Elisabeth Rhyne

Former Managing Director

From its founding in 2008 until retiring in 2019, Elisabeth Rhyne was the Managing Director of CFI. As senior vice president of Accion since 2000, Beth led Accion’s initial entry into Africa and India, directed the organization’s research efforts to develop new financial products, and managed Accion’s publications and educational activities.

Recognized as a leading thinker and writer in the field of microfinance, Beth has published numerous articles and four books on the topic, including Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia (Kumarian Press, 2001). She was also co-editor of The New World of Microenterprise Finance (Kumarian, 1994), which provided the introduction to microfinance for many of the field’s current professionals.

Beth was director of the Office of Microenterprise Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1994 to 1998, where she developed and led USAID’s Microenterprise Initiative. While there, she contributed to the founding of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Boulder Institute of Microfinance. Beth’s experience includes eight years of residence in Africa (Kenya and Mozambique) and independent consulting on microfinance policy and operations for governments, international organizations and microfinance institutions.

She holds a master’s and Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and humanities from Stanford University.

 

Latest by Elisabeth Rhyne

Blog Post • Oct 01, 2019
From Human Conduct to Protection by Design: The Smart Campaign's Digital Standards
Blog Post • Sep 25, 2019
Red Flags in Kenya’s Nano-Credit Market
Blog Post • Sep 16, 2019
Goodbye…and Viva Accion!
Blog Post • Sep 06, 2019
The Next CFI Challenge: Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Development
Blog Post • Jul 16, 2019
Consumer Protection in a Digital Age
Blog Post • Jun 25, 2019
Smart Campaign’s Next 10 Years to Start With New Digital Standards
Blog Post • Jun 13, 2019
In Praise of John Lwande
Blog Post • May 14, 2019
Microfinance in the Digital World: Seven Questions for the Future
Blog Post • Apr 24, 2019
Financial Inclusion Backlash in Uruguay
Blog Post • Apr 10, 2019
The Outlook for Universal Financial Access in 2020
Event • Mar 25, 2019 - Mar 29, 2019
Alliance for Financial Inclusion Working Group Meeting
Webinar • Feb 08, 2019
Webinar: Meet the 2019 CFI Research Fellows
Blog Post • Jan 18, 2019
Consumer Harm from Data Breaches is a Black Box
Blog Post • Dec 06, 2018
What Financial Health Means for Small Business Owners
Blog Post • Nov 19, 2018
Uruguay Leaps 9 Spots in the Global Microscope Rankings
Blog Post • Nov 14, 2018
Financial Inclusion: Past, Present, and Future
Blog Post • Oct 29, 2018
Getting Inclusion Right: What Will It Take?
Webinar • Oct 04, 2018
Webinar: Getting Credit and Policies Right
Webinar • Sep 28, 2018
Webinar: Getting Inclusion Right
Blog Post • Sep 21, 2018
Financial Services Through the Eyes of Customers
Blog Post • Jun 18, 2018
Is Financial Inclusion Stalling? The 2017 Findex Results Raise Several Red Flags
Blog Post • Jun 15, 2018
A Capitalist Speaks Up to Support Consumer Protection
Blog Post • May 31, 2018
Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality: Deconstructing the 2017 Findex Results
Report • May 04, 2018
Financial Inclusion Hype vs. Reality: Deconstructing the 2017 Findex Results
Report • Apr 20, 2018
Toward a Financial Health Tool for Consumers
Blog Post • Apr 11, 2018
Financial Inclusion Responds to the Zuckerberg Moment
Blog Post • Apr 10, 2018
Lessons Learned in Designing an App to Build Financial Health
Blog Post • Mar 27, 2018
Anticipating the Global Findex 2017: Our Wish List for Financial Inclusion Progress
Blog Post • Mar 20, 2018
What Global Bankers Are Worried About
Webinar • Jan 22, 2018
Webinar: Financial Inclusion and Pension Inclusion
Blog Post • Dec 15, 2017
Net Neutrality Ruling Could Block Your Bank
Blog Post • Nov 20, 2017
Choosing a Payday Lender: Can Online Reviews Help?
Podcast • Oct 29, 2017
Podcast: How are New Products and New Partnerships Unlocking Access to Insurance
Blog Post • Oct 19, 2017
The Financial Lives of Struggling Americans: The Financial Diaries and The Unbanking of America
Blog Post • Sep 27, 2017
Financial Inclusion From a Consumer Perspective
Report • Sep 01, 2017
Tiny Loans Big Questions: Client Protection in Mobile Consumer Credit
Blog Post • Jun 29, 2017
What’s the Difference Between Financial and Economic Strategies, and Why Does It Matter?
Blog Post • Jun 14, 2017
Accion’s Financial Health – Results of a Survey
Blog Post • Jun 12, 2017
Finding a Bhutanese Path to Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Jun 01, 2017
