Fundación WWB Colombia joins the SME Finance Forum!

Fundación WWB Colombia has joined the SME Finance Forum, the leading global network dedicated to financing for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). This step is a natural one for the Foundation, an independent and autonomous organization that devoted its first three decades directly to the practice of microcredit. In 2011, the organization created Banco W to serve as its specialized vehicle for financial inclusion, allowing the Foundation to focus on building a comprehensive strategy to close gaps through the strengthening of personal and business capabilities; the generation of knowledge through research; and investment in impact funds with a gender lens. Today, as a strategic shareholder of the bank, the Foundation develops initiatives that drive economic autonomy, well-being, and social transformation.

“Joining the SME Finance Forum is a strategic commitment to co-creation and mutual learning. We arrive ready to share our decades-long experience in financial inclusion and women's economic empowerment, while strengthening our own initiatives with the insights of a global community dedicated to sustainable development. We firmly believe in local solutions with a global perspective, as they drive transformations that transcend borders,” says Daniela Konietzko Calero, President of Fundación WWB Colombia.

Participation in the SME Finance Forum will strengthen five strategic priorities for the Foundation:

• The exchange of best practices in entrepreneurship and financing with a gender focus.
• Access to technological innovation and digital transformation for traditionally excluded populations.
• The production of scientific evidence and comparative data on economic development.
• The strengthening of partnerships with international impact investment funds to mobilize resources to Colombia.
• The transfer of knowledge on financial innovation and microfinance.

This step reaffirms Fundación WWB Colombia’s conviction that the huge great development challenges of development require solutions built from the ground up and enriched through global collaboration—demonstrating that when women thrive, businesses grow stronger, communities flourish, and societies move forward.

“We welcome Fundación WWB Colombia to the SME Finance Forum and believe they bring a unique history and perspective to SME Finance that our network will value and benefit from. The mission of Fundación WWB Colombia is well aligned with that of the Forum and we believe we have much to learn from each other and look forward to ongoing partnership and collaboration.” Said Qamar Saleem, Head of the SME Finance Forum.

About Fundación WWB Colombia

An autonomous and independent Colombian organization that has worked for more than four decades to close the inequality gaps affecting women and to strengthen their active participation in economic development. Its work is organized around three areas of action: People, promoting leadership and personal and business empowerment; Knowledge, generating and disseminating evidence to help reduce inequalities; and Investment, allocating capital with a gender focus to strengthen women-led businesses and ventures.

Visit us here: https://www.fundacionwwbcolombia.org/