LONDON – The Financial Inclusion Forum Ltd (known as FIF) announced the appointment of Barry Kolodkin and Brian Doe as directors of its Board of Directors with effect from 20 March 2024. Currently, Kolodkin is a strategic advisor to a variety of stakeholders in Southeast Europe, while Doe is the Inclusive Finance Manager at Skylight Ventures.
FIF’s Co-Chairs, Åse Bergstedt and Rishi Raithatha said, “We’re happy to welcome Barry Kolodkin and Brian Doe to FIF’s board of directors. Both bring significant experience and a desire to continue FIF’s mission of serving as the platform for knowledge sharing on financial inclusion in the UK. FIF relies on its board to carry out its activities, and we’re excited about the ideas and energy that both Barry and Brian will bring.”
Barry Kolodkin has worked for over twenty years on development finance, investment in emerging and frontier markets, private sector development, and financial inclusion. He currently works as a strategic advisor to organisations and financial institutions on impact strategy and measurement, monitoring and evaluation, and business development. Kolodkin is also an advisor for a venture capital fund focussed on scientific and research startups in Southeast Europe. His previous experience includes roles at the EBRD, the United Nations, Thomson Reuters and IBM Consulting. Kolodkin holds a BA from Brandeis University and an MA from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.
Kolodkin said, “I am thrilled to join the board of the Financial Inclusion Forum as I have learned through my work in access to finance that a lack of awareness of the problem and its different dimensions is a major contributor to insufficient financial inclusion. The Forum, as an inclusive and broad-minded platform to gather expert opinions, exchange ideas, and motivate action toward greater financial inclusion, plays an important role in building awareness through its events and activities. I look forward to contributing to the Forum’s work and advancing its goal of helping excluded people overcome financial and social obstacles.”
Brian Doe has over 15 years of experience managing funding and investment into the financial inclusion space both globally and in the UK. He currently is managing the start-up of a new UK community finance lender, Skylight Ventures, that serves entrepreneurs from a refugee background in the UK. Doe previously managed investment and funding into UK community finance for Fair4All Finance and microfinance institutions across a portfolio of 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe for the Whole Planet Foundation. He has a BA from Northwestern University and an MA in Economics from Tufts University in Boston, USA.
Doe said, “Since I started living in the UK, I have admired the Forum’s ability to bring attention to important thinking and innovation in the financial inclusion space through a diverse range of events and a wide, inclusive network. The accessibility and openness of the Forum to anyone interested in financial inclusion is increasingly rare but critical to the growing visibility of the sector in the UK. I look forward to supporting the Forum’s success in the years ahead.”
ENDS
About FIF
FIF is a London-based, not-for-profit organisation that organises free, live events for people in the financial inclusion space to develop their knowledge and engagement in financial inclusion. Expert speakers are invited to share their thoughts on sustainable, innovative, scalable financial inclusion. The events serve as networking opportunities for London- and UK-based financial inclusion practitioners.
For more information, please visit FIF’s website
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