Kaylene Alvarez 2022 speaker

CEO

Athena Global

Biography

Kaylene Alvarez is a global, technical specialist in impact investing, access to finance for SME, gender lens investing and risk management with work experience in nearly 40 countries, spanning a 25+ year career. Her eclectic experience has spanned both private and public sectors, including: international non-profits; M&A for AIG’s Consumer Finance Group ($2B in earnings); and, with the World Bank Group (IFC), where she was the Global Advisory Lead for the Banking on Women Program ($1B+ in investments and advisory, using a blended finance model).

Over a decade ago, Kaylene Alvarez founded a niche consulting firm, Athena Global, providing bespoke support to financial intermediaries to encourage the development of inclusive access to finance and investment structuring (debt and equity) to move money to under-served populations, with a specialty in blended finance facilities and gender equity; she’s advised on investments and transactions ranging from $10,000 to several hundred million through investment funds, banks, NBFI, Fintechs and other structures. Since 2019, Athena Global is also a registered financial intermediary for unsecured lending to SME, with a focus on gender and climate equity. Currently, Athena Global is lending in Indonesia with active expansion into Africa underway.

Kaylene Alvarez has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer. She is an avid traveler, textile aficionado, and Vipassana meditation practitioner.