female founders</a> at the earliest stages can have. We know that female founders create more diverse and inclusive workforces, which lead to more inclusive product designs, which lead to more women accessing and utilizing financial tools and services. And when women have access to these tools and services, they often extend the benefits to others as well — by increasing their family’s savings capacity, by using a loan to pay for a child’s education, or by accessing capital to start a business. The potential of supporting this vastly underestimated segment of the founder population — women — is huge, both for the VC industry, but also for the end customers it ultimately touches.”
Inclusive fintech startups can also <a href="https://www.accion.org/fintech-startups-are-small-yet-mighty-partners-in-building-resilience-but-they-need-to-grow-to-succeed">give people the tools they need to build resilience</a> during challenging times like the COVID-19 crisis, which has disproportionately affected the lives of women.  Shannon stresses how the pandemic has exacerbated the inequalities that women face. “The one that feels the most visible to me is the disproportionate rate at which at-home and informal work falls on the shoulders of women. In the US, where I am based, this is clearly shown in the most recent unemployment reports, where women, especially women of color, are more likely to have become unemployed in the last 12 months and more likely to state &#8216;family responsibilities&#8217; as the primary reason. We need policymakers and employers to step up and provide support and flexibility so that people aren’t forced to choose between their family responsibilities and remaining in the workforce. From flexible working hours to more generous PTO to better childcare benefits, there is much more we can do to support working women.”
Shannon believes that the world will be better off with more women in leadership. “It’s important to remember that there are so many different areas and ways to make an impact, and that each is incredibly critical. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the community, national, or global level — we need more women in positions of power, pushing for change across the board.”
&nbsp;

juliaarnold

<h3>Julia Arnold, Senior Research Director, Women&#8217;s Financial Inclusion</h3>
<img class="alignright wp-image-23598" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot.jpeg" alt="Julia Arnold, CFI" width="450" height="450" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot.jpeg 800w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot-768x768.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />Raised by a feminist mother, Julia Arnold knew from an early age that she wanted to work to improve the lives of women around the world. “I saw how powerful it could be to help women achieve what they want to achieve and found that was exactly what I wanted to do.” Julia was first introduced to the ways that microfinance can empower women while in high school when she listened to an NPR interview with Muhammad Yunus. From there, she decided to focus her studies and career on microfinance, and later inclusive finance for women. She now leads the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/bio/julia-arnold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Financial Inclusion</a>’s research on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/reimagining-inclusive-finance-with-women-in-mind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women’s financial inclusion</a>.
In her research at CFI, Julia explores <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how financial services can better serve women</a> and address the constraints that they still face. “Women are 50 percent of the world’s population, and they are never the first person on any policymakers’ mind when they think about ‘What do I do? For whom do I do it?’ If you can help make women’s lives easier, you’re going to make everybody’s lives easier.”
As global gains toward gender equality have <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/care-work-during-crisis-pandemic-unravels-fragile-gains-in-gender-equality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed during the pandemic</a>, Julia is thinking about how we can help women recover from this crisis. “What it will take is clear-eyed commitment at a global policy level and individual country policy level to better understand women’s needs, women’s roles in their community, the constraints on their time and their mobility — which have been exasperated by COVID-19 — and embedding direct solutions to those needs in government payments, in gender budgeting, in infrastructure development, in consumer protection laws, in debt forgiveness in some form for those under a certain threshold.”
Julia is passionate about building a more equitable world, noting that “those of us who have privilege and opportunity have a responsibility to make room for voices of those who aren’t in the room.” She encourages others to push for change in their own way: “Find a thing that you love and care about and figure out a way that’s most comfortable for you to move forward in that direction and don’t stop.”

All around the world, financial services enable people to open their own businesses, educate their children, and provide for their families, but they aren’t within reach for everyone — including <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/">980 million women</a> who don’t have a bank account or even the ability to send and receive money on their phones. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs">exacerbated inequalities that women face</a> and exposed how the <a href="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/">gender gap in financial inclusion</a> continues to hold women back.

This year, the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” We’re highlighting women leaders working to open opportunity for women and men through inclusive finance in our <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion">annual International Women’s Day blog series</a>. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-one">our first</a> and <a href="/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">second article</a> for this series.

Meet some of the women we’re inspired by:
<h3>Winnie Blatchford, Founding member of Accion</h3>
[caption id="attachment_23601" align="alignright" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-23601" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/winnie-blatchford-accion-1.jpg" alt="Winnie Blatchford in Venezuela" width="500" height="335" /> Winnie and her Accion colleagues ran a community center in Caracas, Venezuela, that offered classes in literacy, auto mechanics, sewing, and cooking.[/caption]

When Winnie Blatchford (née Marich) was on the cusp of her graduation from UCLA in 1958, she read about volunteer opportunities in her community and around the world in her student paper. One of those opportunities struck a deep chord with her. It was a new, student-run volunteer group called Accion that aimed to improve U.S. relations in Latin America. Founded by Joseph Blatchford — who Winnie later married in 1967 — and other UCLA students, the group sought “<a href="/remembering-accions-founder-joe-blatchford-1934-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">people with the audacity to think they can make a difference</a>.” They interviewed candidates and chose Winnie among the initial group of 30 volunteers who traveled to the barrios, or disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, in Caracas, Venezuela, where they had the novel idea to ask the people living there what they needed, and how Accion could help.

