Webinar - Promoting Gender Equity through Finance
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Sophy Nantongo’ is the owner of African Queen, an Uganda-based company distributing consumer goods. Photo Credit: USAID
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Persistent gaps in access to financial services and economic opportunities for women hinder development and economic growth globally — which is why USAID and partners have prioritized advancing women’s economic empowerment by addressing key constraints in the financial ecosystem. Using USAID’s Five-Point Framework, this webinar will present opportunities and highlight initiatives working to transform the financial system to promote greater gender equity and equality, including new offerings in public capital markets, private investment funds, and the expansion of gender-smart financial services.
Speakers
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Nicole Garcia
Senior Activity Manager, USAID INVEST
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Jennifer Hansel
Team Lead and Senior Advisor - Women's Economic Empowerment, USAID/GenDev
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Gwen Snyder
Private Sector Engagement & Women’s Economic Empowerment Advisor,
PSE Support, USAID Contractor
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Rachel Murphy
Gender & Sustainability Officer, Deetken Impact
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Sophie Romana
Gender, Women's Economic Empowerment, and Financial Inclusion Expert, World Council of Credit Unions
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William Trigg
Acting Office Director, USAID/ASEAN Office
Biographies
Rachel Murphy
Gender & Sustainability Officer, Deetken Impact
As Deetken’s Gender & Sustainability Officer, Rachel leads gender assessments and strategic engagements. Her main responsibilities include identifying gender lens investment opportunities, leading capacity-building for project stakeholders, working with portfolio companies to develop gender smart business strategies, and expanding thought leadership. Rachel brings strong experience in social innovation after leading the design and execution of acceleration programs at Alterna, Central America’s first Center for Social Entrepreneurship, working directly with a diversity of social entrepreneurs and SMEs to drive sustainable growth and maximize impact. She also developed analytical capacities while advising top U.S. and international firms in growth strategy and transactional engagements at L.E.K. Consulting.
Sophie Romana
Gender, Women's Economic Empowerment, and Financial Inclusion Expert, World Council of Credit Unions
Sophie Romana is a gender, Women’s Economic Empowerment, and financial inclusion expert. She is passionate about designing solutions that further gender equity and systemic change. Her recent projects include developing a digital financial literacy campaign for women in Ghana, Malawi and Uganda (with SIA and USAID Funding) and a Gender Lens Investment Framework (with WOCCU). Before consulting, she led Oxfam’s Community Finance Department (2011-2018), PlanetFinance’s US Operations and has worked in private equity. Ms. Romana is a graduate from La Sorbonne (Law) and Columbia Business School (MBA). A dual French American citizen, she lives in Maine.
William Trigg
Acting Office Director, USAID/ASEAN Office
Mr. William Trigg is currently the Acting Director of RDMA’s USAID/ASEAN Office. He arrived from USAID/Kosovo where he was a General Development Officer (GDO) covering the Economic Growth/Energy and Education portfolios from 2016-2019. His previous post was in the Central Asian Republics from 2014 to 2016 covering Democracy, Governance and Education in the Tajikistan Country Office. He also worked as the Deputy Development Officer in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, and as an entry-level officer in Abuja, Nigeria as part of the Acquisitions and Assistance team. Prior to joining USAID, Mr. Trigg spent time in the Cultural Affairs Office in Baghdad, Iraq as well as in the defense industry as an employee for Northrop Grumman, and the non-governmental organization IREX in Uzbekistan and Washington, DC. He has a J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Rochester.
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