Stephen Rasmussen joined CGAP in 2006 and is the Global Head of the Inclusive Markets Team that works on building digital financial systems that include poor people in countries in Asia and Africa. CGAP is an independent resource center housed in the World Bank dedicated to working on financial inclusion for poor people. In 2014-2015 Rasmussen also established and was the first CEO of Karandaaz Pakistan, a start-up company focused on small business finance for job creation, digital financial inclusion and innovation in the financial sector. Prior to CGAP, he was the World Bank’s microfinance focal point for South Asia. From 2001 to 2008 he was CEO of the Pakistan Microfinance Network and from 1994 to 2003 he was CEO of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, a large rural development program in northern Pakistan, where he also helped establish First MicroFinanceBank, the first microfinance bank in Pakistan.
