Rodger Voorhies
Title
Director, Financial Services for the Poor
Organization
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Rodger Voorhies is the Director of the Financial Services for the Poor program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
For nearly 20 years prior to joining the foundation, Rodger established and grew successful, sustainable, and innovative organizations in the emerging markets of Africa and Eastern Europe. Working in some of the poorest countries of the world, Rodger has applied practical solutions–using advanced technical, academic, and professional research–that were adopted by hundreds of thousands of poor households and communities. Rodger received his Master of Management from Northwestern University, where he also pursued doctoral studies in Organizational Behavior and Sociology. He received his Bachelor of Science from Biola University in California.
Posts By Rodger Voorhies
In a new paper entitled “A Digital Pathway to Financial Inclusion,” we present a growing body of evidence which indicates that connecting poor people to a digital financial system will generate sizable welfare benefits. We also argue that countries will
not bridge the cash-digital divide in one giant leap. Instead, countries will pass through several stages of market development along the path to an inclusive digital economy.
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September 19, 2012 / Rodger Voorhies
While cash will most likely have a role in developing economies for many years to come, there is emerging evidence that connecting poor people to digital payment systems can help them get and stay out of poverty
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April 17, 2012 / Rodger Voorhies
Cash is simple, portable, anonymous, easily exchangeable at an agreed value by both buyer and seller, and accepted nearly everywhere. Yet the physical nature of cash creates big transaction costs, and a wide range of security and transparency risks.
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