The world’s most powerful decisions about women’s economic opportunity are often made far from the women they affect.
Long before a woman opens her first bank account, applies for credit, receives a digital payment, or builds a business, someone has crafted policies that shape the financial system she depends on. Those rules determine whether innovation expands opportunity—or leaves millions behind.
That is why Women’s World Banking invests in regulatory leadership.
In June we welcomed 52 senior and emerging regulatory leaders from 26 institutions across 17 countries to the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School for the in-person component of our Leadership Development Program for Regulators (LDR), our largest cohort to date. Institutions include the Central Bank of Egypt, National Bank of Rwanda, Indonesia Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment (CMCE), National Bank of Cambodia, NABARD, India, and Ministry of Rural Development, India. Together, leaders such as these represent institutions with the power to shape financial systems that serve millions of people.
Strengthening those institutions is central to Women’s World Banking’s strategy. Expanding women’s economic opportunity requires more than access to financial services. It requires inclusive financial systems, effective regulation, and leaders who can translate policy into lasting change.
The results speak for themselves. Last year, 84% of alumni took concrete action on a policy developed through the program, while 63% expanded their leadership responsibilities. Leadership investment is translating into institutional capacity, stronger policymaking, and greater potential to expand women’s economic opportunity at scale.
Leadership That Creates Institutional Change
LDR invests in institutions and individuals.
For LDR, each participating organization sends two leaders: a senior decision-maker alongside a high-potential leader, typically a woman with five to ten years of experience. One brings the authority to champion change today. The other is developing the skills and relationships to lead tomorrow. Together, they embed new ideas within their institutions long after the program ends.
That learning extends well beyond Oxford. Participants complete a months-long journey that combines virtual learning, executive coaching, peer exchange, and practical policy development before returning home to implement solutions to real institutional challenges.
LDR’s impact on me, I would say was around being able to see that we have very common challenges across different sectors, the banking sector, insurance, pensions, but also across different regions, whether it’s us in sub-Saharan Africa or in the Southern Asian countries. And they’ve also been able to learn from us in terms of things that we’ve already done, so the impact has been immense. I think outside of LDR I wouldn’t have been able to interact with some of the ladies that I’ve met here.
Leadership for a Changing Financial Landscape
Financial regulation is evolving rapidly. Digital financial services, AI, climate risk, consumer protection, and financial resilience are reshaping the decisions regulators make every day.
Throughout the week, participants strengthened the leadership skills essential for advancing inclusive policy reforms within complex regulatory environments: influencing stakeholders, negotiating across institutions, communicating with purpose, and designing policies that respond to the realities of women’s lives.
Professor Paul Fisher explored the science of influence and negotiation, while Baroness Catherine Ashton shared lessons from some of the world’s most consequential diplomatic negotiations, reminding participants that lasting agreements depend on trust as much as technical expertise.
“Deals are not deals if somebody goes away thinking they’ve been treated badly.”
Alongside the program, Women’s World Banking also convened leaders from government, financial institutions, philanthropy, and technology for a discussion on inclusive AI. As artificial intelligence increasingly shapes lending, fraud detection, customer service, and financial products, regulators will play a defining role in ensuring these technologies expand financial opportunity for women rather than deepen inequality. Our program prepared regulators to tackle these risks and reinforced a shared priority: innovation must be matched by representative data, transparency, and thoughtful governance.
Building a Global Network
One of LDR’s greatest strengths is the network it creates.
Throughout the week, participants learned as much from one another as they did from faculty—sharing experiences over meals, during Oxford’s “Uncomfortable Oxford” walking tour, and at the closing Ceilidh celebration. Those relationships become an ongoing source of collaboration as regulators continue tackling many of the same challenges in different markets.
I’ve been able to strengthen my resolve to lead with purpose, to be intentional in how I interact with people. And I was also able to gain a network of different people from different regions, which I believe is very key and cardinal to my work in policy and market development.
From Leadership to Policy
Leadership only matters if it changes outcomes.
Laura Cox guided participants through authentic leadership and the values that shape effective decision-making. Francesca Brown then introduced Women’s World Banking’s 5D Inclusive Policy Methodology, helping participants apply those leadership skills to real policy challenges. They explored how to engage stakeholders, identify barriers through data, strengthen accountability, and design policies that better reflect women’s experiences.
The week concluded with Elevator Policy Pitches, where each institutional pair presented a solution to a real regulatory challenge facing their institution.
Those proposals do not end in Oxford. They return with participants to ministries, central banks, and supervisory agencies responsible for shaping financial systems.
Investing in Systems Change
Every regulation shapes how financial systems serve people.
The leaders participating in LDR will return home to influence policies that determine how women access credit, adopt digital financial services, protect their livelihoods, and participate more fully in their economies.
When philanthropic partners invest in LDR, they enable Women’s World Banking to reach regulators in markets where inclusive financial policy could unlock opportunity for millions of women, while providing the coaching, peer-learning, and applied policy development that institutions rarely fund themselves.
As we look ahead to LDR 2027, we welcome partners who share our belief that lasting systems change starts with the people writing the rules.
The Leadership Development Program for Regulators is made possible through support from our funding partner, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and our program funder Visa Foundation.
By Anusha Thomas (Intern, Women’s World Banking) and Emma Jones (Social Media & Marketing Associate, Women’s World Banking)
