Advisory Manager, Financial Institution Group - IFC
Rachel Freeman has led IFC’s financial institution advisory in Asia Pacific including climate finance, bank-fintech partnerships, supply chain finance, credit scoring, gender finance and agrifinance since 2002. Her region spans China, Indonesia, the Mekong, Pacific Islands, South Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Rachel is also one of the initiators of the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN), a partnership with Asean Bankers Association, Singapore’s MAS, and IFC to create a testing environment for banks and fintechs.
She joined IFC in 2001 to lead the creation of the leasing market in Central Asia. In 2004, she moved to Johannesburg as the Deputy General Manager of IFC’s advisory services for Sub-Saharan Africa, where she was instrumental in designing IFC’s Access to Finance business line. She has also served as the agribusiness Lead Investment Officer in Central Asia. Prior to joining the IFC, Ms. Freeman was involved in several entrepreneurial ventures in the US and Russia and also worked for the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development and State.
She holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan Business School and a degree in International Politics and Economics/Russian from Middlebury College. She also attended an Executive Education program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.