Mrs. Mariama Ashcroft started working with WWB in January 1999. She is presently the WWB Relationship Manager for Africa. As a Relationship Manager, Mrs. Ashcroft is responsible for developing and maintaining effective relationships with WWB network members in Africa, assisting them to define their goals, and mobilizing resources from WWB and within the microfinance industry to help them expand responsive and sustainable financial services to low income women. In this capacity, Mrs. Ashcroft has worked with several WWB network members, including those in Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Mariama has also served as WWB Policy and Industry Impact Manager for Africa, working with WWB network members, policy makers and other national and global microfinance leaders to influence financial sector policies, structures and processes that work for low income people and microfinance institutions. In this capacity, she has worked very closely with the Africa Microfinance Network (AFMIN) and several national microfinance networks to promote the development and implementation of appropriate policies and regulatory frameworks, institutional support infrastructure and domestic financing mechanisms for microfinance. From 1997 to 2000, she played an instrumental role in the WWB/UNDP Regional Program to Build Microfinance Networks in Africa, which resulted in the creation of AFMIN and several national microfinance networks in Africa.

From 1992 to 1998, Mrs. Ashcroft was the General Manager of the Gambia Women's Finance Association, a WWB affiliate and leader in microfinance in the Gambia. She has served on the WWB Global Board of Trustees and on the Boards of several Gambian organizations including the National Council on Women. She is a recognized community organizer, educator and an advocate of women's issues with more than 30 years experience in the public and development sectors. She has extensive experience in formulating national development policies, strategies and programs in the fields of development, microfinance and education.

Mrs. Ashcroft is a Gambian national and speaks English, French and three indigenous Gambian languages.

Mercedes Benavides is the Manager of Women's World Banking's Global Network for Banking Innovation in Microfinance (GNBI) and Manager for Latin America Market Development. GNBI brings together 24 leading commercial banks, state banks and microfinance institutions from 15 countries. As manager, Mercedes is responsible for strategies to promote bank entry into microfinance and to encourage the offering of a full range of products and services to low-income people. Her work involves mobilizing GNBI members as well as building strategic alliances with the Federation of Latin American Banks (FELABAN) and other institutions that share WWB's vision of increasing outreach to low-income people.

Mercedes is an international banker who specializes in emerging markets. She has worked in country debt restructuring, corporate finance and private banking for more than 15 years with Citibank and Merrill Lynch in New York. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Economics from Wellesley College and a Master's in Development Economics from Boston University. She is a Peruvian national and is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Luis Bocchio serves as a Relationship Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. He works closely with three WWB Network members in Colombia and the Dominican Republic, studying their needs and then connecting them with members of the New York-based WWB Global Team who can provide guidance and expertise in particular areas. Luis also plays an instrumental role linking MFIs with the resources of the entire WWB network.

Prior to joining WWB, was a International Financial consultant, working for American and European consulting companies, as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), providing technical assistant to private and public institutions of Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Jordan in microfinancial issues. He has also worked during 17 years in different Peruvian financial institutions, being his last appointment as CFO of Banco del Trabajo, the pioneer and leader in consumer microcredit in Peru. He holds a Licenciate Degree in Economics from the Universidad del Pacifica in Lima. Luis is a Peruvian national.

Saiful Islam supports WWB network institutions by delivering products to help build their microfinance operations, improve existing products and introduce new ones. He is also a core member of the WWB savings product group. In addition, he is the Relationship Manager of WWB's Sri Lankan network members, offering support in building and implementing their strategies and operations.

Saiful served as a WWB Relationship Manager for Asia from 1997 to 2002. He organized and provided services to network members in Asia; monitored the performance of Asian affiliates; coordinated affiliate exchange visits and played a key role in WWB's Asia expansion strategy.

Prior to joining WWB, Saiful was the Finance Manager of Shakti Foundation, a WWB affiliate in Bangladesh. Before that, he worked as the Finance Manager for another Bangladeshi microfinance institution. He has also worked as a consultant in the Field Operations section of UNICEF, Bangladesh. Saiful has Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Finance from Dhaka University. He is a citizen of Bangladesh, is fluent in English and Bangla, understands Hindi and can read Arabic.

Gil Lacson serves as a Relationship Manager for Asia. He works closely with six WWB Network members in Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines to connect them with members of the New York-based WWB Global Team who can provide guidance and expertise in particular areas. He does this by understanding network member needs, jointly developing change agendas, mobilizing resources, and managing WWB service delivery to their satisfaction. Gil also plays an instrumental role in linking MFIs with the resources of the entire WWB network Prior to assuming relationship management responsibilities, Gil served as Manager of WWB's Network Services Team from 1999 to 2002. The team supported Relationship Managers in their service delivery to network institutions and helped build WWB's capacity to deliver these services.

Prior to joining WWB, Gil was the Assistant Executive Director and Director for Operations of TSPI Development Corporation, a leading Philippine microfinance institution. He has also done consultancies in microfinance. Before being involved in microfinance, he had an extensive background in managing an export manufacturing company, running small-scale enterprises, and managing a credit and investment research team in a commercial bank. Gil holds a business economics degree from the University of the Philippines and a master's degree in business management from the Asian Institute of Management. Gil is a national of the Philippines and is fluent in English and Filipino.

Anne Maina joined WWB in 2008 as Relationship Manager for Africa.

Prior joining WWB, Anne worked for Deloitte Consulting in New York and in Nairobi as Project Manager. She has experience in Business process improvement and in corporate and commercial banking. She also worked for Delphi Capital Management as Financial Analyst.

Anne has an MBA in Strategic Management from the United States International University in Nairobi and a Master’s degree in Investment Management & Information Systems from Pace University in NY. Anne is Nairobian national, she speaks fluently English and Swahili.

Harsha Rodrigues is a Manager for WWB's Relationship Management Group. She is responsible for providing advisory services on corporate strategy development to microfinance institutions around the world. Her work includes designing and conducting organizational assessments that help microfinance institutions make strategic decisions in increasingly competitive markets. Recently, Harsha has been leveraging WWB's years of experience in India by leading a new initiative to bring diversified financial services to an increasing number of low-income individuals.

Prior to joining WWB, Harsha worked with Deloitte as a senior consultant and later as a manager and was responsible for leading teams in analyzing and implementing performance improvement strategies. She has a strong background working with institutions to improve their operations through the development of policies, procedures, quality control measures and other operational metrics. Harsha has a bachelor's degree in economics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She is an Indian national and is fluent in English, Hindi and basic French.