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April 16, 2012 - April 20, 2012
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June 18, 2012 - June 21, 2012
CML Newsletter
Why Gender Diversity Matters
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.
Featured Publication
“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. Now available in English and Spanish.
WWB Women in Leadership Program: Activating Female Talent
Women’s World Banking (WWB) is proud to have partnered with KPMG Europe LLP (KPMG) to host the Women in Leadership Program in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from October 2nd to 7th, 2011. The program brought together 20 women in management and leadership roles from 14 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 12 countries in the Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South Asia regions.
The Women in Leadership Program, delivered by Creative Metier, supports women leaders to understand their unique leadership style and build key leadership capabilities including strategic thinking, making good decisions, and creating and nurturing challenging and supportive relationships. Throughout the program, participants develop a vision for their leadership and create an action plan to achieve this vision.
Through the partnership with KPMG, WWB is now able to offer an additional support to participants following the conclusion of the week-long course. On day 4 of the program, the microfinance leaders were joined by senior-level women from across KPMG’s European offices. The women from KPMG will then act as mentors to the microfinance leaders during the year following the program. In joint and parallel sessions, the trainers from Creative Metier and KPMG’s Learning and Development team introduced core principles of mentoring and cross-cultural awareness to prepare both groups of women to engage in successful mentoring relationships.
On Thursday, October 6th, KPMG hosted an event on The Financial Industry in Turbulent Times: The Role of Women. The event featured eminent women leaders from The Netherlands and beyond including Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, WWB; Dorine Putman, Manager of Institutional Relations, ASN Bank; and Caroline van Dullemen, Director, WorldGranny.