Jessica Olivan, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Pro Mujer, listens to her fellow table mates share insights on economic development in Latin America. Her organization, Pro Mujer, is focuses on women’s development in the region, with a specific focus on increasing access to finance, health and educational services.

From left, Mannie T’Chawi, Co-Founder of LayerCake, connects with Elias Alfille, Deputy Legal Attaché at the Embassy of Mexico, upon arriving to Meridian International Center for The Digital Finance Future regional session on March 28.

Over 30 individuals gathered for the final regional session of The Digital Finance Future to discuss the challenges to economic inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean and the opportunity for digital financial services to help bridge the gap.

Moderator Bonnie Glick listens in on the conversation among participants at Table 3.

Attendees of The Digital Finance Future session on March 28 engage in a presentation on how strict bank regulations are stifling the flow of money from migrant workers abroad back home to their families, and how this negative impacts the GDP of many developing countries in the region.

Andrea Murta, Deputy Director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council, gazes up while Vijaya Ramachandran explains the impacts of de-risking on poorer countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Rosita Najmi, Program Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative, reports back on her table’s discussion about the role of perception in regulatory bodies’ assessments of “risk” when it comes to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance.

Michael Gale, Senior Program Manager of GlobalGiving, shares innovative ideas for driving digital philanthropy and development with Patrick Malone, Program Officer of Mobile Solutions Technical Assistance and Research at FHI 360.

Megan Devlin, Program Lead for The Digital Finance Future, welcomed the guests to Meridian International Center for the final regional session of the convening series.

Sonia Arenaza, Regional Lead for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Better Than Cash Alliance, was a featured speaker of the March 28 Digital Finance Future session. Her presentation explained how governments could benefit from digitizing payments to citizens.

Participants of Table 1 listen to Enilson Solano, Economic Minister at the Embassy of the Republic of El Salvador, share examples of how Central America could benefit from better policies and technologies that help facilitate the transfer of money from migrant workers abroad back to their home countries.

Zoe Dauth, Program Officer at the Council of the Americas, discusses the importance of regional alliances and trade groups in helping advance agenda for digital diplomacy and e-governance.

Catalina Chamorro Ortega, First Secretary of Congressional and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Colombia, reflects on how the region’s economy has been impacted by “de-banking,” or rather global financial institutions terminating or restricting business with smaller local banks and money transfer organizations.

Janice Stallard, Vice President of Banyan Global, meets with Innovations Online editor Sharon Benzoni and reporter Ann Babe.

Carmen Mora, Political Counselor at the Embassy of Panama, talks about the global implications of some of the region’s historical and newsworthy moments, and particularly the impact on various countries’ economic participation.

Vijaya Ramachandran, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, shows the increase of anti-money laundering enforcement over the past 15 years, and the economic hit many developing nations have taken, consequently. Photo by Stephen Bobb.

Mannie T’Chawi, Co-Founder of LayerCake, recaps his table’s discussion of the barriers many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are facing because of de-banking, and the opportunities for private sector involvement to help design solutions.

Vijaya Ramachandran, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, and Travis Foxhall, Investment Associate at Quona Capital, smile as Usman Ahmed, Head of Global Public Policy at Paypal, reacts to a conversation on future finance policies and blockchain technology. Photo by Stephen Bobb.

In her presentation, Sonia Arenaza demonstrated how the Indian government has used digital financial services and technologies to increase transparency and help build trust among its citizens.

Bonnie Glick, Senior Vice President at Meridian International Center, moderated the March 28 Digital Finance Future discussion. She has over 25 years of experience working in Latin America and oversees Meridian’s Young Leaders of the Ameircas Initiative, which engages young entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean in experiential learning fellowships. Photo by Stephen Bobb.

Diplomats Rodrigo Contreras, Head of Economics at the Embassy of Chile, and Enilson Solano, Economic Minister at the Embassy of the Republic of El Salvador, engage with Zoe Dauth, Program Manager at the Council of the Americas, about their overlapping interests within the region of focus for The Digital Finance Future lunch discussion.

Joe Daly, Partner of Gallup Global Analytics, dives into conversation with Fleming Duarte, Counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay, ahead of the discussion on digital financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean.