Sammar Essmat

Sammar Essmat

IFC’s Gender Focal Point for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Sammar Essmat is IFC’s Regional Gender Focal Point for Europe and Central Asia. She leads efforts there to increase women’s private-sector participation. She assists banks in Turkey and Russia with outreach to women-led SMEs and helps train aspiring women leaders for executive positions throughout the Western Balkans. Her work has earned her team the IFC CEO Gender Award 2014.

Previously, as IFC’s Global Gender Specialist for Investment Climate in Washington, Sammar’s team addressed regulatory issues affecting working women.
 
Sammar holds an MSc. in Civil Sector Organizations from the London School of Economics. She is an Egyptian and German national.