Zar Wardak is Vice President of Impact at FIF, where she leads financial inclusion and social impact strategies. She creates and implements initiatives that deliver measurable, lasting change aligned with FINCA’s mission to end poverty. Using a human-centered design approach, she oversees the development and execution of an impact framework that helps customers improve their financial health and build resilience. Her work focuses on reaching women, rural communities, and others who historically have lacked access to responsible financial services. Zar also directs the development and enforcement of FINCA’s client protection standards, ensuring clients are treated fairly, ethically, and safeguarded from over-indebtedness.

Zar is highly skilled in strategic planning, fintech relationships, business unit development, project management, and marketing. She oversees talent management and the development of an organizational culture that prioritizes diversity, inclusion, and belonging, including gender inclusion initiatives for both customers and staff.

Zar began her FINCA career in 2010 as CEO of FINCA Afghanistan. Under her leadership, FINCA Afghanistan achieved sustainability within three years, with significant engagement of women entrepreneurs. Later, Zar oversaw and expanded FINCA’s microfinance operations throughout South Asia and the Middle East, leading successful efforts to transform business models and platforms and embrace digital financial services.

Previously, Zar worked in the financial services industry as a consultant and as a sales director at Citibank. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from Southwestern College in Kansas and a Master of Science in Peace Operations from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.