[caption id="attachment_23599" align="alignleft" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-23599" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/winnie-blatchford-accion.jpg" alt="Winnie and Joe Blatchford with Bob Williams" width="450" height="353" /> Winnie and Joe Blatchford in Venezuela.[/caption]

Winnie became interested in Latin America and passionate about fighting poverty from a young age after she visited Peru, where her parents were living at the time, and saw firsthand some of the real challenges that families living in poverty faced every day. Her commitment to making the world a better place was borne from that experience and inspired her to go to that interview, get on a plane to Caracas, and become one of the first women of Accion. From installing sewage pipes, to paving streets, to teaching women to sew and make bread, the early Accion team worked side-by-side with their new Venezuelan friends determined to make a difference in the community. Winnie remembers so many talented women who were smart, capable, and true leaders in their communities. “I can't help but think of my two granddaughters when I think of the women and girls in the barrios of Caracas in the early 1960s, and how impressed they would be by all of the women I met all those years ago,” she says.

[caption id="attachment_23602" align="alignright" width="350"]<img class="wp-image-23602" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/winnie-blatchford.jpg" alt="Winnie Blatchford with her granddaughter" width="350" height="467" /> Winnie with her granddaughter Elliette in 2019[/caption]

From the beginning, Winnie and Joe were steadfast in their vision to give those less fortunate the tools they need to improve their lives. Those tools have evolved over the past 60 years since Accion’s founding, but the mission of the first generation of Accion remains the core of our work. And <a href="/topics/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">connecting women to the tools they need to grow businesses, provide for their families, and improve their communities</a>, continues to be a crucial way that we drive impact.

Before Winnie left Caracas, she received the Amiga de Venezuela award from the First Lady of Venezuela for her contributions to community development. She treasures that recognition and hopes it inspires her granddaughters and other young women to get involved in doing good. "You don't have to put your feet in the barrios to make a difference. There are opportunities everywhere, and it’s our job to create them if we can’t find them.”

Women leaders open opportunity through inclusive finance, part three

monakapoor

<h3>Mona Kapoor, Senior Director, Digital Strategy and Transformation, Accion</h3>
<img class="alignright wp-image-23550" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-683x1024.jpg" alt="Mona Kapoor, Accion" width="450" height="675" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-200x300.jpg 200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-768x1152.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />When asked about the power of financial inclusion, Mona Kapoor says, “I believe that financial freedom comes from two aspects: the first is when you are really able to earn, and the second is when you really understand beyond just earning — it is about being able to invest, to transact, to understand.” While she believes that giving women digital financial tools can improve their lives, Mona wants digital products and services to go one step further and provide the education needed to make them more effective for women. As more and more women become breadwinners in their families, they need to be able to understand how financial products can meet their needs and help them reach new opportunities. “Women today are aspiring, they’re willing to commit, and to evolve,” she says.
Mona merges her deep experience in digital payments and transformation with her passion for microfinance — and the opportunities it can create for women — in her work at Accion. As <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/mona-kapoor">Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation</a> for Accion Global Advisory Solutions, she supports Accion partners as they develop digital financial products that help people to build better futures and small businesses to grow.
From her own personal experience, Mona knows that strong support systems can help women overcome challenges and thrive. “Women can really succeed when they get support from their mothers, sisters, daughters, the other women around them because that’s where they’re able to correlate and find strength. If she can do it, I can do it too. And let’s do it together. Women can and will find strength amongst women.” And with that support system, women can make an impact in whatever path they choose: “Women shouldn’t be held back in our ideation and thinking. Today’s world is such that if you can think it, you can do it. We should fearlessly go out there, express ourselves, make suggestions, and just jump into execution knowing and believing in ourselves, that we can do it.”
&nbsp;

laurahemrika

<h3>Laura Hemrika, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship &amp; Foundations, Credit Suisse</h3>
<div id="attachment_23548" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23548" class="wp-image-23548" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse.jpg" alt="Laura Hemrika" width="500" height="333" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse.jpg 1200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse-300x200.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse-768x512.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse-1024x683.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />Laura Hemrika poses with the teller team of the Opportunity bank at Mathambi Village, Malawi.</div>
“From an early age, I felt a responsibility to have a career that had a positive impact on others, that enabled, at least, opportunity and agency for those who didn’t have it. But I also knew that whatever it was, it had to make business sense. Financial inclusion is all that – and more. The younger, quietly rebellious me secretly also loved the smart, disruptive character of microfinance in the early days. I was hooked, but my commitment to financial inclusion was really cemented by clients early on in my financial inclusion career at Accion.” Laura Hemrika’s early drive to make a difference in the lives of other people has carried on throughout her career. She now leads Credit Suisse’s global social commitments to financial inclusion, financial education, future skills, and disaster relief. <a href="https://www.accion.org/credit-suisse-and-accion-exploring-new-frontiers-in-financial-inclusion">Credit Suisse is a longtime partner of Accion</a>, and Laura’s team also leads Credit Suisse’s volunteer program where <a href="https://www.accion.org/partnering-for-a-better-view-of-accions-impact">Credit Suisse employees can volunteer with organizations like Accion</a>.
Laura believes that we must always focus first on the individual people that benefit from inclusive financial tools. “It is easy to lose sight of the fact that every transaction — every account — is a person, a life, a hope, a dream, but often, also a necessity. I remember meeting a female client who owned a small shop in the foothills of the Kilimanjaro and provided for her children and those of her brother who had died of AIDS several years before. Before starting her business, she had had to risk her life and her health to earn money for her family. Not out of ignorance — out of a lack of choice. Too often, millions of women and girls are still in situations or contexts where they are denied choice or opportunity. Access to well-designed financial services and financial education for them and their families can be such an important mechanism to overcome that. This is why Credit Suisse is committed to these two topics through our Financial Inclusion Initiative and our Financial Education for Girls Initiative.”
Laura is passionate about creating opportunities for other women, both through inclusive financial products and diversity in the workplace. “As women in leadership positions, we have a responsibility to continue creating opportunities for other women — whether our clients around the world or those in the organizations and sectors in which we work. Products and services, including technology, that specifically address the needs and interests of women are key, whether in crisis or not. Similarly, understanding the experience of women in companies and institutions is also key to ensure we develop and maintain a diverse employee base which in turn leads to better business decision-making.”
She encourages other women to be bold as they gain experience and grow in their careers. “To other women, I would say: dare to have an impact. Outside your comfort zone is where you will learn the most, so go for it. Strong professional skills are transferable, and our sector and our clients will only benefit from strong, talented female leaders.”

