Lauren Braniff

Lauren Braniff worked as a consultant with CGAP on the Digital Finance + Initiative. Previously, Lauren Braniff served as Managing Editor of the Microfinance Gateway from 2011-2014 where she led content strategy for the Gateway sites and created the forthcoming Gateway Academy, an online learning platform for financial inclusion professionals. Prior to joining the Gateway, she spent five years with CGAP’s Technology Program where she conducted research, led branchless banking projects, and managed the Information Systems Program. Prior to joining CGAP, Lauren held positions at a microfinance institution in Cambodia, as a microenterprise development consultant, and as a researcher for an education nonprofit.

Lauren holds a master’s degree in international development from SAIS at Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in international political economy from the University of California, Berkeley.

By Lauren Braniff

Blog

Virtual Conference Day 2: Getting Past the Same Old Conversation

As concerns grow in the microfinance community about delinquency crises, responsible finance, client over indebtedness, and social performance management, it becomes increasingly important for MFIs to have solid systems in place to manage their business and understand clients.
Blog

Virtual Conference Day 1: Capacity Building

During our recent workshop series, a consistent theme across all regions was the notion that adoption and usage of back end systems could be done more successfully and for less money if (a) MFIs had better internal skills to work with technology and (b) if vendors gained a more intimate knowledge of MFI operations and requirements. Would capacity building at MFIs and vendors help alleviate technology headaches at MFIs?
Blog

Virtual Conference: Getting Past the Technology Hurdles at MFIs

Over the past several months, CGAP and Grameen Foundation, with support from the MasterCard Foundation and the EU/ACP Microfinance Programme, hosted a series of four workshops to discuss the back office challenges at MFIs. Workshops took place in Washington, DC, Kenya, India, and Peru in an attempt to understand the issues at both a global and regional level.
Blog

India, Microfinance, and Technology

Back office management is a source of such stress for many MFIs that it’s exciting to see MFIs trying new and innovative ways of addressing these issues. Sahayata’s back office strategy includes not only technology, but also people and processes.
Blog

CGAP Releases New Software Reviews

CGAP’s Software Reviews aim to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) make informed technology decisions by facilitating access to information on commercially available information systems (IS) products.