DWM Directors Featured on FinEquity Blog, Showcasing Gender Equity Work

Developing World Markets Director of Impact Hannah Schiff and Director of Private Equity Suma Swaminathan recently shared insights from DWM’s investment portfolio with FinEquity, discussing how to systemically integrate gender considerations into core business practices. The blog post, “Beyond Outreach: Integrating Gender in Business Processes for Financial Inclusion,” looks at DWM investee Ashv Finance to demonstrate how inclusive financial institutions (IFINs) can use process-focused analyses to identify and address gaps in the business process to better serve women clients.

Using an assessment tool co-developed with Criterion Institute, DWM analyzed the design and distribution processes of financial products and the power dynamics underlying them, finding that gender-based biases within these processes have significant effects on social and financial outcomes. DWM’s assessments of eight financial institutions suggest that IFINs must move from offering discrete, women-focused products or programs to a more systematic integration of gender considerations in their business to achieve more gender-equitable outcomes.

Read the post at the FinEquity Blog.