All around the world, basic financial services enable people to open their own businesses, educate their children, and provide for their families, but they aren’t within reach for everyone — including <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">980 million women</a> who don’t have a bank account or even the ability to send and receive money on their phones. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs">exacerbated inequalities that women face</a> and exposed how the <a href="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/">gender gap in financial inclusion</a> continues to hold women back.

This year, the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” We’re highlighting women leaders who are working to open opportunity for women and men through inclusive finance in our <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion">annual International Women’s Day blog series</a>. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our first</a> and <a href="/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-three" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">third article</a> in this series.

Meet some of the women we’re inspired by:
<h3>Luz Borchardt, Co-founder of Henry</h3>
<img class="size-full wp-image-23551 alignright" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-borchardt-henry.jpg" alt="Luz Borchardt" width="450" height="510" />Luz Borchardt sees her work in Latin America’s education sector as a revolution. “The traditional education system is broken. At Henry, we are disrupting and kicking the paradigm of education as we know it. We challenge the status quo of education. We open opportunity by giving access to people who do not have the material resources, but do have the talent, by allowing them to defer the payment of the cost of their education until the person gets a job and becomes productive.” Luz and her co-founders started <a href="https://soyhenry.com/">Henry</a>, an Accion Venture Lab portfolio company, to make software development training more accessible to people in Latin America by embedding financial services into their education platform. Luz’s passion lies in <a href="https://www.accion.org/making-sure-fintech-is-an-equalizer-for-women-not-another-barrier">unlocking the talent of Latin American women</a> by bringing them into the booming tech industry. “Having more women in STEM would bring benefits for their professional development and economic autonomy, but also their communities and countries urgently require women’s contribution to find new solutions to the problems we face as a society,” she says. “Likewise, it is essential that every user finds their vision of the world represented at each table where a digital product is thought [of], designed, and developed. More women in technology is synonymous with a more egalitarian and inclusive society.”

Despite growing demand for technical skills, coding and software development are still not considered appealing careers for women in the region. “We have the great challenge of breaking down the stereotypes that we consume and creating a horizon of possibilities about what is expected of each gender to reduce the gap between men and women. These stereotypical representations operate from an early age and condition the future of many girls and women who do not believe they are ready to [become developers] in the tech sector.” When women in Latin America embrace tech as a career, more opportunities for jobs and financial stability open up to them. “When women become financially empowered, they invest most likely in education, food, and health, which has an impact on society in general and helps reduce social inequalities and boost economic growth.”

Luz is energized by the impact that she makes through Henry’s work. “I love it, it makes me feel well, we change the lives of a lot of people. And this fills us with pride and encourages us to continue working with great intensity, to be able to invest in more and more people.” She encourages more women to pursue entrepreneurship like she has. “I want to encourage every woman that wants to make an impact to act, to be the protagonist of this world that surrounds us. Entrepreneurship is a matter of attitude. If you find a problem you are passionate about, investigate it in-depth, prototype a solution, talk to many people to validate your idea, and execute it — and the show begins! The best way to start is to implement and navigate your idea. I deeply encourage women to start by doing, even if the idea or solution is not perfect.  I also encourage women to find their own voice in this conversation, too — whether that's in your home, in your workplace, or in your community. We need to expand women’s power and influence all over the world!”

Women leaders open opportunity through inclusive finance, part two

ashleylewis

<h3>Ashley Lewis, Senior Investment Officer, Africa, Accion Venture Lab</h3>
<img class="alignright wp-image-23482" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion.jpg" alt="Ashley Lewis" width="350" height="525" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion.jpg 800w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion-200x300.jpg 200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion-683x1024.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" />From her early start interning in a bank at the young age of sixteen, Ashley Lewis witnessed how financial services improve lives. She met families who walked into her bank looking for support while they struggled with their financial health. “I saw how personal and important it is to have access not only to financial services, but also to have a financially prosperous life.” Ashley has now lived on four different continents since her beginnings in California, widening her perspective on the challenges that hold people back — and the resilience that financial tools can provide. Today, she&#8217;s based in Nigeria, investing in and supporting inclusive fintech startups throughout Africa as a <a href="/bio/ashley-lewis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Senior Investment Officer</a> with Accion Venture Lab.
As Ashley has helped social ventures around the world reach more people, she’s seen how inclusive fintech can change the lives of women and their families. “Most of the time, women have the greatest ambitions for their families and for themselves. By creating inclusive financial services for women, I’ve seen them invest in their businesses, invest in their children, invest in their households, and prosper.” When women have the right financial tools to build businesses and improve their financial health, their success creates a ripple effect in their families and their communities.
Ashley looks ahead to a future where more women have opportunities to lead and thrive. “What I’m really excited about is seeing so many women globally being put into places of power and leadership. We’re now starting to see this tide turn where more women’s voices are at the table. When women have a voice, we can ensure that women don’t get left behind.” As more and more women step into leadership roles, Ashley believes they should lean into their unique capabilities and strengths. “As women, we have our own superpowers deeply embedded in us, whether that’s our intuition, our creativity, our collaboration. It’s important for women to identify those unique skill sets in themselves and bring that into the environments where they operate. Instead of trying to mirror what we see as successful leadership — often from a masculine perspective — we should dive into our unique abilities as women and bring that forward because that’s really what the world needs right now.”

luzurrutia

<h3>Luz Urrutia, Chief Executive Officer, Accion Opportunity Fund</h3>
<img class="alignright wp-image-23481" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia.jpg" alt="Luz Urrutia" width="500" height="333" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia.jpg 1201w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia-300x200.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia-768x512.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia-1024x683.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />Luz Urrutia’s passion for inclusive finance comes directly from her own personal experience. “When I moved to the United States to finish my undergraduate degree, I worked at a bank. I applied for a $500 credit card from the very bank I worked at and was turned down because, as an immigrant, I had no credit history. I realized that if I was having this problem, as a bank employee, there was a wider problem. I decided that one day I would build a company that provides financial services to folks that don’t have access to them. Folks like me.”
Luz went on to found El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, a community bank in Atlanta, Georgia, that focused on serving the Hispanic population with little or no credit history. She’s since become CEO of <a href="https://www.opportunityfund.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Opportunity Fund</a>, Accion’s partner in the U.S., which provides loans to low and moderate-income immigrants, women, and other underserved small business owners.
While there’s still work to be done to make financial systems open to more people, Luz and her team at Accion Opportunity Fund are excited by the possibilities that tech opens up for connecting more women and people of color to the capital needed to grow their businesses. “Despite the advancements made to accelerate financial inclusion, women, and especially women of color, are still excluded from access to financial tools around the world. To bridge this gap, fintech has played a considerable role in opening opportunities for women globally, by providing digital solutions that cater to the constraints women face. Fintech provides women with the flexibility to access the resources they need, allowing them to conveniently gain access to resources to effectively run their businesses.”
That ability to run businesses effectively is crucial as entrepreneurship is a particularly powerful tool for women to build better futures. As Luz points out, “Of the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/economy/women-job-losses-pandemic/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">140,000 jobs</a> lost in the U.S. last December, all of these jobs were held by women, and mostly women of color. In order to ensure women aren’t left further behind, we must focus on giving women the tools they need to start and run their own businesses. Entrepreneurship is a way for women to build wealth. Indeed, <a href="https://prosperitynow.org/issues/entrepreneurship" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">entrepreneurship is second only to homeownership</a> in building wealth. What’s more, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-it-insane-to-start-a-business-during-coronavirus-millions-of-americans-dont-think-so-11601092841" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Americans are starting businesses</a> at a faster rate now than in years, and women of color are <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90408156/women-of-color-are-starting-businesses-faster-than-anyone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">starting businesses</a> faster than any other group. Thus, women need access to the capital and support needed to start and run their businesses, especially during this particularly challenging time.” This belief in entrepreneurship and inclusive finance is what drives Luz in her work every day as she opens up more opportunities for women to thrive.

All around the world, financial services like bank accounts, insurance, and credit products, can enable people to open their own businesses, educate their children, and provide for their families. But these basic financial tools aren’t within reach for everyone, including <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">980 million women</a> who don’t have a bank account or even the ability to send and receive money on their phones. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs" data-sk="tooltip_parent">exacerbated inequalities that women face</a> and exposed how the <a href="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">gender gap in financial inclusion</a> continues to hold women back.

This year, the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021" data-sk="tooltip_parent">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” We’re <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion" data-sk="tooltip_parent">highlighting women leaders</a> who are working to open opportunity for women and men through inclusive finance, and to rebuild a more equitable world for all.

Meet some of the women we’re inspired by: 
<h3>Maria Otero, Former Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, and Former President and CEO of Accion</h3>
<img class="wp-image-23480 alignright" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/maria-otero.jpg" alt="Maria Otero" width="450" height="300" />

“I believe that all women are leaders and that all women can make an impact. And that impact operates not just at their family level, but at their community level, and in some cases, as their national level and internationally.” Maria Otero is adamant in her belief that all women can make a difference, and her own career has been a testament to what a determined and passionate woman can accomplish. Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Maria started her career working in women’s health. As she traveled around the world, she saw how women were held back by a lack of economic empowerment, and she pivoted towards a career in financial inclusion. “I learned a great deal about the women’s movement, about how it is that women were addressed throughout the world, the inequities that existed overall, the inability for women to be treated as citizens like men.”

