20 alumni
Ana Irys De Menezes Silva GOV 2013-14 | Brazil
Where do you work? I am an economist focused on the challenges of climate change to well-being, and an entrepreneur excited about digital services for financial inclusion. I am a Co- Founder of CloQ and currently a Chevening Awardee at the University of East Anglia, UK. CloQ is a fintech startup with the mission of simplifying financial inclusion to the low-income population of developing countries and reducing financial vulnerability. Our objective is to provide efficient, cheaper and easily accessible formal credit for the low-income population, including the unbanked, based on concepts of microcredit. We are creating a mobile-only application which is especially designed to be easily accessible and will allow consumers to request and receive loans within minutes at any time.
How did IOB experience affect your life / career? IOB positively influenced my career path and life on many fronts. Firstly, it enabled me to access first-class research on development issues, which gave me the strong academic foundation necessary to venture financial solutions for development. Secondly, I benefited from the exchange of ideas with inspiring professors and colleagues, which sharpened my critical view and career aspirations. Finally, my period at IOB was a life-changing opportunity to be exposed to many cultures and backgrounds; and to learn from and be friends with talented professionals from all over the world.
If you were the director of a research fund, what is a research question that you would agree to finance? Economic vulnerability is an issue that is very close to my heart and to which, I believe, more efforts should be directed. Vulnerability, as an aggregate of exposure, hazard and intensity, inhibits talents and damages the economic prospects of poor families. Many are the sources of vulnerability, for instance financial exclusion, environmental threats, and so forth. Therefore, providing solutions to enable vulnerable populations to become actors of change themselves should be every society’ s top priority. Efforts to reduce vulnerability are crucial to ensure that future generations will be able to identify, express and make use of their talents, regardless of where they come from.
Exchange to change September 2017