Fiw Topic

  • Women's Financial Inclusion

Fiw Year

  • 2024

Transcripts:

Summary + Key Insights

Zubaida Bai emphasizes the need to transform financial systems for women’s inclusion, highlighting achievements and addressing gaps in access and agency. 

  • 🌟 Transformative Power of Financial Inclusion: Financial services access has significantly improved women’s economic status, but systemic barriers remain, indicating that transformation is still required. 
  • 📈 Impact on Families and Communities: Women’s financial independence leads to positive ripple effects in health, education, and nutrition, showcasing the broader societal benefits of empowering women economically. 
  • 🔒 Need for True Financial Agency: Access alone does not equate to control; many women still lack agency over financial decisions due to cultural norms and legal barriers, necessitating deeper systemic changes. 
  • 💔 Funding Gap for Women Entrepreneurs: Despite growth, women-led businesses struggle to secure funding, revealing underlying biases in the financial system that must be addressed to foster innovation and job creation. 
  • 🏛️ Importance of Representation: Women’s voices in financial decision-making are essential for creating inclusive policies and practices that support women’s economic empowerment. 
  • 💡 Targeted Investments Required: A shift from broad-based approaches to targeted investments in women-focused financial products and infrastructure will enable sustainable growth and development. 
  • 🤝 Cultural Change is Crucial: Normalizing women’s financial power and promoting allyship among men are vital for dismantling barriers and fostering a more equitable financial landscape. 

This session summary was AI-generated using NoteGPT.

Hear this FIW 2024 Keynote by Zubaida Bai, President and CEO of Grameen Foundation.

Session Speaker

Zubaida Bai

President and CEO, Grameen Foundation

Zubaida Bai is Grameen Foundation’s President and CEO. Beginning her career as a mechanical engineer, Zubaida transitioned into the social impact space after visiting a midwife in rural India. In 2022, Bai joined Grameen Foundation as the President and CEO, advancing Grameen’s work to invest in women’s power by reframing the role of gender in the local and global economy, with the goal of ending poverty and hunger in our lifetime. Bai has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Maternal Health Champion by Ashoka, a TED Fellow/ Speaker, and named United Nations SDG 3 Pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). She is a Visiting Social Innovator with Harvard University’s Social Innovation Change Initiative (SICI) and a member of the Governing Body at SEMA (Shaping Equitable Market Access) for Reproductive Health. She holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Colorado State University. She was also conferred with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Claremont Graduate University in 2018 for her ability to work at the intersection of multiple sectors seamlessly, and to energetically bring her unique insights and fresh perspective to all societal challenges.

FIW Resources

Explore Financial Inclusion Week sessions from previous years.

Hosted annually by the Center for Financial Inclusion, FIW brings together global leaders to exchange ideas, share research, and offer perspectives to inform the future of inclusive finance.

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