Project team

Leadership

The Small Firm Diaries is led by the Financial Access Initiative (FAI). FAI is a research center housed at NYU Wagner focused on how financial services can better meet the needs and improve the lives of poor households around the world. With partners, FAI produced the Portfolios of the Poor and the US Financial Diaries projects. These groundbreaking studies reshaped the financial inclusion field, illuminating volatility as a central issue for low-income households around the world.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Jonathan Morduch

FAI, NYU Wagner (All Countries)

Timothy Ogden

FAI, NYU Wagner (All Countries)

Julia Cajal

IHEID (Uganda)

Lore Vandewalle

IHEID (Uganda)

Chris Woodruff

Oxford University (Uganda)

Ryan Edwards

Australian National University (Fiji)

Research Implementation

Three organizations will manage the in-country implementation of Small Firm Diaries field research, bringing methods, experience, and findings from many previous diaries studies.

LOW-INCOME FINANCIAL TRANSFORMATION

(L-IFT) specializes in financial diaries research to support evidence-based policymaking. They work with microfinance and other organizations to develop products and services based on financial diaries. L-IFT has conducted diaries research in over 10 countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

MICROFINANCE OPPORTUNITIES

(MFO) is a global non-profit committed to understanding the financial realities of low-income households. They work with financial service providers, policy makers, and mobile money operators to connect service offerings to the realities of the unbanked or underserved.

EDI GLOBAL

EDI Global, based in East Africa, has a global reputation for quality survey design and data collection services aimed at assessing international development program impacts, measuring results, and evaluating potential solutions to global poverty.

Engagement
& Learning

A network of local engagement partners will collaborate closely with researchers to deepen the team’s understanding of local context and ensure the research has local relevance.

LOCAL PARTNERS

Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics

Lagos Business School

FSD-Uganda

SMERU Indonesia

The University of the South Pacific

Others to be added

Advisory Board

Members of our advisory board with expertise in research, policy, financial services, and business support programs will help translate findings to impact.

Tamara Cook

CEO, FSD-Kenya

Matthew Guttentag

Director of Research & Impact, ANDE

Morgan Hardy
Professor of Economics, NYU Abu Dhabi

Machal Karim

Executive, Development Impact, CDC

Leora Klapper

Lead Economist, World Bank and founder of the Global Findex

David McKenzie

Lead Economist, Development Research Group, World Bank

Juan Navarette
Vice President of Business and Partnerships Development, Fundacion Capital

Juan Carlos Thomas
Global Entrepreneurship Director, TechnoServe

Others to be announced