Spotlight on: Data Driving Representation
Last call to register for 2025’s WMSME Gender Data Learning Series before the deadline on Friday, October 3. The series runs for five weeks from October 9 in partnership with Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi). The rigorous online training is designed to equip participants, particularly WE Finance Code signatories, with the know-how to capture and use quality data to drive Women’s Markets strategies especially for women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (WMSMEs). We encourage all segment leads and business intelligence teams at financial services providers and national data aggregators to apply here.
A complement to this Series is our latest Code knowledge product, Banco BHD’s WMSME Data Journey: Building the Foundation for a Leading Women’s Markets Program. Our first in a series of Case Studies on the experiences of Code implementation, this takes the reader through how Alliance member and leading Code Champion Banco BHD captures and uses sex disaggregated portfolio data to drive their successful Mujer Mujer program. Available in both English and Spanish.
Additional support to Code signatories is being provided through regular meetings of the prestigious WE Finance Code Community of Champions. Made up of national Code Champions, this international peer learning community had its fourth session on Sept 4 focused on aggregated national gender data results and the impact that reporting has had in driving national conversation around the Code. The fifth and final session of 2025 is planned for November 13 and will focus on policy actions to increase the supply of financing to WMSMEs. If you are a senior leader currently implementing or interested in signing on to the Code, you are eligible to participate and can sign up here.
This month we interview Syed Abdul Momen, Additional Managing Director (AMD) and Head of SME Banking at BRAC Bank Plc, on what the bank has done to earn its position as the bank of choice for women in Bangladesh. Starting in 2016 as an internal employee value proposition initiative designed to get more women into the workforce, the bank quickly realized that extending a strategic approach to women as customers was necessary in a country with significant gender gaps in access and use of financial services. Currently counting 380,000 women as customers, with a 24 percent share of the WMSME market, Syed explains how their success is based on the fundamentals of listening to customers and designing to solve for their pain points. Staff training has been essential. For more on BRAC Bank’s do’s and don’ts see here.
Building internal alignment is hugely important to the success of Women’s Markets programs, and fundamental to that is a strong workforce strategy to secure women’s representation at all levels of an organization. Last week our Employee Value Proposition Taskforce made up of Human Resources professionals from Alliance members met for their quarterly share on successful strategies and tactics to grow the representation of women in leadership ranks. Read a summary of the insights from Australia’s Westpac, Africa’s Standard Bank Group and Bangladesh’s City Bank.
All the latest know-how is translated into our premier training program, the All Stars Academy: Mastering the Strategy for Winning Women’s Markets. Taking place in-person on February 1-5, 2026, in Amman, Jordan, hosted by Alliance member Bank al Etihad, this 5-day intensive learning experience is an exclusive service to Alliance members. Whether an institution is new to the Alliance and looking to design a women-centered strategy or is a longstanding member looking to refresh their strategy or reskill the team, the All Stars Academy is a transformative learning experience. Taught by Alliance members, participants are immersed in the A–Z of implementing a commercially viable strategy to support Women’s Markets and workforce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In case you’re a member and are not receiving the calendar invite to the EVP sessions, please reach out to Karyl Akilian.
Thank you so much to all our members who continue to innovate and to inspire each other and the industry. Together we are building a fully inclusive financial services sector.
In community,
