Building Women’s Financial Capability: A Path Toward Transformation

An expert in gender and financial inclusion, Julia Arnold serves as a consultant for CFI. From 2020-2022, she worked as CFI’s Senior Director of Gender and Financial Inclusion. Julia has more than 12 years of experience in inclusive finance, leading implementation and research projects across a range of customer- and provider-focused topics such as digital financial inclusion, financial capability, and microsavings. Julia brings an understanding of the enabling environment needed to catalyze real change for women’s economic lives, as well as a deep understanding of the microeconomic constraints to women’s empowerment. Prior to CFI, Julia was Financial Inclusion and Livelihood Specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) where she led mixed-methods research and primary data collection for evaluations and gender analyses, as well as curriculum development for youth and adults, focused on household dynamics and livelihoods. Before this, she was a consultant working with a diverse range of clients such as MetLife Foundation, CGAP, the World Bank, CFI, and others. Julia holds a master’s degree in international development from American University in Washington, DC.

Jayshree Venkatesan is Senior Vice President and Head of Partnership Development at Accion, where she serves on the organization’s leadership team and leads its global partnership and resource mobilization strategy.

Previously, as Vice President of Consumer Protection and Strategic Industry Engagement at Accion’s Center for Financial Inclusion, Jayshree led the development and execution of CFI’s consumer protection research and broader partnership strategy, contributing significantly to their global portfolio. She led two of the industry’s premier global convenings: Financial Inclusion Week, one of the largest virtual events dedicated to financial inclusion, bringing together more than 3,000 participants from over 140 countries in 2024, and the Responsible Finance Forum, which convenes leaders from financial institutions, technology companies, governments, investors, and development organizations alongside the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion to advance responsible finance and consumer protection.

With more than 20 years of experience, Jayshree has built a career spanning investments, strategy, partnerships and public policy. Before joining Accion, she spent nearly a decade advising leading international organizations, including CGAP, the World Bank, JICA, and ITAD, on customer-centered financial services, digital innovation, and inclusive business models across emerging markets. Earlier in her career, Jayshree was a member of the founding leadership team at IFMR (now Dvara Trust), where she led the development of India’s first mezzanine investment fund for microfinance, pioneering an innovative financing structure that evolved into an alternative investment fund. She began her career at ICICI Bank.

Beyond Accion, Jayshree contributes to the advancement of responsible finance and digital inclusion through several global advisory roles. She serves on the Consumers International Digital Finance Advisory Council, the Advisory Board for the GSMA Mobile Money Certification program, and the Advisory Council of the Pranava Institute’s Youth Digital Cultures Lab (YDCL), helping shape industry standards and emerging leadership in digital financial services. From 2021 to 2026, she served as Senior Policy Fellow at the Leir Institute at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she focused on expanding financial inclusion for migrants, refugees, and other vulnerable populations. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at the Fletcher School, teaching decision analysis for business.

Jayshree is a recipient of the Chevening Fellowship for Leadership from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, completed at King’s College, London. She earned an MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, an MBA from the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Mumbai University