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.
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Former Managing Director

Elisabeth Rhyne

Garance Wattez-Richard launched and has been heading since the beginning of 2016 AXA Emerging Customers, a business whose objective is to protect tomorrow’s middle class and close the insurance gap across emerging markets. Before developing this business, she spear-headed SheforShield, the first global study to have put under the spotlight the potential represented for the insurance industry by women as a growing client segment.
She started her career at the European Commission in Brussels, went on to work within the Office of the Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, to then spend several years working as a strategy consultant.
In February 2005, she joined AXA Investment Managers as Executive Assistant to the CEO. In 2007, she was appointed Head of Corporate, Brand &amp; Research Marketing of AXA IM, before becoming Global Head of External Communications for the AXA Group in 2012. Garance Wattez-Richard is a graduate of the London School of Economics, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po.) and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Head of AXA Emerging Customers

Garance Wattez-Richard

Podcast

To kick of Financial Inclusion Week 2017, Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director of The Center for Financial Inclusion will join Garance Wattez-Richard, Head of AXA Emerging Customers for a digital fireside chat. During the webinar, Rhyne and Wattez-Richard will discuss how new products and partnerships are opening up new potential in the financial inclusion space. They will take a specific look at how AXA is developing new products and partnerships to reach emerging customers.

Podcast: How are New Products and New Partnerships Unlocking Access to Insurance

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