Joana Afonso is Financial Inclusion Specialist at the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), overseeing coordination, research, and outputs of all the e-MFP Action Groups, being part of the content team organising the European Microfinance Week and the European Microfinance Award, and overseeing coordination of the European Research Conference on Microfinance. As coordinator of the Action Groups, Joana has coordinated multiple projects on diverse topics, including green inclusive finance (Green Map project), outcomes management, human resources, financial inclusion of refugees, and WASH. Since 2023, she is a Board member of SPTF. Before joining e-MFP, Joana was an academic researcher with her research focusing on evaluation methodologies in microfinance and prevention of client over-indebtedness. She holds a PhD in economics and finance from the University of Portsmouth, UK and a masters in microfinance (European Microfinance Programme)from the Université Libre Bruxelles, Belgium. Joana began her microfinance career as a credit officer at the NGO ANDC in Portugal.