Gender diversity matters in microfinance. WWB champions gender diversity because we believe that diverse perspectives lead to stronger decisions and healthier, more vibrant organizations. Incorporating women’s voices when designing and delivering microfinance products is particularly important when a majority of clients are women. Equally as important, microfinance clients often speak of the inspiration they derive from seeing powerful women leaders in the organizations that serve them. How best to achieve diversity? The answer lies in leadership and technical skill development of individual, high-potential leaders as well as in organizational transformations to ensure that all women and men work in environments where they can perform, excel and lead.
“Transforming the Landscape of Leadership in Microfinance: Maintaining the Focus on Women” introduces WWB’s new methodology for helping MFIs support gender diversity at all levels of their institution. WWB has expanded its Women’s Leadership Development Program, which works with individuals, to include a tool that focuses on the challenges and opportunities microfinance institutions face in the attraction, retention, and promotion of qualified women staff members - the Organizational Gender Assessment. 
Microfinance as an industry is still quite young, and when it comes to addressing institutional support for gender diversity, the efforts are nascent. Much has been learned—both about what has worked and what has failed—in the corporate world about engaging women professionals. The question to the microfinance industry is how well can we take advantage of these inroads, these tested efforts and do even better at building inclusive institutions? Can the microfinance industry leapfrog the corporate world’s stages of evolution by incorporating gender best practices into the way of doing business, before business becomes too entrenched?27 participants from 15 institutions in 5 countries in the Asia Pacific region came together in Cambodia from January 16 to 21, 2012 for Women’s World Banking’s (WWB) Center for Microfinance Leadership Management Development Program and Training of Trainers (MDP TOT), a 6-day course aiming to develop transformational skills for managers of microfinance institutions (MFIs).
About the Center
The Center for Microfinance Leadership brings the best of leadership development and organizational diversity initiatives to the microfinance sector through workshops, coaching and support for organizational change.
The Center helps CEOs and senior managers hone the skills needed to steer their institutions through this period of rapid change and commercialization.