Seeking Happiness and Financial Health in Bhutan
Blog Post • Apr 24, 2017
Mobile Financial Services—A Technology Primer and Implications for Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Apr 07, 2017
Internet Data and Banking Data – Should the Same Rules Apply?
Blog Post • Mar 29, 2017
Dollar by Dollar or Goat by Goat: How Financial Health Translates Across Oceans
Report • Mar 20, 2017
Beyond Financial Inclusion: Financial Health as a Global Framework
Blog Post • Mar 06, 2017
A U.S. Agenda for Global Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Oct 18, 2016
What Is Lost in a Digital Financial World—And How to Get It Back
Blog Post • Oct 11, 2016
The G2P Silver Bullet? Not So Fast.
Blog Post • Sep 19, 2016
Wells Fargo and the Tuxedo
Blog Post • Aug 16, 2016
Borrowing and Saving – Not Two Sides of the Same Coin
Blog Post • Jul 07, 2016
The Business of Financial Inclusion: Insights from Emerging Market Banks
Report • Jul 02, 2016
The Business of Financial Inclusion: Insights from Banks in Emerging Markets
Blog Post • Apr 12, 2016
A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability
Report • Apr 07, 2016
A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability, FAQs
Report • Apr 07, 2016
A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability
Report • Apr 07, 2016
A Change in Behavior: Innovations in Financial Capability (Abridged)
Blog Post • Jan 25, 2016
Davos Should Consider Basel III Impact on Inclusion
Blog Post • Nov 12, 2015
Why Does Consumer Protection Lag in Africa?
Blog Post • Nov 11, 2015
A Toast to Alex Counts
Blog Post • Oct 01, 2015
Rating Progress toward Financial Inclusion on a Scale of 1 to 10
Blog Post • Jul 14, 2015
Calling All Inquiring Minds! Our New Research Fellows Program Is Accepting Applications
Blog Post • Jun 30, 2015
Political Risk Is Keeping Microfinance CEOs Up at Night
Report • Jun 06, 2015
By the Numbers: Benchmarking Progress Toward Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • May 06, 2015
A Conversation on Accion’s Model
Blog Post • Apr 13, 2015
Calling All Countries to Get Policies Right
Blog Post • Mar 04, 2015
Two 'Wars' – One on Cancer, Another on Poverty
Blog Post • Jan 29, 2015
Book Review: 'Stress Test' by Timothy Geithner
Blog Post • Jan 08, 2015
The Twelve Days of Fintech
Blog Post • Nov 18, 2014
Applying Behavioral Insights Inside Latin American Financial Institutions: What Happened at Our Workshop
Blog Post • Nov 04, 2014
A Financial Inclusion Research Agenda
Blog Post • Sep 25, 2014
The Political Economy of Financial Inclusion Policy
Blog Post • Aug 13, 2014
Genius in Microfinance - Reflections on Pancho Otero
Blog Post • Jul 07, 2014
Postcard from Australia: Good Shepherd Microfinance and the Financial Continuum
Blog Post • Apr 03, 2014
Behind the Scenes at Financial Inclusion 2020: Elisabeth Rhyne Outlines the Next Steps in the Movement to Achieve Global Financial Access
Blog Post • Feb 12, 2014
Base-of-the-Pyramid Savings Among Accion Partners – Some News Is Bad and Some Is Good
Blog Post • Jan 21, 2014
The Suitability Approach to Client Protection: Comments on the Mor Committee Report
Blog Post • Oct 23, 2013
A Global Challenge: Can We Achieve Financial Inclusion by 2020?
Blog Post • Oct 01, 2013
Winners and Losers on the Road to Financial Inclusion
Report • Aug 20, 2013
Growing Income, Growing Inclusion: How Rising Incomes at the Base of the Pyramid Will Shape Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Jun 25, 2013
Financial Inclusion and the Post-2015 Global Development Goals
Blog Post • Jun 11, 2013
Global Movement into the Vulnerable Class, and What it Means for Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • May 20, 2013
Green High Heels vs. Pink Flip Flops: The Extreme Inclusion Debate
Blog Post • May 17, 2013
Gabriel Davel Proposes Tests for Credit Bubbles
Blog Post • Mar 20, 2013
Four Challenges for Impact Investing
Report • Jan 01, 2013
Looking Through the Demographic Window: Implications for Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Nov 09, 2012
10 Things CGAP Got Right or Wrong about Financial Access
Blog Post • Nov 01, 2012
The Client Insights of Monique Cohen
Blog Post • Mar 12, 2012
Where are the Financially Excluded?
Report • Nov 20, 2011
What Is the Low Bar and What Is the High Bar on Client Protection?
Report • Sep 20, 2011
Microfinance and Energy Poverty: Findings from the Energy Links Project
Report • Jul 20, 2011
Opportunities and Obstacles to Financial Inclusion
Blog Post • Dec 07, 2009
Not a Big Deal? Microfinance is About Inclusion.
Blog Post • Sep 27, 2008
Welcome to the Center - Advancing Financial Inclusion and Social Purpose
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