June 01, 2026
Today’s show takes on a problem that is both simple and profound: we can’t fix what we can’t see. We have two guests. One is Wendy Teleki, Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative — known as We-Fi — at the World Bank. The other is Tatiana Alonso, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP.
Our topic is gender-disaggregated data, or GDD, and why it matters so much for financial markets, especially in emerging markets. Around the world, women — and women entrepreneurs in particular — still face major barriers in accessing financial services. Too often, though, financial institutions and regulators don’t have the basic data they need to understand where the gaps are, why they exist, or what would actually close them.
This is a topic that AIR is also working on directly through our program called Gender-Disaggregated Data for Inclusive Regulation, which is supporting financial sector regulators in strengthening how GDD is collected, analyzed, and applied in financial supervision and policymaking. The program is focused not only on getting better data, but also on addressing the many practical obstacles to getting this information actually used. We are helping create the practical tools, dashboards, use cases, and, crucially, ecosystem collaboration that can help regulators turn insight into action. We will be announcing a series of TechSprints on this topic soon, so watch this space! (Editor's note: AIR's Virtual Global Design Sprint: Harnessing Gender Data for Inclusive Regulation has been announced and the application period has opened).
In today’s conversation, Wendy explains the work that We-Fi is doing through the WE Finance Code, which is now active in dozens of countries and has brought hundreds of institutions into a shared commitment to collect data, use it, and take action to expand financing for women entrepreneurs. Tatiana, meanwhile, brings the regulator’s lens, describing how supervisors can use granular, high-quality data not only to advance inclusion, but also to better monitor risks, strengthen consumer protection, and build more stable and resilient financial systems.
One theme that runs through the discussion is that this is not just about fairness, although it is certainly that. It is also about economic growth, better markets, better products, and better policy. Women entrepreneurs represent a huge untapped opportunity, but the financial system is still, in Wendy’s words, “flying blind” in many places.
We especially explore the role of technology, including AI, APIs, dashboards, and digital reporting systems, which are opening up exciting ways to make this work easier and more powerful. Done well, these tools can help regulators and financial institutions move from aggregate, blurry data to a much clearer picture of which customers are being served, which ones are not, and what strategies are actually working.
This is a fascinating conversation about data, inclusion, supervision, innovation, and the future of financial regulation. At its heart, it is about building financial systems that can see people more clearly — and serve them better.
As always, we have more great conversations coming up on Barefoot Innovation. Watch for upcoming episodes with Saket Narayan of Amazon Web Services, Yaya Fanusie of Aleo, and Greg Ruppert of FINRA. We will also be sharing a special live episode recorded at the American Bankers Association’s recent Risk and Compliance Conference, capturing a discussion I had on AI and regulatory compliance with Raj Date and Konrad Alt.
AIR also has a busy speaking schedule ahead. Shelley Anderson will be speaking on tokenized money and the future of finance and regulation at the Centre of FinTech Annual Event in London on June 10, and again at the Perspectives on Financial Inclusion webinar on July 28. On July 1, I’ll be speaking at AWS Summit in Washington, D.C. And in October, I’ll be in Las Vegas for Money20/20 USA, along with AIR’s Chief Development and Impact Officer Nat Weber.
You can find details on all of these events, along with links to register or learn more, at regulationinnovation.org.
Wendy Teleki
Wendy Teleki is the Head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Secretariat, which is housed in the World Bank and supports women entrepreneurs in over 60 developing countries around the world. We-Fi works with multilateral development banks and local institutions to increase women entrepreneurs’ access to finance, markets, skills and technology, through investments, technical assistance and policy reforms. It has allocated over $360 million and helped catalyze $3.6 billion in financing for women entrepreneurs since its creation in 2017.
Prior to joining We-Fi in 2019, Wendy worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. At the IFC, she spearheaded efforts to help private and public institutions in emerging markets expand financing and support for small businesses and women entrepreneurs. She led programs to privatize and build the small business sector in Ukraine in the early 1990s, developed solutions for SMEs in Indonesia during the Asian Financial Crisis, launched innovative SME finance and advisory offerings, and pioneered blended finance efforts.
In 2022, Wendy was named one of Forbes’s “50 Over 50” women in finance for her leadership in advocating for women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. She is the co-author of Rebalance: How Women Lead, Parent, Partner and Thrive and has written on SME finance, entrepreneurship, and gender equality. She is also a sought-after speaker at high-level events, sharing insights and experiences to inspire action towards gender equality and economic empowerment for women in developing countries.
Wendy holds an MA in International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business.
Tatiana Alonso
Tatiana has over 15 years of experience in the fields of public policy and financial regulation, with a focus on assessing and developing policy frameworks that enable stable, efficient, and inclusive financial systems. A member of CGAP’s Fostering Responsible Enabling Ecosystems Pillar, she currently leads work on gender disaggregated data and participates in CGAP’s work on climate change, crisis response, and regulatory architecture.
A Senior Economist from Bank of Spain by profession, Tatiana worked as a Senior Financial Sector Specialist in the World Bank from 2018 to 2022, where she supported the IMF-WB joint FSAP program, the Bank’s representation in the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and, more broadly, the Bank’s global engagement advocating for EMDEs in financial policy matters. She also worked for over a decade in the private sector (BBVA, NERA).
Tatiana holds a MSc degree in Economics and Finance from CEMFI, a Master’s Degree in Economics of Energy from Universidad Carlos III, and a B.A in Economics from Pompeu Fabra University. She has published research papers and other analytical pieces in several journals and public platforms. She is based in Paris and speaks Spanish and Catalan (native), English, French and Italian.
Stay informed by joining our mailing list