When she later became President and CEO of Accion, she shifted the focus from microcredit to microfinance to financial inclusion and oversaw the creation of the Center for Financial Inclusion. During her time at Accion, Maria witnessed the remarkable difference that financial services can make in the lives of women: “Financial tools have been the gate through which women have been able to work, to expand their own opportunities, and to become more self-sufficient. There’s just absolutely no question that financial inclusion is one way to truly integrate women into society. It is also one way to help [women] educate their children so that they can grow into a different generation – especially their daughters. You can see this wherever you go.”

Maria believes that women have all around the world tenacity and determination to succeed. “I learned so much about being a confident and fearless woman from my mother who at 94 is still going strong,” she says. With the right tools, women open businesses, provide for their families, and build better futures. “It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about Brooklyn, New York, or Bangkok, Thailand, across the world you see that being able to believe in women and trust in women and give them opportunity allows them to demonstrate that they can pay all their loans back, they can manage their resources, and they can also take on other financial products.”

She brought her passion for social change and her global perspective into her work at the US State Department as Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. In this role and her many other leadership positions, she’s fought to build an equitable world that creates opportunities for all people, including women.

Maria encourages younger generations to understand the work that has come before them as they continue striving towards gender equality. As digital tools and social media continue to change how we influence thinking, “it is really important to understand that even though we have different means of communicating [across different generations], we are building on the shoulders of much that came before us.”

Women leaders open opportunity through inclusive finance, part one

Small business owners in India reopen their businesses and rediscover hope for the future with customer-focused loan products and support from Annapurna Finance Ltd.

Twenty-six-year-old Rosina Das runs a small grocery shop in her village near Balakati, Odisha, in eastern India. She and her husband own a small lot of land, but their crops don’t bring in enough money for them to provide for their two children and meet their household needs. Because her family hasn’t been able to afford to install pump irrigation, they must rely on rain for their crops and can only grow during India’s kharif, or monsoon, season. Rosina needed another way to support her family, so she converted a small room in her house into a grocery store and became a small business owner.

When Rosina first started her business, she used her savings to buy grocery items to sell in her shop. Her business quickly took off since there weren’t many other stores in her village. Once Rosina opened her doors, she gave families in her community the ability to purchase fresh food and other essentials that weren’t able to buy before. Rosina availed of her first loan with <a href="https://annapurnafinance.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Annapurna Finance Ltd.</a>, a microfinance institution and Accion partner in India, two years ago as a group lending client to grow her small business even further. As her household income increased, her family was able to break their pattern of dependence on seasonal agriculture.

Like millions of other micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) operating in India, Rosina’s business has struggled greatly during the coronavirus pandemic. Not only did her sales plummet, but she also had a hard time getting new inventory to sell in her store as her suppliers were limited by transport restrictions during India’s strict lockdown. Without her regular customer volume or sufficient stock to sell, Rosina suddenly found herself without a stable income and unable to repay her small business loan installments. She learned about India’s loan moratorium from the other borrowers in her lending group and worked with Annapurna to reschedule her repayment dates and extend her loan tenure for two more months — a huge relief for her stalled business and her family.

[caption id="attachment_23303" align="alignright" width="393"]<img class="wp-image-23303" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/papina-das-annapurna-finance-214x300.jpg" alt="Papina Das, an entrepreneur in eastern India" width="393" height="550" /> Papina Das owns a small dairy business near Balakati in eastern India.[/caption]

Rosina also learned about Annapurna’s midterm loan offering, a type of emergency loan that could help her restart her business. She received an emergency loan of 15,000 INR (205 USD) within seven days of application and purchased what she needed for her store. As demand has rebounded in her village, Rosina has provided the groceries that her community needs. Just a few months ago, she lost hope and couldn’t imagine her livelihood returning to normal. Now she is grateful to Annapurna for providing the support she needed to reopen her business.

Papina Das, 34, lives in the same village as Rosina, where she runs a small dairy business selling milk in her community and to nearby villages. She employs one other person from the village to help her feed and milk her cows. She started her business two years ago with a group loan from Annapurna. The other members of her lending group are also self-employed and own dairy businesses. Before COVID-19, Papina made a profit of more than 10,000 INR (137 USD) per month from her milk sales.

Papina’s sales dropped dramatically when the pandemic started. Residents of her village and the surrounding villages suffered greatly from the lockdown’s financial impact and many people lost their livelihoods. Even Papina’s regular customers stopped buying their usual volume of milk. Although milk is an essential commodity, her profits plummeted as economic instability decreased demand and people feared infection at markets.

