Interviews led by HERproject suggest that female and male garment workers were more financially resilient following wage digitization and financial capability training. However, the systemic gender inequalities that have long affected women and girls were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Justin focuses on the implementation of HERproject programs in East Africa and Bangladesh.
Prior to joining BSR, Justin was a startup owner providing professional training services to Japanese expats in Hong Kong, focusing on communication and presentation skills so that they were able to better navigate Hong Kong’s multicultural business environment. He has experience in curriculum, business, and strategy development. Before that, Justin was an English teacher and manager at a South Korea-based education center.
Justin has a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Toronto and an M.B.A. from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
HERproject Team
Laura Macias
Associate | France
Laura contributes to HERproject’s workplace program in global supply chains by conducting research and program management.
Prior to joining BSR, Laura was a public policy consultant at the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation in Paris, researching innovation trends and the relationship between innovation, artificial intelligence, and diversity. She also managed relations with Latin American governments. Before her experience at the OECD, Laura worked at UNICEF for four years in corporate partnerships and fundraising while based in her home country of Colombia. She has also worked in communications and project management in a B corporation and in TECHO, an international NGO focused on poverty alleviation in Latin America.
Laura has experience working with HIV-positive vulnerable women in Kenya, helping them strengthen and build small businesses for economic empowerment.
Laura is also a columnist on topics related to gender equality and speaks Spanish, English, and French. Laura has a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and completed a fellowship in public leadership at the Unversidad de los Andes.
HERproject Team
Isadora Loreto
Associate | France
Isadora supports BSR’s HERproject. She focuses on the implementation of HERproject programs in Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia.
Prior to joining BSR, Isadora was an associate social affairs officer at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), where she was part of the gender and social inclusion team. In this role, she focused on women’s entrepreneurship and the need to create a gender-responsive environment in the Asia-Pacific region. She has specific expertise in women’s empowerment, gender equality, and inclusive business and she has international work experience with private-sector and consulting companies, NGOs, and think-tanks such as GlobalCAD-Centre of Partnerships for Development; PAU Education; ReSeT-Center for Research on Security and Transnational governance; and No Peace Without Justice.
Isadora holds a Master’s Degree in International Law and Economics with a focus on International Development and Humanitarian Action. Her native language is French, and she is fluent in English and Spanish.
HERproject's new report presents findings on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers in global supply chains and recommendations for companies and other stakeholders for an inclusive recovery that benefits workers and supply chains.
Payal Dalal, Senior Vice President, Social Impact, International Markets, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth; Christine Svarer, Director, HERproject
In a new report, HERproject and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth share lessons and insights from Digital Wages programs that can help companies, governments, and financial service providers scale up digital payments for low-income workers after COVID-19.
Ella manages the HERfinance Digital Wages program, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program supports ready made garment factories to digitize wage payments for 150,000 workers—mainly women—in Bangladesh and India.
Before joining BSR, Ella was partnership manager on CARE International UK’s private-sector engagement team, working closely with companies including Barclays, Mondelez International, and GSK to develop mutually beneficial partnerships and deliver business and social impact, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion. Ella also spent three years as a VSO fundraising advisor in India working for grassroots disability and rural development organizations.
Ella holds a Master’s in Development Studies from Birkbeck, University of London.
HERproject Team
Christine Svarer
Director, HERproject | France
Christine leads BSR’s HERproject—our women's empowerment workplace program that brings together global and local companies, business associations, and donors to support women in global supply chains through health, finance, and other curricula.
With more than 15 years working in international development, Christine has substantial global experience in women’s economic empowerment, private-sector development, financial inclusion, value chain development, enterpreneurship, cross-sector partnerships, and social enterprise.
Prior to BSR, Christine was the director of women’s economic empowerment at CARE International, leading the organization’s global work to support 30 million women and give them greater access to and control over economic resources and opportunities. Before that, Christine led CARE International’s work on private-sector development, focusing on inclusive business models and bottom-of-the-pyramid social enterprise development, and significantly expanding CARE’s strategic engagement with companies. Christine also previously worked on building leadership training programs for sustainable development at Lead International and for the United Nations Development Programme. She speaks English, Spanish and Danish.
