Our Mission
Security and Prosperity for Women. Inclusive Economic Growth for All.
In some countries it will take over 100 years to reach full inclusion without intervention. Learn about our mission at Women’s World Banking.
Women’s World Banking is dedicated to serve the 700 million women excluded from the formal financial system.
As an NGO, we partner with financial institutions and policymakers to design and develop gender-intentional solutions and programs that facilitate systemic change for women.
As an investor, Women’s World Banking Asset Management (WAM) advances women in the workplace and as customers through direct equity to bring financial security, prosperity and independence to women.
Accelerating Financial Security and Prosperity for Women Since 1979
In 1975 the first-ever UN Women’s Conference focused on human rights. Courageous questions ignited critical conversations:
How can a woman exercise her human rights without access to financial services in her own name? And isn’t a safe place to save a basic human right?
Michaela Walsh, Esther Ocloo, Ela Bhatt, and Mary Okelo went on to found Women’s World Banking in 1979, a global non-profit organization dedicated to empowering low-income women and addressing the inequalities they face.
Our mission is to drive women’s economic empowerment by expanding the assets, participation, and decision-making power of low-income women and their households through access to financial services, knowledge, and markets. We support policymakers to advance gender-inclusive financial systems and enable effective policy action. We work directly with financial institutions through regional advisory services to design and scale women-centered solutions, while strengthening institutions from within through gender-intentional strategies, capability building, and the use of gender-disaggregated data. Through Women’s World Banking Asset Management, we invest in institutions to expand women’s access to finance sustainably and at scale.
For more than forty-five years, Women’s World Banking has equipped low-income women with the financial tools, confidence, and agency to participate more fully and equally in their economies and societies.
Economic growth cannot be fully realized until access and engagement is a reality for women.
Join Our Team
Join us on our mission to continue advancing economic empowerment for women.
