Jahda Swanborough leads CGAP’s communications and information technology team, which manages CGAP’s overall brand equity and influence strategies, the production and dissemination of knowledge products, and delivery of CGAP’s websites (including FinDev Gateway). 

Jahda is a global communications strategist with deep expertise in sustainable development issues and networks. Before joining CGAP in 2021, he was a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum where he led strategic communications, campaigns, content marketing, and digital strategy for the Forum’s Centre for Global Public Goods. He also built and facilitated collaborative multi-sector global partnerships. 

Prior to the World Economic Forum, Jahda held communications leadership positions at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Jahda also co-founded a successful retail business in his native Australia and has experience in small business planning. He has a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Australian National University.
 

Carola Saba manages CGAP members relations, works to bring new members onboard, and supports the Member Engagement and Governance team. Carola also supports fundraising efforts, intelligence gathering, and analysis. She contributes to the team’s strategy-building processes, project documents, and internal processes.

Carola has worked in international development and financial inclusion for the past 20 years and has held senior management and leadership positions in the field. Before joining CGAP, she worked for the United Nations Capital Development Fund and Women’s World Banking. She has also been an independent consultant for several foundations and organizations in the financial inclusion sector.

She has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University and a Certificate in Management from Harvard University. She speaks Spanish (native).

Igor Tutnjevic leads the Corporate Team that provides Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Legal, IT and Administrative support to CGAP operations. Igor is a native Bosnian and has worked for number of donor-funded World Bank and IFC programs for the past eighteen years.

He has extensive experience in setting up middle office support functions for World Bank Group offices in Europe, Asia and Africa. Igor was involved in humanitarian work with the Red Cross and United Nations during the conflict in former Yugoslavia, focusing on refugees and related issues.  

Gerhard Coetzee leads an outcome area in CGAP that aims to Foster a Responsible Enabling Ecosystem for inclusive finance. His team works on the regulatory frontier and financial inclusion, responsible digital finance ecosystems, and gender-focused guidance for policymakers and regulators.

Gerhard is an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. Before CGAP, he was Head of Inclusive Banking at Absa Bank (South Africa), responsible for its digital money proposition. Gerhard was the founder and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Banking in Africa and a Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Pretoria. He was the technical lead and CEO of ECIAfrica (a consulting firm owned by DAI). He had several senior roles focused on policy at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. His specialization areas are inclusive finance, development finance, agricultural finance and rural development. He has been published widely and worked in several countries, the majority in Africa.

Gerhard holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Michael Tarazi leads CGAP’s newest work area focused on incentivizing investments to bring financial inclusion to scale.  Michael has over a decade of experience in development finance, having previously developed and led CGAP’s member engagement teams, launched and managed CGAP’s work in financial innovation for smallholder families, and led CGAP’s efforts in branchless banking regulation. He has worked with regulators around the world to develop regulatory frameworks and has also taught courses on regulating financial services at the Boulder Institute for Microfinance and the Fletcher Leadership Program for regulators.

Before joining CGAP, Michael was a corporate attorney in private practice and served as the European General Counsel to a U.S. company providing digital payment services to developing countries. He also served as an adviser to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Michael was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has a Law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. He speaks Arabic and French.
 

Claudia McKay leads CGAP’s work on strengthening the role that financial services play in achieving green and resilient outcomes, especially for women. This includes financial services for climate resilience and adaptation, including both private and public sector solutions, and with a particular emphasis on the nexus between climate, gender and financial inclusion. This also includes financial services to help vulnerable people cope with the many risks and shocks they face through work in highly fragile countries and on inclusive insurance.  
 
Since joining CGAP 12 years ago, Claudia has worked and published on a wide variety of topics, including agent networks, human centered design, effective regulations, interoperability, open APIs and enhancing the livelihoods of platform-based workers through financial services. Claudia has also worked extensively in specific markets to develop inclusive financial ecosystems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
  
Claudia has over 20 years of development and financial inclusion experience. Before joining CGAP, Claudia spent seven years working for Opportunity International, a global network of microfinance organizations, including four years as head of Microfinance Banking for Opportunity Bank in Malawi. She has also worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. 
  
Claudia has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. 

Xavier Faz is the lead for CGAP’s work on technology and business models in digital finance. His area of work includes emerging technologies, fintech and digital banking, as well as open platforms. He is also CGAP’s Regional Head for Latin America & the Caribbean.

Prior to CGAP, Xavier was VP of Strategic Planning for a development bank in Mexico, where he helped launch a line of services offering low cost banking infrastructure and payments to microfinance and nonbank financial institutions in that market. He also worked with McKinsey & Company in Mexico and Central America, supporting large organizations in banking, retail and consumer goods, in leveraging emerging technologies to launch new base-of-the-pyramid businesses. Before that, Xavier was a Systems Engineer at several startups in Mexico and Silicon Valley, as well as Field Engineer for Schlumberger in North Africa.

Xavier has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and an Engineering degree in Electronic Systems from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, México.