An attendee views the winning pictures from CGAP’s 2016 Photo Contest, displayed at ‘The Digital Opportunity’ forum on April 20. CGAP, an NGO housed at the World Bank, selected original, striking images that capture the impact of microfinance and financial inclusion efforts around the world. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
On right, Mannie T’Chawi, Co-Founder of LayerCake, and Sharon Benzoni, Online Managing Editor for MIT’s Innovations Journal, reconnect since participating in The Digital Finance Future session on March 28. Both individuals attended every session of Meridian’s six-part convening series. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Guests network over drinks and hors d’hoeuvres in Meridian’s Linden Grove following ‘The Digital Opportunity’ forum. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Michael Wigand, Director of the Financial Services for the Poor initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, thanks the gathered group for participating in the forum and celebrating the Foundation’s investment in Meridian’s Digital Finance Future convening series. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, Chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group and Chairman of Meridian International Center, shares remarks at ‘The Digital Opportunity’ reception. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
From left, Simone di Castri and Esselina Macome, policy advisor and former member of the Board of the Central Bank of Mozambique, engage in conversation with Dr. Claire Nelson, founder and president of the Institute of Caribbean Studies. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
In his closing remarks, Ambassador Holliday thanks the audience for attending the forum and welcomes everyone for a reception in Meridian’s Linden Grove to celebrate The Digital Finance Future series. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Prakash P “PP” Hinduja, Chairman of the Hinduja Group Europe, addresses the RegTech panel, asking which nations will catalyze the innovation in financial regulation and which will sustain it as markets expand and evolve. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Nadia van de Walle, Program Manager of Financial Inclusion Insights at InterMedia, leads an interactive presentation mapping the customer journey to economic inclusion. InterMedia’s Data Fiinder tool contains information on the financial experiences, behaviors, and barriers facing clients in order to help financial inclusion leaders design relevant interventions that address their demands and unmet needs. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Ida Rademacher, Executive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program, engages with John Hurley, Visiting Policy Fellow at the Center for Global Development and a former director at Treasury. Rademacher moderated a panel with Hurley and other U.S. government representatives on the role of the U.S. in advancing financial inclusion globally. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
From left, Ida Rademacher, John Hurley, OPIC’s Mitchell Strauss and USAID’s Matt Homer discuss the various approaches that each U.S. government agency takes to financial inclusion. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
From left, Ambassador Stuart Holliday looks to Puru Trivedi, Meridian’s Associate Director for Corporate Relations, while in conversation with former Indian Ambassador to Chile, Pradeep Singh, and Balasaheb Darade, a microplanning adviser to India’s Maharashtra Government. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Leaders of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor program – from left, Michael Wiegand, Kosta Peric and Jason Lamb – raise a glass at the reception in Meridian’s Linden Grove. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Daniel Kauffman, a local realtor, asks the RegTech panel a question about the strategies to circumvent and overcome possible challenges for expanding innovation in the finance regulatory space. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
From left, Simone di Castri moderates a conversation on RegTech with R2A leaders Pia Roman, Head of Inclusive Finance Advocacy Staff at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Michael Wiegand, Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Kabir Kumar, Director of Policy and Ecosystem Building at Omidyar Network. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
The audience listens as panelists discuss how RegTech can serve as an innovative solution for financial authorities to keep pace as markets expand and become more technology-based. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director of the Better Than Cash Alliance, presents some of the opportunities for governments to digitize payments, such as increasing GDP, curbing leakage and corruption that comes with cash, and accelerating the FinTech industry for greater financial inclusion for all. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Simone di Castri, Director of Policy and Ecosystem Development at BFA, announces the launch of RegTech for Regulators Accelerator – or R2A – a new global initiative that leverages the innovative and transformative power of FinTech to help financial authorities improve regulatory oversight and policy development. The program is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Omidyar Network and USAID. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Gloria Steele, Acting Assistant Administrator for Asia at USAID, shares first-hand accounts from her previous role as USAID’s Mission Director in the Philippines on the challenges that Filipinos face in accessing a bank or government office in a country comprised of more than 7,000 islands. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
Ann Mei Chang, former Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of USAID’s Global Development Lab, greets Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director of the Better Than Cash Alliance, before the forum begins. Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar.
