Ahmed Dermish  is the Lead Policy Specialist based in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to UNCDF, he was the Director of Financial Inclusion Policy and Ecosystem Development at BFA Global (BFA) and a bank supervisor with the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. 

Alexandra de Carvalho is a supervisory and regulatory policy expert with over 10 years experience in the field of economic and financial policies and financial services. Prior to UNCDF, she worked at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affaires on G20 and G7 matters and at the Banque de France as an insurance supervisory policy expert and as a banking supervisor.

Alice Negre is a Financial Inclusion Consultant based in London, UK. Alice works on different themes linked to the development of inclusive financial systems, including DFS, microfinance and SME banking. She aims to improve and connect the various building blocks of these systems: policies, regulations, supply, demand, infrastructure and other support functions. Alice also works for CGAP and previously worked for IFC, Planet Rating, while performing shorter-term missions for other development funders and regulators.

Amani Itatiro is a Senior Policy Specialist for the UNCDF Policy Accelerator based in Kampala, Uganda. He is a policy expert in DFS ecosystems and financial inclusion. He has a wealth of experience in development and implementation of policies, legal and regulatory frameworks and instruments, and strategies for Digital Financial Services. Prior to UNCDF, he worked with the Bank of Tanzania as Principal Financial Analyst in the Department of Oversight and Policy for National Payment Systems. Amani had also previously worked as Senior Associate in Assurance for PriceWaterHouseCoopers (Tanzania).

Aneth Kasebele is a Digital Financial Services Consultant in East and North Africa. She has 10+ years of high-impact consulting engagements on organizational strategy and operations, financial sector policy and regulation, quantitative and qualitative research and program management.

Annie Mutamba is a Strategic Communication Consultant with a background in EU public affairs and an expertise in EU-Africa relations. In addition to UNCDF, she has worked with a variety of private and public organisations such as UNECA, UNCTAD and the European Commission on communication campaigns in the fields of trade, private sector development, peace and security.

Carlo Guicherit is the Capacity-Building and Training Partnerships Analyst based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Prior to UNCDF, he was the Associate Director for the Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion (FLPFI) at Tufts University and worked with capacity building at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Darina Novotny Hernikova is the Translation and Digital Communication Analyst. She has over a decade of experience as a translator, editor and writer in English, French and Spanish. Much of her work focuses on advocacy and the arts, and the shared space between them.

Friederike Rühmann is the Policy Specialist for Digital Finance, based in Brussels, Belgium. Her work focuses on financial consumer protection and providing technical assistance to regulators and policymakers to promote inclusive digital finance ecosystems in Africa. Prior to joining UNCDF, Friederike worked as Economist/Policy Analyst in the Financing for Sustainable Development Division at the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, as a Consultant for the Business Commission for Sustainable Development and as a Researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and UNU-Merit. She holds a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Bayreuth and a Double M.Sc. in Public Policy from the United Nations University and Maastricht University.

Gulnara Anapiiaeva is a Programme Associate based in Brussels, Belgium. Gulnara joined the Policy Accelerator team managing procurement, budgeting, finance and administrative tasks. Previously she worked and studied in Germany (Alexandre von Humboldt programme), Kyrgyzstan (Severelectro) and France (University of Côte d’Azur).

Jean Pascal Mvondo leads institutional advocacy and alliance strategies. He has served as an advisor to several Ministers across industry, finance and digital economy, and now brings this experience with him to the UN. He has led national reforms in more than 10 sectors, with direct coordination at the Prime Ministerial and Presidential levels. He was specifically in charge of launching strategies for industrialisation, development of the digital economy and the creation of a public postal bank in a restructuring context.

Jeremiah Grossman is a Digital Financial Services Policy Consultant based in Maryland, USA. Prior to UNCDF, Jerry worked on DFS policy and regulation for over 15 years with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BFA Global, GSMA, USAID and as an independent consultant for clients such as CGAP, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Alliance for Financial Inclusion.

Leah Dejenu is the Community Organizer Consultant based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior to joining UNCDF, Leah spent over ten years working in the complex arena of intercultural collaboration, community advocacy engagement, and talent project management. She is committed to building solid and equitable relationships and communication within the public and non-profit sectors.

Luis Calvo is a financial inclusion specialist and digital enthusiast with 15+ years supporting organizations in Latin American and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Prior to UNCDF, Luis was country representative in Bolivia for Fundación Capital and worked as an international consultant covering broad microfinance and financial inclusion projects.

Marie Sudreau is a Policy Specialist in financial governance and private sector development based in Brussels. She is currently working on inclusive finance in the West and Central African regions, with a specific focus on the digital financial inclusion of the most excluded populations. Prior to joining UNCDF, she worked for several international organizations (UNCTAD, OECD, WTO) and consulting firms on responsible and sustainable financing policies both at the state level and at the private sector level for clients such as the World Bank, the European Commission.

Seharish Gillani is a Senior Policy Specialist, Strategy and Learning, based in Dubai, UAE. She also served as a Policy Analyst on the team for 3 years before assuming this new role. Prior to UNCDF, she was an Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellow with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) in Uganda and managed the Smart-PESA mobile money product with Smart Telecom Uganda.

Sewit Haileselassie Tadesse is the Gender Advisor based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her most recent experience covered program development with USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives' Ethiopia Support Program. She has expertise is in program design, coordination, research, partnership management, and project management with a focus on incorporating gender perspectives in peace and development programs.

Sophie Falsini is a Policy Analyst and Researcher, working at the interception between digital finance and women’s economic inclusion, based in Brussels. Prior to this role, she worked as gender and research fellow for UNCDF in The Gambia as well as for CGAP in Kenya, where she focused on rural development and access to finance for women and girls in LDCs.

Supraja Vadlamani is a Policy Analyst based in Kampala, Uganda. Prior to UNCDF, Supraja worked at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Uganda as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow within the Debt Policy and Issuance Department. She also has experience working at the Ethiopian Civil Service Commission as well as the Ontario Public Service in Toronto, Canada.