Within one month of lockdown, Papina’s profits were cut in half. She was forced to lay off her employee and unable to pay her loan installments on time. After an Annapurna employee <a href="/how-three-financial-service-leaders-are-adapting-to-covid-19#annapurna" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proactively contacted her by phone</a> and informed her about the loan moratorium during the lockdown, Papina opted to take a three-month moratorium on her payments. Like Rosina, Papina decided to take advantage of Annapurna’s midterm loan. Within three days of applying, she received a 20,000 INR (274 USD) loan. With this assistance from Annapurna, she’s rehired her assistant and restarted her dairy business. She’s also purchased another cow to speed up her business’s recovery, and her milk sales have nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

A flexible loan can be the reason that a grocery store stays open in a village with few options for fresh food, or a dairy business continues providing milk to families in a rural community. Through <a href="/mastercard-and-accions-partnership-to-unlock-millions-of-underserved-microbusinesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mastercard and Accion’s partnership</a>, Accion is working with Annapurna Finance to develop a new digital emergency loan product for group lending customers like Rosina and Papina. To build products that help entrepreneurs stay in business, we surveyed Annapurna’s small business clients to understand <a href="/critical-lessons-from-a-survey-of-small-businesses-in-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their experience and confidence using digital tools, how gender gaps affect digital access, the role of misinformation, and more</a>. When financial services providers like Annapurna consider the unique challenges that their clients face, they can play a critical role in helping India’s <a href="/digital-tools-open-opportunities-for-women-to-thrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women entrepreneurs use well-designed digital tools</a> to overcome the pandemic’s challenges and help rebuild their local economies.

Women entrepreneurs get back to business in India

Shannon Dwyer

Using a digital platform, Accion Venture Lab investee Self Financial gives people a pathway to build credit and savings, so they’re better prepared to face life’s challenges 

Millions of Americans struggle to apply for apartments, auto loans, and credit cards because they have a poor credit score and burdensome debt. Others, especially immigrants and those who come from low-income backgrounds, may not have a credit history at all. Without the safety net that credit and savings provide, people can fall further and further behind in times of crisis. Our Accion Venture Lab portfolio company <a href="https://www.self.inc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Self Financial</a> is in the business of helping people become financially resilient through life’s challenges by offering tools to build a credit history and save.

[caption id="attachment_23088" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-23088" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/self-financial-mobile-app-300x300.jpg" alt="Self Financial's Credit Builder mobile app" width="300" height="300" /> Self’s user-friendly app allows customers to easily track their progress as they pay off their loan and improve their credit score.[/caption]

“Over 100 million Americans either don’t have a credit score or have a low credit score. The challenge is if you need a credit history in order to get credit, then how do people get started? And so that’s where Self comes in. We’re creating the opportunity for people to help themselves,” says CEO James Garvey. The Self Credit Builder Account offers people an opportunity to build credit history and emergency savings, minus interest and fees — especially pertinent for people who encounter unexpected medical bills or need a financial boost because of the pandemic. Self provides a loan for customers to purchase a certificate of deposit, which they then pay back in installments. Because the purpose of the loan is to build credit history, customers don't get the loan proceeds upfront; instead, the money is held in a bank account while the payments are made. Once their loan is paid off, they receive the principal back, minus interest and fees, and their credit scores may benefit as they pay back their loan responsibly.

<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-23089" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/anton-self-financial-client-300x291.png" alt="Anton J, a client of Self Financial" width="300" height="291" />Anton J. managed to raise his credit score by 121 points since he began using Self’s Credit Builder product in August 2019. He was drawn to “the fact that it was literally my money that I was saving while also building my credit at the same time.” Now that he’s improved his credit score, he can access loans that weren’t available to him before. “It’s helped me improve my credit to the point where I was able to move into my first home, and I’m looking into [getting] a car in the next few months,” says Anton.

Sharita Humphrey experienced a time in her life when she struggled financially and <a href="https://www.self.inc/blog/homeless-to-homeowner-building-credit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">experienced periods of homelessness with her two young boys</a>. She learned how to build financial health and used Self’s product to improve her credit, eventually rebuilding it to the point that she was able to access unsecured credit products and a home for her family. “I was able to get myself into a position where I have and maintain excellent credit. I’ve broken the chain of generational debt and generational poverty,” she says. “I’ve become my family’s trailblazer.”
<h2>Finding financial stability during COVID-19</h2>
A significant number of Self’s customers have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. In response to a recent survey in conjunction with Financial Health Network, 48 percent reported being laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19, nearly half have reported a decrease in income, and many have lost their health insurance. In addition to their standard 15-day grace period for late payments, Self is offering further flexibility and support to their customers who are struggling during the pandemic, like giving customers the option to close their accounts early without a penalty fee.

Many customers are still benefiting from Self’s credit product during the pandemic. One customer shared that their income was reduced due to COVID-19, so they’ve had to turn their focus to credit options to get by. They’re using Self as a method to provide structure and a plan to build credit during a time when credit is most needed. Despite the new stressors and financial setbacks, in a recent survey, 60 percent of Self customers reported they are still saving money for emergencies each month, and more than 80 percent of customers reported they are interested in using the money they receive from their Credit Builder Account for savings. With support from Self, their customers are upholding their commitments to themselves and continue to work on their financial health.

A financial tool like Self gives people who have fallen on tough times the ability to overcome their past financial difficulties and invest in their long-term goals. Sharita’s journey to rebuild her credit and educate herself about financial health has even inspired her to devote her career to helping others do the same. She became a Certified Financial Education Instructor and started working with Self so that others can get help rebuilding their credit as she did. “Now, I help people to change their financial trajectory,” she says. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyNP4b9y4UU">Watch her inspiring story here:</a>

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyNP4b9y4UU[/embed]

Everyone deserves a second chance to build credit and financial security

Ishan Mishra

Indian fintech CreditMantri enables and educates individuals and small businesses about financial health so they can rebuild their credit

Imagine that you own a successful small business. One day, you’re suddenly forced to close — and lose the only source of income for you and your employees — due to the coronavirus pandemic. While you hold out hope that the pandemic will pass and you’ll soon reopen, your bills start to accumulate. Without any income, you’re forced to pay your bills late and damage the credit history that you’ve worked hard to build.

