Join L-IFT’s Humanitarian Aid Virtual Conference about Leveraging FINBIT for Humanitarian Aid
We are excited to invite you to an online conference designed to introduce humanitarian aid organizations to L-IFT and our innovative technology system, FINBIT. This event will offer insights into how our unique tools and approaches can enhance your humanitarian efforts.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- Introduction to L-IFT: Learn about our mission, unique data collection methods, and how we empower organizations to make informed, data-driven decisions.
- Explore FINBIT: Dive into FINBIT, our powerful financial inclusion tool, and see how it can generate invaluable data to drive financial empowerment among the communities you serve.
- FINBIT and Humanitarian Aid: Discover how FINBIT can be utilized in humanitarian aid contexts to identify financial needs, assess impact, and tailor interventions.
- Experiences with FINBIT: Listen to past experiences of humanitarian organizations that have integrated FINBIT into their operations and learn about the benefits and positive impact it had on their work.
- Collaboration Opportunities: Explore potential partnerships between L-IFT and your organization to fully harness the power of FINBIT and drive sustainable change in your humanitarian work.
- Q&A: Engage in an interactive Q&A session with our team to get your questions answered, seek advice, and explore potential collaborations.
Don’t miss this chance to understand the transformative potential of FINBIT and how your humanitarian organization can benefit from a partnership with L-IFT. Join us for an informative and inspiring conference that will offer new perspectives on leveraging data for humanitarian work.
About this Event
24 August 2023
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EAT/10:00 AM – 11:30 AM CEST
Speakers
Managing Director – L-IFT Anne Marie van Swinderen is the founder of L-IFT BV. She has been active in financial inclusion for over 30 years. She brings along experience in numerous projects: agricultural and cooperative finance in Zambia, microfinance outreach in Bolivia, financial diaries in Colombia, studies about demand for mobile financial services, product development for mobile financial services in Ethiopia and youth financial diaries in Togo and Ethiopia. 
Anne Marie van Swinderen
Programme Coordinator – L-IFT Frehiwot Sinishaw is a programme coordinator at L-IFT with 6+ years of work experience. She is responsible for recruitment, coaching, and monitoring of field researchers and supervisors. She assists in giving training to field researchers, reports writing, proposal writing, and data processing. She contributes to communication including assisting in social media and website activities, in addition to document organization and facilitation of conferences and meetings. She has a master’s degree in public international law. 
Frehiwot Sinishaw
Technology Manager – L-IFT Haimanot Tiruneh is a technology manager with a passion for creating practical solutions. With a background in mathematics and physics during his undergraduate studies, he brings a strong foundation in analytical thinking and problem-solving to his work. Haimanot has played a pivotal role in developing and delivering FINBIT, a multi-purpose financial monitoring system. Haimanot is currently pursuing a part-time Master’s degree in Analytics at Georgia Institute of Technology which is helping further refine FINBIT.
Haimanot Yibeltal
Programme Manager – L-IFT Mhlalisi Ncube is Programme Manager at L-IFT BV responsible for its activities in Southern Africa from his base in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. His focus is on enabling people to self-report their financial diaries and themselves benefit from the reported data. He manages the IMBE work with 2000 ECD preschool entrepreneurs self-reporting in FINBIT, the Corner Shop project across 11 countries and recently started FINBIT work with Africa Foundation’s hustler programme. Mhlalisi studied Sociology and Anthropology at Manhattanville College in New York.
Mhlalisi Ncube
Field Supervisor – L-IFT Mibaraka works as a Field Supervisor in the Ugandan refugee camp of Nakivale. His undergraduate degree is in rural development. He joined L-IFT in 2019 to work on the RISE/Diaries Research as a field researcher. He had previously worked as a secondary school teacher and deputy headmaster. He also served as the secretary of a DRC development mediation group. He also worked for the African Initiative for Reliable and Development (AIRD) as a data collector. He is the founder and chairperson of Change Our Life Increasing Savings and Assisting Read More>>
Mibaraka Kamana Bishendwa
Field Supervisor – L-IFT Rachael started working with L-IFT in 2019 on the RISE Project in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement. She has a Bachelor of Education from Makerere University. She taught at several secondary schools before joining L-IFT, including Entebbe Parents School, Kauda Teacher Training College in South Sudan, National Democratic Institute in Juba, South Sudan, and Yei Teacher Training College in South Sudan. She has also served as an Environment Extension Worker for Inter Aid Uganda Kiryandongo Settlement, Ground Truth Solutions Kiryandongo Read More>>
Rachael Dusio
Data Integrity Intern – L-IFT Beemnet Jember holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management. Beemnet works as a data integrity intern at L-IFT, where her primary role entails identifying errors in uploaded data, evaluating the overall quality of all collected data, generating queries, searching for any missing information, and contacting the field manager or team to request updated data.
Beemnet Jember
Project Manager – L-IFT Henok Biazin is currently managing RFDF project in Uganda and post SFD project activities in Ethiopia. He started working with L-IFT as a Field Supervisor for SFD Ethiopia in 2019, where he has been there since the inception phase up to the successful completion of the project. Henok has a BA degree in Sociology and Social Work from Jimma University and an MA degree in Sociology from Addis Ababa University. In addition to his five years’ experience of teaching at Ambo University, he has an excellent experience in research, survey coordination and Read More>>
Henok Biazin
Data Expert – L-IFT John Kamau is currently working for L-IFT as a data expert. He has a degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi. He also has a certificate in CPA 2 and for Data Science in R and Python. He has over 5 years experience in Data: as an operations analyst in a transport Sacco, a market data analyst, an innovation analyst as well as a data scientist in the financial sector. He is experienced in Machine learning in both R and Python as well as SQL and big data analysis in Spark. Read More>>
John Kamau
Communications and Acquisitions Officer – L-IFT Arsema serves as the Communications and Acquisitions Officer at L-IFT, where she adeptly identifies and connects with potential partners to propel the company’s mission forward. Currently enhancing her academic credentials with an undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College, Arsema’s commitment to excellence is evident in her multifaceted role. Even amid her academic pursuits, she passionately undertook a summer internship with L-IFT, showcasing her dedication to the field and her drive to make an impact.
Arsema Bejiga
Guest Speaker – Opportunity International Noah Ssempijja is Opportunity International’s Country Lead for the Refugee Financial Inclusion Program. Noah is in charge of end-to-end management of the programme from field implementation, compliance, partnerships management, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Under his leadership, Noah oversaw the implementation of the Refugees, Innovation; Self-reliance, and Empowerment (RISE-Project) that extended tailored financial services to over 10,000 refugees in Uganda. L-IFT collaborated on this program, and their data collected through financial diaries and FinBit facilitated and understanding of refugee financial needs and the development of tailored products. 
Noah Ssempijja