Lis Meyers

Lis Meyers is the senior gender specialist at Banyan Global, where she leads gender integration and women’s empowerment across economic growth, financial inclusion, trade, agriculture, and health sectors. She has led research on child, early and forced marriage, engaging men in women’s empowerment in agriculture, women’s role in informal cross-border trade, impact-sourcing, microwork and youth employment, and gender-related social norms. She is a facilitator of the SEEP Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group and served as the technical chair for the 2017 Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Learning Forum. Lis is an experienced gender trainer and has designed and facilitated gender 101 and advanced gender integration trainings, as well as Persuasive Communication and Negotiation workshops for women entrepreneurs and workshops on persuasive communications and women’s financial inclusion for CGAP. Before joining Banyan Global, Lis served as a gender consultant for UNWomen, GIZ, ACDI/VOCA, Concern Worldwide, and the International Rescue Committee. Lis has led and managed gender work in southern Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Rwanda, Cambodia, and the Philippines.  She has a Master’s Degree with Distinction from the London School of Economics and a BA in History from Brown University.

By Lis Meyers

Research

Social Norms Change for Women’s Financial Inclusion

Social norms can have a profound impact on financial inclusion for women because they can limit women’s ability to work outside the home, engage with male agents, or even own a phone. Knowing exactly how norms apply is critical for closing the gender financial inclusion gap.