3 April 2023

Hassatou N’Sele, Jessica Pulay, Doris Herrera-Pol, Monique Barbut and Ingrid van Wees.

IFFIm is governed by a diverse board in global finance and development. In 2021, three new members joined, giving IFFIm a majority female board.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, female talent in finance remains one of the most untapped business resources. But finance is also a sector with growing opportunities for women.

The five women on IFFIm’s board sat down to talk about their careers in finance and how mentors made a difference in their lives.

Monique Barbut

When I was a young professional, Maria Nowak represented the kind of woman I wanted to be. A Polish economist who worked for the World Bank and France’s Agency for Development, she is the person who introduced micro credit in France and transferred the knowledge of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to Africa. We used to call her the “banker of hope.”

At the start of my career, I found my niche working on issues of the environment, which enabled me to pursue my interest in travel as well. At the time, the environment was of little interest to the men competing with me for assignments, so I had a lot of freedom to learn the issues and eventually developed sought-after expertise. So what I say to women who come to me for advice is, “don’t work on the subject that everybody else is focused on.” It is always in the margins, away from where all the political interest is, that you have freedom to imagine new things.

Doris Herrera-Pol

I had great women as role models. First and foremost was my mom. She had a demanding yet fun career in the business sector in the Dominican Republic. I grew up thinking I could do and be anything I wanted; I never felt that gender was an issue. On the contrary, the year I graduated from university, women graduates were a majority in every single school, from engineering to law.

My first job in finance was at the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. Here, women in relevant professional positions were also a majority. At the World Bank, I had both male and female bosses who invested time and effort in me; you could say they acted as my mentors. I have been lucky to have worked on a level playing field.

Hassatou N’Sele

I am a daughter, a wife and the mother of three young women. Undoubtedly my family has shaped and influenced my career. Both my father and my mother, through their advice, guidance and support, have led me to where I am today. My parents were hard workers who managed a hotel in Goree and later bought their own in Dakar. Their professional success and strength have been a source of inspiration. They ingrained the importance of a strong work ethic, and I look up to them. I am also lucky to have a very understanding and progressive husband who is supportive of my career.

I have also been greatly influenced by my bosses, all women, at Citibank (Dakar) when I joined in 1990, and when I joined the African Development Bank (1999). They were rigorous, competent and demanding professionals from whom I have learned a lot.

Jessica Pulay

My parents both died young; however I am extremely fortunate to have had two amazing godmothers, who each pushed the boundaries in terms of what women can achieve in their careers (in their cases, finance and the arts respectively). One of them, Elisabeth Rivers-Bulkeley, became one of the first women to be admitted as a member of the London Stock Exchange, almost exactly 50 years ago in March 1973. She inspired me not only to pursue a finance career but, most importantly, she—and a number of other brilliant women in my life—encouraged me to mentor young women (whether formally or not) to achieve their best in whatever their chosen field.

Ingrid van Wees

My maternal grandmother played an important role in my choosing to work for a living. I remember her as a charismatic and articulate woman who travelled to Paris by herself at a young age between the world wars. She only married in her thirties after being educated and and finding her match later in life. Her path, professionalism and progressive thinking were very unusual for a woman born in 1906. She inspired me to find my own way, be independent and explore opportunities as they come. 

Professionally I have mostly been surrounded by men, and only once had the pleasure of a female supervisor for a brief period, but times have changed. Having women at top positions at multilateral institutions and global corporations and as prime ministers shows the way to the next generation.