Binu Jose faced this situation in March when the pandemic-related lockdown forced him to shut down his transport company in Bengaluru in Southern India. Binu decided to seek a loan to help him sustain his business until he could reopen again. But without a source of income, he struggled to pay his bills, and his credit score declined. His poor credit history from these negative accounts prevented him from getting a loan approved so he could keep from closing permanently.

One day, Binu came across an advertisement from our partner <a href="https://www.creditmantri.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CreditMantri</a> while browsing social media. Intrigued by CreditMantri’s services, he researched further. He learned how CreditMantri’s credit improvement service could help him get his credit back on track and decided to subscribe. His credit improved once CreditMantri helped him resolve his two negative accounts, to Binu’s great relief. “I thank CreditMantri for this much-needed support while in need,” he says. Once he was able to secure a loan, Binu’s transport business could weather the lockdown period and reopen. He hopes that more small business owners in need of credit support will discover CreditMantri’s services so they can get the financial support they need to make it through the pandemic.

CreditMantri is a fintech that educates and enables Indian consumers to understand their credit wellness and help them work on it so they'll be eligible for loans. To date, CreditMantri has served more than 10 million individuals and small businesses in India. “At CreditMantri, our focus is to solve for the needs of the ‘credit invisible’ consumers and small business in India. The last seven months have been particularly challenging for these consumers, with their livelihoods and living getting impacted. Our response to this has been to direct our energies towards educating our users about their repayment options and choices they have, and guide them to make an informed repayment decision, keeping in mind their unique circumstances,” says Gowri Mukherjee, CEO and co-founder of CreditMantri. By helping people like Binu who’ve fallen on tough times during the pandemic, they’re ensuring that more small businesses will make it through this crisis.

We’re proud to recognize Gowri Mukherjee with Accion’s 2020 Claugus Award for her exceptional leadership and innovation in financial inclusion. <a href="/honoring-two-women-leading-through-crisis-with-the-2020-claugus-award">Learn more about the award and our honorees, Gowri and Luz Urrutia, CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund</a>.

A small business owner gets a second chance

Toffee Insurance uses simple, innovative insurtech products and distribution to reach more people in India, including those facing losses from COVID-19

Many workers in India earn a daily wage for their labor and rely on that income to survive. But what happens when a person can’t work due to illness or injury? Or loses their job in a global pandemic? Without a safety net for protection, a financial shock like job loss, illness, or theft is devastating, especially to lower-income families.

<a href="https://toffeeinsurance.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Toffee Insurance</a>, part of Accion Venture Lab’s portfolio, is a startup that connects uninsured people in India to accessible, affordable insurance products for the specific risks that threaten their health and livelihoods. Instead of expensive and complicated policies that cover a broad range of needs, Toffee offers very specific, simple policies that cover the risks that are most relevant to their consumers, like dengue, malaria, hospital cash, bicycle damage, and theft. Now, they are introducing new products to help underinsured people build financial resilience to the impact of COVID-19.
<h2>Putting safety nets within reach for the uninsured</h2>
Toffee Insurance is changing the way that people buy and sell insurance in order to reach the huge population of at-risk, uninsured people in India. Toffee acts as the bridge between these consumers and large, traditional insurance companies. “We were frustrated with the complexity of insurance for the longest time, we figured there was an easier way to make insurance a safety net for most people, easier to consume. Making insurance a lot more accessible, affordable, and relevant to the masses,” Rohan Kumar, CEO and co-founder, explains Toffee Insurance’s origins.

Customers can purchase policies on Toffee’s website or mobile app in under two minutes and submit claims just as quickly. Toffee handles the claims process with major insurance companies, making the process simpler and faster for the end consumers. In addition to direct online sales, Toffee Insurance works with a network of retailers who offer inexpensive insurance policies for their customers. For example, cycling shops offer Toffee’s commuter accident policies to their bicycle customers who rely on their bicycles to commute to work.

Because these microinsurance policies cover very specific needs, Toffee is able to offer low monthly premiums to their customers. For middle and lower-income people in India who are not familiar with insurance, the affordability and simplicity of these products are key. “This is a model which can actually help bring more people into the net of insurance and can address very, very specific needs of the people,” explains Gourav Agarwal, Chief Distribution Officer.
<h2>Product innovation for those impacted by COVID-19</h2>
Lower-income families and individuals have always been especially vulnerable to unexpected financial shocks from job loss, injury, and illness. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has created new, unprecedented threats to lives and livelihoods. Across India, Rohan believes, “the biggest risk outside of personal health and wellbeing is the financial uncertainty for most individuals and families.” That’s where Toffee Insurance hopes to provide some relief. “Our mission has always been to curate affordable, accessible, and relevant products for the large, uninsured masses. This pandemic helps, in some ways, create more awareness for having safety nets in place,” notes Rohan.

As people become more interested in health and life insurance categories in reaction to the pandemic, Toffee is introducing new products that cover for COVID-19-specific losses at a low monthly premium, covering essential needs like telemedicine, mental health services, and job loss. Toffee Insurance is relying on their existing tech capabilities to continue issuing policies remotely during India’s lockdown in order to help the uninsured to build financial resilience to the pandemic. In addition to new product offerings, Toffee and the start-up community in India are helping the severely impacted in other ways, like contributing to charities on the frontlines, leveraging call centers to assist hospital information networks, and reassuring customers and businesses that they will be flexible on payments.

While Toffee focuses on taking care of their team and their community, they are staying committed to their mission to extend insurance to those who are most susceptible to financial shocks and least likely to have a safety net in place. “Inclusion of more people under the net of insurance is what is making us proud,” says Gourav.

A start-up innovates to give the uninsured a safety net

Hardworking small businesses play key role in keeping communities healthy and fueling economic recovery

Dr. Akinpelu knows he's a good doctor and has overcome every challenge he's faced, but as I talked to him on the phone about facing a COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, he echoes what many of us are feeling right now: "I am afraid. I am afraid," he says. His fear doesn't just come from being a doctor on the frontlines fighting to keep his community healthy, it also comes from being a small business owner. Dr. Akinpelu owns a private community hospital in Lagos, which he has spent years building and improving with support from our partner <a href="https://www.accionmfb.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Microfinance Bank</a>. Despite his fear, Dr. Akinpelu continues to serve his community every day.

Even in the healthcare industry, which is tirelessly fighting the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are struggling. Dr. Akinpelu knows his situation is not unique. "Running a business is a challenge around the world," he says. Business owners everywhere are facing huge challenges from a sudden and dramatic decrease in revenue. Many are in desperate need of grace periods to repay their loans while their normal operations have been upended. From medical practices to restaurants to corner stores, the threat to small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis poses a grave risk to the emerging economies that rely on them. In countries like Nigeria, the informal economy — a network of small businesses and entrepreneurs — is the backbone of the national economy. Leaving these businesses and entrepreneurs defenseless in this time of economic turmoil will devastate not only the people who rely on them for income and essential services, but also to the national economies that they sustain.

Dr. Akinpelu took some time away from his vital work to talk to us about the daunting challenges that he and other businesses in Nigeria are facing right now during the COVID-19 pandemic.
<h2>Carrying on in the midst of health crisis</h2>
In recent years, Dr. Akinpelu invested in improving his hospital with support from Accion Microfinance Bank’s loans by <a href="/his-business-success-lets-this-doctor-give-back-to-his-community">purchasing new equipment and machines that allow him to provide better care for more patients</a>. But once the coronavirus outbreak began, the number of patients seeking routine care from his hospital significantly decreased. Lagos is currently under a federally mandated lockdown to contain the virus and many patients have avoided leaving their homes to visit his facility. In addition to other obstacles, many people in Lagos have lost their source of income as a result of the lockdown, limiting their ability to pay for medical services.

<img class=" wp-image-20827 alignright" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nigeria_AccionClient_NoEdit_022-e1587047230541-244x300.jpg" alt="Dr. Akinpelu, a doctor and owner of a small, private hospital in Nigeria" width="325" height="400" />Despite the notable decrease in regular patients — in turn reducing the income normally generated from their visits — Dr. Akinpelu and his staff of doctors know that their hospital doors must remain open for their community. Every day, Dr. Akinpelu’s hospital uses an ambulance to pick up each doctor from their home, safely transport them to the hospital for work, and transport them back home again at the end of their shift.

Like hospitals everywhere, Dr. Akinpelu and his team are struggling to secure the protective materials that they need to protect themselves and their patients. The price of face masks from his normal supplier has increased from 250 naira to 11,000 naira per pack. During the Ebola crisis in 2014, Dr. Akinpelu’s head nurse was trained on how to make her own sanitizer when that crisis led to a shortage of available supplies. Now that medical supplies have become scarce once again, she is putting her training to use by making sanitizer for the hospital.

“We have been trying to protect ourselves," says Dr. Akinpelu, and that means arming himself and his staff with knowledge. "We have been educating nearly ten times with my staff: educating everybody on how to prevent the coronavirus, how to recognize it, and when you suspect it what you need to do,” he says. Dr. Akinpelu is also doing what he can to spread that knowledge outside of the hospital. He's part of a community development association that's helping to educate the community about the coronavirus pandemic and what individuals can do to protect themselves and prevent the spread of the virus while Nigeria braces for an escalation in COVID-19 cases.
<h2>A need for relief for small businesses on the front lines</h2>
Dr. Akinpelu and his team of doctors and nurses are courageously serving their community by keeping their hospital open and educating people on protecting themselves from COVID-19. As they focus on keeping people healthy, the financial inclusion industry must focus on helping businesses like Dr. Akinpelu’s so they can continue to provide essential services to people in need — and remain open after the pandemic ends. “We can survive this month with what we have saved before, but what I cannot guarantee is what happens after that,” says Dr. Akinpelu.

Small businesses have always played a crucial role in our lives and economies, and they will be critical to our recovery from this crisis. We need to work together to ensure that the businesses vital to emerging economies will survive, and hardworking entrepreneurs like Dr. Akinpelu can continue to succeed and fuel economic recovery in vulnerable communities.

Elizabeth Winters

Teams

Teams

Latest by Elizabeth Winters

Sign up to receive emails