Christine holds an M.S. in International Development and Business and a B.S. in International Business and Modern Languages, both from Copenhagen Business School. She also holds an Advanced Business Management degree from IESE Business School.
Isadora Loreto, Associate | Barcelona; Smita Nimilita, Bangladesh Country Representative | Dhaka; Jessica Witten, Associate | Paris
With reference to Bangladesh’s rapid digitization program in response to COVID-19, this blog highlights how the large-scale digitization of wages can benefit women, as well as the barriers and challenges that needs to be addressed to deliver the full benefit of wage digitization.
Isadora Loreto, Associate | Barcelona; Smita Nimilita, Bangladesh Country Representative | Dhaka; Jessica Witten, Associate | Paris
This brief explains wage digitization and its potential to contribute to women’s empowerment, presents learnings from HERfinance Digital Wages Program, and provides recommendations for employers and practitioners to ensure wage digitization is gender responsive and that women fully benefit from the transition.
In the HERfinance Digital Wages program in Bangladesh, designed to support garment factories making the transition from cash to digital payrolls, we found a tangible connection between tailoring programs to women’s needs and an increase in women’s financial inclusion and empowerment.
Christine leads BSR’s HERproject—our women's empowerment workplace program that brings together global and local companies, business associations, and donors to support women in global supply chains through health, finance, and other curricula.
With more than 15 years working in international development, Christine has substantial global experience in women’s economic empowerment, private-sector development, financial inclusion, value chain development, enterpreneurship, cross-sector partnerships, and social enterprise.
Prior to BSR, Christine was the director of women’s economic empowerment at CARE International, leading the organization’s global work to support 30 million women and give them greater access to and control over economic resources and opportunities. Before that, Christine led CARE International’s work on private-sector development, focusing on inclusive business models and bottom-of-the-pyramid social enterprise development, and significantly expanding CARE’s strategic engagement with companies. Christine also previously worked on building leadership training programs for sustainable development at Lead International and for the United Nations Development Programme. She speaks English, Spanish and Danish.
Christine holds an M.S. in International Development and Business and a B.S. in International Business and Modern Languages, both from Copenhagen Business School. She also holds an Advanced Business Management degree from IESE Business School.
This blog explains how the HERfinance Digital Wages Tech Learning Tool incorporates technology to make learning and training more engaging for workers. It also discusses how technology can play a role in bridging the digital gender divide and giving women the skills that they will need in the economies of the future.
Ella manages the HERfinance Digital Wages program, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program supports ready made garment factories to digitize wage payments for 150,000 workers—mainly women—in Bangladesh and India.
Before joining BSR, Ella was partnership manager on CARE International UK’s private-sector engagement team, working closely with companies including Barclays, Mondelez International, and GSK to develop mutually beneficial partnerships and deliver business and social impact, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion. Ella also spent three years as a VSO fundraising advisor in India working for grassroots disability and rural development organizations.
Ella holds a Master’s in Development Studies from Birkbeck, University of London.
Lauren is responsible for the global implementation and quality of HERproject programming.
She also oversees HERproject’s strategy for monitoring and evaluation and program sustainability and contributes to BSR’s women’s empowerment practice.
Previously, Lauren worked at the Social Science Research Council in New York, where she conducted research on migration, development, and human rights. Lauren’s consulting experience includes giving advice on best practices for monitoring and evaluation for the Center for Socio-Economic Development and developing recommendations on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals agenda for UNDP. With a focus on sustainability in emerging markets, Lauren has led research projects on value chain development and women’s empowerment in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Vietnam.
Lauren holds an M.A. in Public Affairs from Sciences Po and a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University.
HERproject Team
Lucia Flores
Manager | France
Lucia manages the implementation of HERproject in Vietnam and oversees our HERrespect programming.
Prior to joining BSR, Lucia was an independent consultant in Mexico for two microfinance organizations serving women in rural and indigenous communities. In this role, she developed an impact assessment model to help the organizations measure their contribution to financial inclusion and women’s empowerment. Before that, she was a financial services consultant at PwC in Paris where she led implementation of risk and compliance programs for multinational banks.
Lucia holds a Master’s in Management and an M.A. in Political Philosophy and Ethics, both from Paris-Sorbonne University. She has B.A. in Philosophy from Toulouse University and is fluent in Spanish, French, and English.
