Heather Kipnis
Sr. Operations Officer - Global Lead, Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Business, IFC
About Speaker
Heather leads the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Business Programs for IFC's Gender and Economic Inclusion Group. In this role, she oversees the development and delivery of client solutions for the private sector that support the growth of women entrepreneurs and inclusive businesses in emerging markets, with the goal of unlocking opportunities for increased profit, growth and innovation. Additionally, she leads global product development, partnerships, and research for new advisory and investment solutions that support women entrepreneurs, and low-income populations.
Heather brings 15 years of experience in international development and financial services across Latin America & the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. Prior to IFC, Heather led the programs and educational activities for a network of 75,000 women-led small to medium enterprises and held positions in impact investing and private wealth management. Heather has served as an advisor for the Aspen Institute’s ANDE Gender Inclusion Learning Lab, and the Global Impact Investing Networks (GIIN) gender-lens investing initiative and is currently a member of the 2XCollaborative Steering Committee. Heather has an MBA in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor's of Science in Decision and Information Sciences from University of Florida.