Grace Majara

Grace Majara

Role: Senior Advisor – Financial Inclusion

Team: Women's Economic Empowerment team

Profile:

Prior to joining CARE International UK as Senior Advisor – Financial Inclusion, I led the Women and Youth Financial Inclusion programme for CARE International in Uganda where I provided strategic direction and leadership for a number of financial inclusion, enterprise development and market access programmes.

I championed the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology and took it to scale for CARE Uganda and across the region. I have over 18 years experience in developing and implementing financial inclusion and innovative solutions that includes VSLA programming, digital technology, financial literacy and linkages, enterprise development and value chain programming.

Through my work, I have partnered with banks, microfinance institutions, mobile network operators and others in the private sector to adapt financial services to meet the needs of poor and marginalised people, especially women and youth, and have been involved in creating and co-creating innovative solutions, including digital solutions, to bring financial inclusion to previously unreached communities.


Blog posts

The number of women in the world who still lack access to formal financial services stands at 1 billion. While this figure is going down, the discrimination that women face compared to men, in terms of their access to and control over loans,


Humanitarian team

CARE International UK’s humanitarian team supports CARE’s humanitarian work by accessing funding, and by providing project management and technical advice and capacity to CARE’s country offices and CARE’s emergency responses. CARE has a strong focus on ensuring that all our humanitarian programming responds meaningfully to the needs and capacities of different people, whatever their gender, identity or particular circumstances. CARE’s emergency shelter team is also based at CARE International UK.

Head of Humanitarian

I joined CARE International UK in 2017 and currently head up our Humanitarian team. Before CARE, I worked for DFID…

Global Emergency Shelter Team Leader

I joined CARE International UK in 2017 to lead the Emergency Shelter Team, which provides technical support to CARE country…

Inclusive Governance team

Poverty and social injustice are caused and maintained by unequal power relations that result in the inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities – between women and men, between power-holders and marginalised communities, and between countries. CARE believes poor governance is a key cause of poverty and social injustice. Our Inclusive Governance team promotes inclusive and accountable governance systems so that poor and marginalised people have influence over decisions that affect their lives. We help communities get organised and get their priorities included in development planning. We work to increase women’s voice and leadership in public life. We support service users to hold service providers to account. We work with public authorities and service providers to help them become more transparent and responsive to poor and marginalised people.

Senior Governance Advisor – Asia and MENA

As a member of CARE International’s global Inclusive Governance technical team, currently based in Myanmar, I provide technical assistance to…

Governance and Accountability Advisor, Africa

Currently I am advisor on inclusive governance and accountability for the Eastern, Southern and Horn of Africa region within CARE…

Programmes and Policy team

The Programmes and Policy team is responsible for overseeing programme quality and multiplying the impact of our programming by encouraging governments, business and donors – based on the evidence we witness on the ground – to adopt policy reforms that support the world’s poorest people and communities. Working in partnership with our country programmes, women’s rights organisations and civil society, we put forward the views of the most marginalised to governments, including the UK government, multinational businesses and global institutions and press the case for change. In short, our goal is to change the rules of the game that keep people poor.

Policy and Advocacy Assistant

I see my role as a bridge between those who deserve change and those who have the power to make…

Head of Africa Programme Management

I provide strategic support to CARE country offices and manage a portfolio of projects mainly on gender-based violence and governance…

Strategic Partnerships team

Strategic partnerships are a key way for CARE to increase and widen our impact. Our Private Sector Engagement team partners with national and multinational companies to co-create innovative 'inclusive business' approaches that drive new opportunities for poor people as producers, workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers. We – and our partners – believe this makes good business sense: helping to generate efficiency, securing supply chains, accessing new markets and products, and improving credibility with consumers who increasingly expect companies to behave responsibly. Our Institutional Partnerships team connects the vision and commitment of our funding partners with poverty-fighting programmes throughout the world.

Senior Corporate Partnerships Executive

Within my role, I manage corporate partner funding and the relationship with corporate partners, as well as working with teams…

Senior Corporate Partnerships Executive

I manage CARE’s Cocoa Life partnership with Mondelez in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, working to create a vibrant, strong cocoa…

Women’s Economic Empowerment team

Our Women’s Economic Empowerment team leads CARE’s work globally to ensure women have greater access to and control over economic resources, assets and opportunities. We focus on four inter-related pathways to economic empowerment, based on a combination of women’s core economic roles as producers, workers, entrepreneurs and consumers: financial inclusion, women and value chains, dignified work, and entrepreneurship. We also focus on supporting the involvement of women in creating resilient markets in fragile and humanitarian contexts.

Advisor – Dignified Work

I provide technical expertise for CARE globally on Dignified Work – CARE’s strategy for promoting access to gender-equitable, economically empowering…

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisor

Regine is currently on leave. I lead CARE International’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning work for our Women’s Economic Empowerment programmes.…

I joined CARE in August 2014, because I believe strongly in our focus on economic development, gender equality and people…

CARE International alumni

Many CARE staff who have written Insights blogs have since moved on to other roles. Your blogs are still part of the CARE story – and we welcome any future contributions you may make to Insights and to our shared learning on what works in humanitarian response and international development.

Senior Account Manager – Health

As a member of the Private Sector Engagement team, Kate led the strategic partnership between CARE International and GlaxoSmithKline. She…

Tom joined CARE in 2011 and from 2015 he led the Strategic Partnerships team at CARE International UK. In January…