1. Increase visibility and raise awareness about the importance of good governance

Achievements:

• The Governance Working Group now has an institutional home through the CFI. This web page consolidates membership information, newsletters, member updates, links to blogs, and other governance-related information. This page is also dedicated to consolidating governance information and resources for the GWG.
• The visibility of governance has been increased with the creation of a new Governance Hot Topic on the Microfinance Gateway including FAQs, recommended readings, and an extensive library of publications and documents.
• The GWG has extensively discussed and developed a generally agreed upon vision for good governance.

In progress or planned:

• Many recent studies (i.e. Failures in Microfinance: Lessons Learned and Weathering the Storm: Lessons in Microfinance Crisis Survival) highlight the importance of governance in the financial inclusion industry but more work is still needed in this area.

2. Improve industry collaboration and reduce duplication of efforts

Achievements:

• The GWG started an open LinkedIn group called “Managing Governance Risk in Microfinance” as a platform for all industry professionals focused on governance and risk management in microfinance. It is a virtual forum for the exchange of ideas, resources, publications, events, speaking opportunities, jobs, information, etc. among governance and risk experts and advocates.
• The CFI hosts regular webinars and calls to foster collaboration and discussion. To date, webinars have included topics such as social performance, responsible exits, and shareholder vs. stakeholder governance views, and the governance of risk management for MFIs.
• The GWG webinars and calls serve as an opportunity for members to provide updates on their governance related work and also to discuss mutual goals. GWG members are now more aware of the other governance initiatives taking place in the industry and instead of duplicating efforts, many new collaborative joint projects have come out of these exchanges.
• The GWG sends out periodic governance newsletters providing updates on members’ governance related work, and also on recent governance publications and industry efforts.
• The GWG conducted a mapping of governance resources, players, and initiatives across the corporate and microfinance industries in 2011.

In progress or planned:

• The CFI continues to recruit new members to join the group that are working on governance related efforts to incorporate new players and improve collaboration within the industry.
• Refresh and publish a governance industry mapping on the CFI’s GWG website.

3. Create behavioral change through governance‐strengthening and training efforts

Achievements:

• Members of the GWG have created trainings that incorporate both traditional lecture and transfer of best practices and skill‐building, but that go further to also incorporate experiential learning, case analysis, role play, and peer‐to‐peer exchange.

In progress or planned:

• Figure out how to build in incentives for changing behavior. It is becoming clearer that incentives are fundamental for strong governance.

4. Develop benchmarks and advance best practices and standards around governance

Achievements:

• The GWG developed a set of self‐reporting governance indicators that were tested by the MIX and resulted in Measuring Governance in Microfinance: Initial Findings from a Pilot Project.

In progress or planned:

• Develop governance benchmarks to improve the data available on good governance measures.
• Compare governance indicators along with financial data to build a better business case for governance.