Ana Maria Canales

A Colombian social entrepreneur who leveraged technology to combat poverty through community-driven microfinance.

Ana Maria Canales became a leading voice in economic empowerment in the 1990s after founding Fundación Canales, a nonprofit that created Latin America's first mobile banking system for informal workers. Her platform Red de Ahorro enabled street vendors and domestic workers to access loans and savings accounts via SMS, reaching 150,000 users by 2005. Canales also pioneered the Microfranchise Model, franchising basic services (e.g., electricity, water) to underserved communities, which expanded to Peru and Ecuador. Her advocacy for financial inclusion led to Colombia's Financial Education Strategy (2010). Canales' memoir "Building Bridges, Not Walls" (2017) details her journey, while her partnership with UN Women showcased her global influence. Despite her achievements, Canales remains a lesser-known figure compared to her contemporaries, embodying quiet resilience in addressing systemic inequities.