RFP: Academic Partner for the Leadership Development Program for Regulators
Position Overview
Position Summary
Women’s World Banking is seeking proposals from qualified academic institutions or consortia of institutions to serve as an academic partner for the delivery of the Leadership Development Program for Regulators. Women’s World Banking is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing women’s financial inclusion.
The Leadership Development Program for Regulators is funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO); the selected academic partner will be expected to comply with any applicable donor requirements as part of this engagement.
For over four decades, Women’s World Banking has worked with financial institutions, policymakers, and regulators to expand women’s access to and usage of financial services through institutional reform, policy change, and leadership development.
One of Women’s World Banking’s flagship leadership offerings is the Leadership Development Program for Regulators (LDR). LDR is a multi-month, blended learning program designed for senior officials and high potential leaders from central banks, regulatory authorities, ministries, and other public sector institutions in emerging and developing economies. The program strengthens leadership capability and influence while supporting the design and implementation of gender-inclusive financial policies that advance women’s financial inclusion.
Since its launch, LDR has supported senior public-sector leaders across emerging and developing economies to translate gender-inclusive policy ambition into practical, implementable regulatory action. To date, the program has reached 365 participants from over 70 institutions across 49 countries/territories, with cohorts drawn primarily from the Global South. This track record reflects both the scale of need and the importance of a learning approach grounded in the realities of regulatory systems in developing contexts ; resource constraints, institutional complexity, political economy considerations, and implementation challenges, so that participants can apply learning directly to their policy priorities.
- Program launched: 2019
- Total participants (to date): 365
- Institutions represented (to date): More than 70
- Countries/territories represented (to date): 49
- Regions represented (optional): Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, MENA, Latin America & Caribbean
Roles and Responsibilities
Women’s World Banking particularly welcomes proposals from institutions that can combine Global South and Global North partners or weave in a significant representation of Global South experience, to ensure the program is grounded in relevant regional realities and delivers a high-quality global learning experience.
The selected academic partner will collaborate closely with Women’s World Banking to codesign and deliver the academic and pedagogical components of the program, contributing faculty expertise, instructional design capability, and high-quality learning experiences that support adult learners operating in complex regulatory and policy environments.
This RFP is intended to identify an academic partner with demonstrated strengths in:
- Executive education and senior leadership development
- Public policy, regulation, or governance
- Experiential and action-learning pedagogies
- Cross-cultural and global program delivery
The Leadership Development Program for Regulators is a multi-week blended program, delivered through a combination of:
- Live, interactive virtual sessions
- Individual and group assignments
- Peer learning and facilitated policy consultations
- Executive coaching for senior officials
- An intensive, in-person component hosted at an academic venue
Where appropriate, the program may also include curated engagement with influential former policymakers and senior practitioners (e.g., guest speakers or facilitated conversations) who can share practical experience and lessons learned from implementing policy and regulatory change (for example, the added value of leaders such as Baroness Ashton in previous cohorts).
Participants develop leadership skills such as influence, negotiation, stakeholder management, and adaptive leadership, alongside technical capability in gender-intentional policy design and implementation.
Throughout the program, each institutional pair advances a real-world policy or regulatory initiative aligned with national financial inclusion priorities and institutional mandates.
About the Project
The mission of the LDR program is to strengthen leadership capacity within regulatory and policymaking institutions so that leaders are better equipped to design and implement gender-inclusive financial policies that advance women’s financial inclusion and contribute to more resilient and inclusive financial systems. The program addresses a persistent gap between policy intent and real-world implementation by working directly with the regulators and policymakers who shape financial systems. Through a dual-participant model that pairs senior decisionmakers with high-potential women leaders from the same institution, LDR seeks to accelerate institutional change, build sustainable leadership pipelines, and embed gender -intentional approaches into regulatory practice. The program’s goals are to enhance leadership effectiveness and influence among participants, support the development and advancement of concrete policy initiatives, and strengthen institutional capacity to promote women’s leadership and inclusive policy outcomes over the long term
The strategic course objectives are:
- Support financial regulators to develop policies that close the gender gap in financial
- Strengthen the role that central bankers, other regulators and policymakers can play in creating an environment that promotes the financial inclusion of women.
- Build the pipeline of women leaders in central banks and other regulatory
- Develop specific policies to support national financial inclusion strategies that are women-
- Build leadership capacity of deputy governors/senior officials and the women
Objectives & Responsibilities
The selected academic partner will be expected to work in close collaboration with Women’s World Banking to design and deliver the academic components of the Leadership Development Program for Regulators. Key objectives and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
Curriculum Design and Delivery
- Codesign and deliver core academic modules aligned with the Leadership Development Program for Regulators’ strategic learning objectives, ensuring coherence across virtual and in-person components of the program.
