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Meet the instructors at our most recent All-Stars Academy in Quito, Ecuador:
José Etchegoyen
Senior Operations Officer,
Banking on Women,
Financial Institutions Group
IFC
Colombia
José has over 20 years of experience in international banking and emerging markets, focused on unbanked or underserved populations. Currently he leads advisory services, product development and strategy for IFC’s Banking on Women business line in Latin America. He also leads mentoring and training activities on best practices in Banking on Women. Prior to joining IFC, he served as Director of Financial Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services in Washington D.C. and Principal Banking Solutions Specialist at SAS Institute in Miami, Florida. He also worked in leading FIs in the USA. and Latin America such as Citibank and Banco Santander.
Verónica Gavilanes Véjar
MSME Manager
Banco Pichincha
Ecuador
Veronica is the MSME Manager at Banco Pichincha, Ecuador’s largest private bank and country leader in the MSME segment. Veronica leads the SME business strategy and business operations, promoting sustainable business, financial inclusion and the growth of these entrepreneurs. She has also played a key role in the development and implementation of the bank’s gender and financial inclusion programs, which focus on supporting financial inclusion and women-led companies. She has 25 years of experience in the banking sector, having held several executive positions that have provided her with global knowledge about micro and small businesses.
Maira Machado
Entrepreneurship and Microcredit Manager
Itaú Unibanco
Brazil
Maira Machado is the manager of entrepreneurship and microcredit at Itaú Unibanco. With over 10 years of experience in sustainability, institutional relations and corporate philanthropy, Maira has coordinated programs on urban mobility, financial education, and diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Gabriela Marine
Marketing Manager
Banco BHD León
Dominican Republic
Gaby has more than 17 years of experience in the Dominican market. As Marketing Manager, she develops and leads communication strategies for Banco BHD León, including women and SME segments. She was responsible for launching and positioning the MUJER credit card business, as well as the non-financial services value proposition for SMEs. Her efforts have helped make Banco BHD León the brand leader for the Women’s Market in the Dominican Republic. She is an expert in negotiation, marketing systems, franchising and branding.
Rachael McKenzie
National Manager,
Business Initiatives,
SME Banking
Westpac
Australia
From 2010-2016 Rachael was National Manger, Women’s Markets. In this role Rachael’s key responsibilities were to drive the segment growth in terms of revenue, footings, wealth, average product per customer and net promoter score through the development and execution of the Women’s Markets program to position Westpac as Bank of Choice for Women. Currently working in the SME business co-ordinating all projects that impact bankers and customers, Rachael continues to drive the Women’s Markets agenda across Business Banking. Rachael is Deputy Chair of Women of Westpac Employee Action Group and was recently awarded Runner up in the 2018 Westpac Group CEO Women of Influence Award.
Pura Mendez
Women Market Segment Manager
Banco BHD León
Dominican Republic
Pura is the Women Segment Manager at Banco BHD León in the Dominican Republic, in charge of the implementation of the bank’s gender strategy. This includes development of value propositions for both individuals and SMEs, overseeing metrics and scorecard compliance and evolution, and defining action plans to improve team results. She is also responsible for training sales personnel, coordinating internal communications, and analyzing Women’s Market data to identify patterns and sales opportunities.
Nadjie Navarro
Manager, Client and People Strategy
Banistmo
Panama
Nadjie Navarro is the Client and People Strategy Manager at Banistmo, where she has led the bank’s strategy to support women and women entrepreneurs since 2016. She has 12 years of experience in the financial services sector, having held leadership positions at BAC Credomatic, St George’s Bank and HSBC. She graduated from Universidad Santa María La Antigua with a bachelor’s degree in Social Communications and holds an MBA with a concentration in Business Management from Universidad Latina de Panamá.
Frida Ruiz Fernandez
Advisory Project Lead, Financial Innovation
IFC
Frida leads the design and implementation of projects that advise financial institutions on financial innovation and digital finance and deepens the financial inclusion of SMEs and women-led businesses in Latin America. Frida has 17 years of international experience in the financial sector and development finance, with a focus on MSME finance models, digital financial services, and impact investing. Before IFC, Frida was the investment manager of a boutique asset firm in Frankfurt, where she was responsible for structuring investments in financial institutions with exposure in MSME segments in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Frida holds a Master’s Degree in International Development from Harvard University and a Master in Finance from Universidad del Pacifico.
