When Roshaneh Zafar talks about gender, she starts with a correction. “When we talk about microfinance or our strategy, it’s not a financial transaction. It is a transformational change that we measure,” she says – and that means investing in the social side of women’s lives as deliberately as the financial side. Kashf’s model is to “invest in the value chain of women’s entrepreneurship… and enhance women’s agency – their decision-making and their capacity within the family.”
Based in Pakistan, Roshaneh is a development economist, Founder and Managing Director of Kashf Foundation. Since 1996, the organisation has provided financial services to low-income families and micro-entrepreneurs – 99% women.
Before product, mindsets
The origin story is a lesson from Dr. Muhammad Yunus. “Designing financial products is not rocket science… the real challenge is changing mindsets,” he shared when she saw him speak at a conference. Kashf began with a gender lens that asked blunt questions: If a woman gets a loan, who actually uses it? If she earns, who controls the income? Early on, Kashf used solidarity group lending – the “associative strength” of women standing up for one another. It then moved to individual lending, plus leadership training, financial education, and business development services so women could succeed on their own terms.
They also introduced programs that brought families into the journey, particularly on topics related to health and safety. The team added maternal health trainings and – crucially – brought men and mothers-in-law into the room “because in my social context the mother-in-law often makes the decision.”
“Small is beautiful – but scale matters”
“Small is good, small is beautiful, but scale matters when you’re addressing women’s issues,” says Roshaneh. When Kashf first worked with international investors, the institution served ~550,000 clients; today it serves over a million women. The goal is “social transformation with financial decision-making.”
Incofin’s investment via the Global Gender Smart Fund (GGSF) enabled a gender assessment and action plan at Kashf. This helped advance its gender initiatives.
On governance and staffing
Gender equity starts at the top and cascades. “At our board, 70% of members are women… At management, ~55% of staff report to a woman manager.” In branches, Kashf enforces a 50/50 staffing rule – even in the most conservative areas. Zafar admits they had to evolve: “For five years we were for women, by women… then we realized we were excluding men from employment. So, we changed it. We went for 50-50 even in the most conservative areas. People were sceptical that we’d succeed in the north-west and southern areas, but once you take a step forward, things begin to change.”
Keeping women through life changes
Managers once complained, we invest in women and they leave. Zafar’s answer was to find – and fix – the causes.
- “Not Without My Mother-in-Law.” When a young staffer gets engaged or married, Kashf invites the in-laws for tea at the branch to see the workplace and how secure it is – winning crucial buy-in.
- Daycare at scale. 300 of 500 branches now have daycare; attrition after childbirth fell.
- Mobility. There were cases of harassment on public transport. Kashf’s interest-free scooter loans mean ~350 young women now ride to work – a sight “you didn’t see five years ago.”
- Fair evaluations & safe norms. Managers are trained to run gender-blind performance reviews, as they noticed even female managers had biases. Twice a year, all staff revisit mission & values, code of ethics, anti-harassment – and even WhatsApp etiquette with female colleagues.
The next frontier: climate risk meets gender justice
Pakistan has been disproportionately hit by climate shocks; the 2022 floods displaced communities and erased livelihoods. Roshaneh’s point is simple: “women face the brunt without voice or choice.” Kashf is designing financial and non-financial products that support adaptation and resilience for clients – because the next decade of gender work in South Asia must meet climate head-on.
She points to Pakistan’s ranking among the most vulnerable countries. Her call is for innovative strategies that bring together climate scientists, economists, investors and practitioners.
The Incofin link
Following the 2022 floods, Incofin provided a grant to Kashf’s relief campaign that funded 1,260 relief packages, reaching roughly 6,000 people – including 1,000 women micro-entrepreneurs and their families – with dry food, sanitation and hygiene essentials.
Beyond emergency support, Kashf has been backed by various Incofin managed or advised funds since 2016. This includes GGSF, Invest in Visions, Incofin Microfinance Fund – which finance outreach to women clients and help institutionalize the gender systems (governance, staffing, childcare, mobility, safe-work norms).
Why this model works
Kashf treats the woman not as a “beneficiary” but as a decision-maker whose economic power and social power must rise together. That is why the institution pairs capital with capacity-building, tackles the household veto points (husbands, mothers-in-law), removes workplace frictions (childcare, transport, safety), and works towards what it values: not just repayment, but an increase in women’s social and economic agency.
The result is a blueprint you can feel: branches where parents drop children at on-site daycare, scooter helmets lined up at the door, in-laws who now advocate for a daughter-in-law’s job, and loan clients who call themselves entrepreneurs – because they are.
By the numbers (Kashf today)
- 1,000,000+ women clients
- ~70% women on the board; 50% women in staff; branches at 50/50
- 300/500 branches with daycare
- ~350 women commuting via scooters financed interest-free
- Post-flood grant support: 1,260 relief packages; ~6,000 individuals reached (incl. 1,000 women micro-entrepreneurs)
Editor’s note: The blog version of this interview was prepared by Shonan Kothari, Marketing and Communications Manager, Incofin Investment Management. A companion video interview has been published by Global Gender Smart Fund, where Incofin serves as portfolio manager.