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 leads on the implementation of HERproject programs in Vietnam..
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
Manager | 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
Manager, HERproject | France
Isadora is the global lead for HERrespect, HERproject’s pillar dedicated to promoting gender equality and tackling violence against women. She also manages HERproject in Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia, where she is responsible for overall program implementation, quality monitoring, and communication with brands and factories.
Isadora was originally based in BSR’s Hong Kong office. Prior to joining BSR, Isadora worked at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)’s Bangkok office, where she was part of the gender and social inclusion division. In this role, she focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment policies in the Asia-Pacific region.
Isadora holds a Master’s Degree in International Law and Economics, with a focus on International Development and Humanitarian Action, from the Institut d'Etudes Humanitaires - Université Paul Cézanne Aix Marseille III. She is a native French speaker and is fluent in English and Spanish.
Training and support are vital to help workers, especially women, transition to digital wages and help them to access, use, and ultimately benefit from their new payroll accounts.
Justin leads on the implementation of HERproject programs in Vietnam..
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.
James Steady, Associate, HERproject; Akhand Tiwari, Associate Partner, MSC
New research from HERproject and MSC confirms that greater efforts are needed to build Indian female workers' knowledge, confidence, and agency regarding digital financial services.
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.
Mansi Gupta, HERproject Consultant | India; Ganga Nair, HERproject Consultant | India; Isadora Loreto, Associate | Barcelona
In this blog, Payal Dalal, Senior Vice President of Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Christine Svarer, Director of HERproject discuss the opportunity to accelerate the transition to digital financial services and generate positive impact for low-income workers across the global supply-chains, and considerations required to ensure the transition is inclusive, effective, and beneficial to all.
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.
This Menstrual Hygiene Day, HERproject is sharing insights and findings from HERproject programming in Ethiopia and India on the needs that women workers face and emerging good practice on how to support menstrual health in the supply chain.
Margaux Yost, Former Manager | France; Ella Moffat, Manager | France
The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly transformed from a global health crisis into a financial crisis, particularly for low-income female workers in global supply chains. However, companies can effectively deploy preventative measures to support workers and workplaces to protect their health and strengthen their financial resilience.
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.
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.
