Building Inclusive Value Chains: Strategies to Boost WSMEs’ Market Access

Isabel Berdeja Suarez, Senior Advisory Officer on the Gender and Social Inclusion team at IDB Invest

Isabel is a Senior Advisory Officer on the Gender and Social Inclusion team at IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the IDB Group. She has over twelve years of experience working on social inclusion, development with identity for Indigenous Peoples and gender equality in the region. Isabel is responsible for designing and delivering advisory services for operations in the Corporate and Financial Institutions sectors, and for helping investment teams structure sustainable finance projects that have ambitious yet achievable targets to create more opportunities for social inclusion.

Her expertise focuses on helping the private sector create more inclusive markets, helping Financial Institutions create differentiated value propositions for financial health, and developing inclusive sourcing programs that strengthen client operations.

She has led advisory activities to support clients in their Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Strategy, with a special emphasis on the inclusion of women, Indigenous peoples, and Afro-descendants, both in the value chain and the workforce.

Before joining the IDB Group, Isabel worked in GE’s Power and Water business and at the Pan American Development Foundation on development projects focused on Indigenous development with identity.

Isabel holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (Washington, D.C., USA), and a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico).

Anne N. Kabugi, Inclusive Supply Chains Lead, Gender and Economic Inclusion Group, IFC

Anne is multi-skilled leader with over 20 years of experience in international development, sustainability, and gender & private sector development.

At IFC, She works to facilitate greater access to economic opportunities for underserved individuals and businesses across corporate supply chains in emerging markets, accelerating the growth of women entrepreneurs and businesses led by other marginalized groups. She is responsible for generating new opportunities and identifying investment linkages for more inclusion of women entrepreneurs as buyers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and aggregators. Previously, she served as IFC’s Regional Gender Lead for Africa, leading gender-smart business solutions and research across the continent. Before joining IFC, Anne held senior roles in communications and sustainability at Guaranty Trust Bank, Tullow Oil, and Standard Chartered Bank in Kenya. She holds an MBA in Leadership and Sustainability from University of Cumbria and has completed executive programs at Harvard Business School.

Sakinatou Balde, Principal Officer for the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) , AfDB

Ms. Sakinatou Balde is a seasoned Guinean professional with extensive experience across multilateral organizations and the private sector. She specializes in entrepreneurship development, particularly women’s entrepreneurship, and has deep expertise in driving gender-responsive policy reforms and strengthening entrepreneurship ecosystems. Her work focuses on empowering women-led SMEs by supporting their formalization and enhancing their access to finance and markets.

She currently serves as Principal Officer for the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative at the African Development Bank, a flagship program dedicated to expanding access to finance for women entrepreneurs across the continent. In this role, Ms. Balde leads the “Enabling Environment” pillar, directing policy reform efforts and working closely with stakeholders to strengthen the capacity of women-owned SMEs to access financial services.

Prior to joining the African Development Bank, Ms. Balde held positions with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and UNESCO, where she managed entrepreneurship programs across French-speaking African countries.

She holds a Master of Science in Development Economics, with a specialization in International Project Management, from Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris.

Elizabeth MacBride, Senior Knowledge and Advocacy Consultant, We-Fi

Elizabeth MacBride is an award-winning journalist and author whose work on finance, innovation, and global economic change has reached millions worldwide. She serves as a senior knowledge and advocacy consultant with We-Fi and has collaborated with World Bank teams on gender issues across West Africa.

She is the co-author of three books: The New Builders (2021), The Little Book of Robo Investing (2024), and her latest Capital Evolution: The New American Economy (BenBella, Dec. 2025), which examines the forces transforming the U.S. economy through conversations with leaders including the CEOs of JPMorgan, Verizon, and BlackRock. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Quartz, Forbes, and the BBC, and she has reported from Silicon Valley to conflict zones worldwide.

Wendy Teleki, Head of the We-Fi Secretariat

Wendy Teleki is Head of the We-Fi Secretariat, which is housed in the World Bank Group. The Secretariat is responsible for supporting the We-Fi Governing Committee in the allocation and supervision of We-Fi funding as well as communications, advocacy, and learning focused on strengthening opportunities for women entrepreneurs in collaboration with the GC, Implementing Partners and other stakeholders.

Ms. Teleki joined We-Fi in May 2019. Prior to that, Ms. Teleki worked with the International Finance Corporation leading numerous activities and initiatives focused on small and medium enterprise development in emerging markets around the world. This included several blended finance, investment and advisory programs, including IFC’s We-Fi program and the Global SME Finance Initiative.

Wendy has an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business and an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.