Member, Advisory Council

Evelyn Stark began working as the Senior Program Officer in the Financial Services for the Poor team in the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2008. After working for many years in US banks and non-bank financial institutions managing special asset portfolios she moved to Uganda in 1996. She spent the following six years in Uganda and the region working on short and long-term assignments in microfinance: developing curriculum, delivering training and technical assistance and managing donor funded projects and providing evaluation and research services to both MFIs and international organizations.

In 2003 Evelyn returned to the US where she worked with USAID in the office of Microenterprise Development, concentrating on products and services to extend outreach to underserved populations, such as youth, those affected by conflict, very poor people, etc. Her work was concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle-East and North Africa and in conflict-affected countries. She worked at CGAP on the Expanding Access agenda before joining the foundation in late 2008.

Evelyn holds a B.A. in International Relations and Economics from Bucknell University.