- Contribute to the development and refinement of session content, learning materials, case studies, and applied exercises that support leadership development and policy application in regulatory contexts.
- Ensure academic rigor while maintaining strong relevance to the real-world challenges faced by senior regulators and policymakers in emerging and developing economies.
Faculty and Subject Matter Expertise
- Provide experienced faculty members with demonstrated expertise in areas such as leadership development, public policy, regulation, governance, institutional change, and related disciplines.
- Ensure faculty are skilled in working with senior-level participants and are able to facilitate
interactive, discussion-based, and experiential learning sessions.
- Coordinate faculty participation across online and in-person program modules to ensure consistency of learning experience and alignment with overall program goals.
Pedagogical Approach
- Apply adult learning and action-learning methodologies appropriate for senior public sector leaders, including experiential learning, peer learning, case-based discussion, and reflective
- Design learning experiences that encourage participants to apply concepts directly to their own institutional and policy contexts, particularly through the advancement of live policy initiatives.
- Support inclusive and participatory learning environments that reflect the program’s focus on gender-inclusive leadership and policy design.
Collaboration and Integration
- Work collaboratively with Women’s World Banking staff to integrate academic content with policy application, peer learning, executive coaching, and advisory components of the program.
- Participate in regular coordination meetings with Women’s World Banking to align on program objectives, sequencing, and participant experience.
Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement
- Contribute to monitoring and evaluation efforts related to academic sessions, including participation in feedback reviews and learning reflection processes.
- Incorporate feedback from participants and Women’s World Banking to continuously improve content, delivery, and learning outcomes over the course of the partnership.
Preferred Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience designing and delivering executive-level or senior leadership development programs, particularly for public sector leaders, regulators, policymakers, or senior professionals operating in complex institutional environments.
- Strong academic and applied expertise in one or more of the following areas: leadership development, public policy, regulation, governance, institutional change, or organizational
- Proven capability to deliver blended learning programs, including high-quality virtual instruction and intensive in-person academic components.
- Faculty with experience facilitating interactive, discussion-based, and experiential learning for senior-level participants, rather than purely lecture-based instruction.
- Familiarity with adult learning and action-learning methodologies, including case-based teaching, peer learning, reflective practice, and applied project work.
- Experience working with international and culturally diverse cohorts, preferably across emerging and developing economy contexts.
- Strong grounding in Global South contexts—evidenced by being based in the Global South and/or having deep, long-term partnerships and delivery experience in emerging and developing economies (including the ability to bring locally rooted faculty, cases, and examples).
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with external partners to co-design curriculum and integrate academic content with applied learning, coaching, and advisory components.
- Institutional capacity to support program coordination, faculty management, and delivery at the standard expected of a global executive education offering.
- Commitment to values aligned with Women’s World Banking’s mission, including gender-inclusive leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and inclusive learning
How to Apply
Applications must be received no later than April 30, 2026 at midnight GMT.
Please submit your cover letter, resume, and proposal, including but not limited to the following components:
- detailed fee proposal
- timeline to fulfill a deliverable
- proposal of work product
- project team roles and responsibilities for the
- confirmation that the institution can comply with any applicable donor requirements (including SECO requirements) and Women’s World Banking policies relevant to this
Applicants may submit their question(s) in writing until April 15, 2026 to lc@womensworldbanking.org. Please include in the e-mail subject line “Questions: LDR 2027 RFPs”.
Note: This RFQ does not guarantee or commit Women’s World Banking to proceeding with the above-described work. Due to the overwhelming responses, not all candidates will be contacted.
Women’s World Banking is an equal opportunity employer for all regardless of race, color, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran or reservist status or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.
Women’s World Banking will be unable to contract with any individual who is US citizen or resident without an LLC or LP or similar structure.
About Women's World Banking
We believe in being a force for the greater good, devoted to accelerating and growing the financial inclusion of women. With rapidly changing markets, influenced by technology and social behavioral expectations, we are embarking on a new chapter to transform the way we design and implement solutions.
For over 40 years, Women’s World Banking has partnered with financial institutions, showing them the benefit of investing in women as customers. We equip these institutions with in-depth research and data driven insights to develop financial products and educational programs. While our clients are financial service providers, our mission is to engage consumers – women who are marginalized by financial systems.
Women’s World Banking and WWB Asset Management is an equal employment opportunity for all regardless of race, color, citizenship, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran or reservist status or any other category protected by federal, state or local law.
