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IMPACT-WB25X

IMPACT-WB25X will take place during the 2025 World Bank Spring Meetings, in collaboration with esteemed partners IFC SME Finance Forum and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. This convergence of minds and resources promises to be a pivotal moment in the global pursuit of progress, with a focus on three critical domains: financial inclusion, educating for Revolution 4.0, and job creation.

Date: April 25th, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Location:  Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001

Schedule

TIMESESSIONPARTICIPANTS
 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM Registration & Networking Coffee & Nibbles
 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM IntroductionChiedo Nwankwor, PhD, Vice Dean for Education and Academic Affairs, Johns Hopkins
Nish Acharya, CEO, Equal Innovation
 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM KeynoteHemang Jani, Senior Advisor to the Executive Director, The World Bank
10:35 AM - 11:15 AM Session: Job Creation Moderator: Harin Contractor, Director of Workforce Innovation, Burning Glass Institute & fmr WH National Economic Council staff
Startups: Ecochic Upcycling, Preservation Africa Fund (PAF), Invisible Strengths, Sanicle
 11:20 AM - 11:35 AM KeynoteQamar Saleem, Global Head, IFC SME Finance Forum
 11:40 AM - 12:20 PM Session: Financial Inclusion Moderator: Zubaida Bai, President & CEO, Grameen Foundation
Startups: Vittas, Swft, CrossKudi, Quipu
 12:20 PM - 01:00 PM Lunch & Networking
 01:00 PM - 1:40 PM Session: Education & Skills Moderator: Dahlia Sokolov, Director of Policy, US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Startups: K12 Preparatory Academy Inc., ROSS Leaders, Financial Joy School
 1:40 PM - 1:50 PM Closing RemarksNish Acharya, CEO, Equal Innovation

SPEAKERS

Hemang Jani

Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank


With over two decades of experience at national and international levels, Mr. Hemang Jani is a seasoned public policy professional. He
has worked in public policy, governance, and innovation systems.

Qamar Saleem

Global Head, IFC SME Finance Forum

Qamar is the SME Finance head, the world’s leading center for knowledge exchange, good practice promotion and public-private dialogue in this field.

Dahlia Sokolov

Staff Director, Research & Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Dahlia Sokolov is the Staff Director for the Research & Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. In this role, Dahlia advises Committee Members on oversight and legislative issues regarding the National Science Foundation; the National Institute of Standards and Technology; interagency R&D initiatives; STEM education across the federal government; international S&T cooperation; federal policies for university research; all matters relating to competitiveness, technology, standards, and innovation; and R&D at the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security.

Harin Contractor

Director of Workforce Innovation at the Burning Glass Institute

Harin Contractor is Director of Workforce Innovation at the Burning Glass Institute where he focuses on placed-based workforce development efforts. Prior to joining the Institute, Harin served as Director of Labor Policy for the National Economic Council at the White House, where he led numerous critical initiatives to advance issues related to workforce development and economic mobility. He is passionate about fighting poverty and inequality, promoting diversity and inclusion, and empowering communities of color. 

Zubaida Bai

President and CEO, Grameen Foundation

Zubaida Bai is Grameen Foundation's President and CEO. Beginning her career as a mechanical engineer, Zubaida transitioned into the social impact space after visiting a midwife in rural India. efforts. Bai went on to found ayzh, a social enterprise that designs vital hygiene and reproductive healthcare products to women and girls in resource-poor settings. She was also the managing director of social ventures at CARE International.
In 2022, Bai joined Grameen Foundation as the President and CEO, advancing Grameen's work to invest in women’s power by reframing the role of gender in the local and global economy, with the goal of ending poverty and hunger in our lifetime.

Participating Startups

 STARTUP NAMEELEVATOR PITCH
 CrossKudi  Our world is increasingly becoming borderless, yet B2B payments remain complex for the Global South businesses. We believe they can pay seamlessly, without friction or delays. That's why we're building CrossKudi, a decentralized cross border payment platform. 
 
EcoChic Upcycling 
 EcoChic Upcycling is a social enterprise that hosts monthly bazaars where people sell, exchange, and donate second-hand clothing to promote circular economy and slow fashion. We support young entrepreneurs, hold upcycling contests, offer sustainability workshops, and donate clothes to communities, creating a positive impact on the world. 
 Financial Joy School  Financial Joy School helps Black, Brown, and disabled families build generational wealth through fun, accessible financial education. Using tools like the LEGACY! Card Game, workshops, and digital resources, it empowers families to invest and plan for the future. Its mission: close the racial wealth gap and spread financial joy nationwide. 
  Quipu, leverages AI to democratize access to capital for micro-businesses in Latin America, offering innovative credit-scoring solutions to lend efficiently to informal businesses. Quipu has successfully served over 15K clients
  Shamrck creates talent pipelines for businesses by using AI to upskill high school students to be career-ready after graduation.
 Swft  Swft is a cash flow automation tool that streamlines payments, collections, and financing—connecting directly to your ERP and bank to unlock working capital and simplify finance operations.
 Invisible Strengths  A more efficient way to hire top talent and build capacity of staff. Uplift underrepresented talent pipelines , consulting services and and capacity building workshops to upskill management. 
 Preservation Africa Fund (PAF)  Revive precolonial UNESCO sites into world-class tourism destinations for the Diaspora. Sites are last-standing markers of Africa's early mastery of engineering, physics, math to architecture. Everywhere else, modern UNESCO infrastructure has proven to create regional cooperation/peace; generates billions for local communities. Here, sites have been left to rot. Until now. 
 ROSS Leaders  In response to the unrest in South Sudan, ROSS Leaders began to provide youth support and community advancement programs to South Sudanese communities in Omaha, Nebraska, arguably the most underserved group in the Midwest, ROSS Leaders programs cultivate community through education, health & wellness, cultural engagement, and career exploration. 
 Sanicle  Menstrual and menopause care is a workplace issue, an economic issue, and a public health issue, yet it remains an overlooked category in employer-sponsored benefits. By leveraging high-profile global events, femtech brands can break taboos, drive policy change, and position themselves as essential partners for corporate and government employers.
 Vittas  Vittas International is a digital lender improving healthcare outcomes by financing medical equipment and inventory for clinics. Our embedded POS and accounting tools enable data-driven lending, helping providers scale sustainably and expanding access to quality care in underserved communities across Africa.