Staff Directory

Leena Datwani

Financial Sector Specialist

Leena Datwani is a financial sector specialist. She works with stakeholders to develop an ecosystem that enables digital finance to better serve the financial needs of the poor in India. Before joining CGAP, she had a leadership role at the H.A.N.D. Foundation and worked on the World Bank’s World Development Report.

Leena holds an Master’s in International Economics and International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Economics from William Smith College. She is based in New Delhi, India.

By Leena Datwani

Blog

Seven Insights From Samunnati on Income Diversification

In collaboration with CGAP and IDH under ABERA, Samunnati drives business innovation and gender and climate goals. Together, they've identified seven insights on income diversification for women in India, detailed in this blog.
Research

Social Media Monitoring to Assess Consumer Risks in Digital Credit Apps: Guidance for Supervisors from an India Pilot

To better understand the digital consumer credit and the risks they pose for customers, this reading deck contains supervisory guidance on the use of a branch of AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), for social media monitoring. It is based on insights and lessons from an India pilot and provides examples of social media analyses carried out as part of that pilot.
Blog

Maturing India Stack Drives Digital Financial Inclusion of Gig Workers

India Stack, India’s robust DPI, supports a host of financial services products for harder-to-reach segments like gig workers – a good example for other countries that want to leverage digitization of work for financial inclusion of informal workers.
Blog

How Can Embedded Financial Services Better Serve Platform Workers?

Platforms’ extensive data on their workers could support customized product design, and their digital rails could seamlessly deliver financial services. What opportunities might financial services embedded within platforms enable?
Blog

Last-Mile Consumer Finance: Embracing Opportunity, Managing Risk

Last-mile distributors around the world are working to increase low-income households' access to solar systems, cookstoves, water purifiers and other important assets. Many offer financing to customers. How are they managing credit risk?