Laura has over 8 years of experience working in operations, strategy, and project management at IDB and the private sector. Prior to joining the Advisory Service Team as Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Officer, she structured blended financed transactions that focused on increasing access to finance to women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to this, Laura worked at UberEATS as an Operations Specialist helping them optimize processes for the opening of new markets in the US. She has also worked for BID Lab in gender projects, and for the Grants Co-financing management unit at the IDB providing analysis and fund reporting to donors. She holds an MBA from IE Business School, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Florida at Gainesville.
There is no shortage of women with the leadership qualities needed to run a business or excel in the workplace. What’s often missing are the opportunities to do so. Performance-based financial incentives can help fill this gap by motivating companies to advance gender equality in their operations.
The inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in the business environment is imperative to improve staff retention, employee satisfaction, and productivity.
Gender lens investment has great social impact, and a safe, sustainable long-term ROI, bringing about profitability while pushing for equality.
Gender-smart housing is a socio-urban intervention strategy aimed at promoting women’s safety in housing spaces based on a gender-lens territorial analysis.
The ecosystem growing around sustainable funds offers a source of financing for companies in the region, which may help international and local investors to develop their own sustainability agenda with transactions classified as impact investments in their portfolios.
The challenges faced by the financial sector to convert more women into clients can be addressed by combining well-designed incentives and advisory services.