Joana Afonso is a Financial Inclusion Officer at UNHCR. She is an External Member of Alterfin’s Investment Committee, and a former Board member of the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF). With experience both as practitioner and researcher, Joana previously worked as Financial Inclusion Specialist at e-MFP in Luxembourg and as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Portsmouth, where she conducted research on client protection and evaluation methodologies in microfinance. She is co-editor of the book Emerging Challenges and Innovations in Microfinance and Financial Inclusion.
Joana holds a PhD in Economics and Finance from the University of Portsmouth, and an advanced master in microfinance - the European Microfinance Programme, from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.