In This Issue
Spotlight On: Our Community of Champions
Nothing makes me prouder than our members, who walk the talk every day—not just to deliver value to women customers and employees, but also to share their know-how with other members so that we learn and grow together. 
A staggering 93 percent of members expressed a desire to contribute to other members in our 2021 network member and value satisfaction survey. We’ve leveraged this, in these online times, by hosting an unprecedented number of learning activities for our members this year, creating new knowledge products and punching beyond our weight in an ever-widening circle of ecosystem players.
Despite the pandemic, 2021 has been a strong year for Alliance member growth. This month we interview four of them—NedBank South Africa, KMF Kazakstan, ATB Canada and SWIFT. In 2021 we also welcomed ABN AMRO, HSBC and Banco Lafise; a number of fintechs, including LXME, Mahila Money, Mosabi and Mujer Financiera, and some investors—Educate Global Fund and Impact Credit Solutions.
Our membership stands at 75, and we are in conversations with many more high-potential FSPs, each of whom are on their journey to investing in a women-centered strategy. To qualify for membership, senior management must commit to conducting a feasibility study into either a women’s markets strategy or an internal gender diversity and inclusion strategy within 12 months of becoming a member and to reporting performance data within 24 months. This is a high bar, but it helps them avoid “pink washing.” It means our members are walking the talk, and therefore, our learning services are without parallel.
Seventy-six percent of our members report being in the “intermediate” or “advanced” stage of their strategy implementation. Participating as members enables FSPs to accelerate their journey toward becoming champions of the female economy and staying ahead in their markets.
If your institution is ready for membership, or you know of an institution that is, please take a look at how to join. The more members we have, the more powerful our virtuous cycle is and the greater chance we’ll have of making the gender gap in access and use of financial services, history.
Thank you to all our awesome members and wonderful partners— knowledge and strategic —for learning and growing together in 2021.
In community,
Inez
