Fasanara Welcomes Anita Bhatia to Advisory Board

Most recently, Anita Bhatia served as the United Nations’ Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for UN Women, the flagship entity in the United Nations system, charged with advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment globally. In this role, Anita led external stakeholder relations with both public and private sector partners, fundraising, communications, strategy planning, as well as finance and HR.

As a technology-enabled credit fund manager with a global reach and 12 years of experience, Fasanara is committed to advancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, and we believe that this new addition to our Advisory Board will help us in this undertaking.

Anita is a highly respected and accomplished individual who, until recently, served as the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for UN Women. Her deep understanding of global issues and her tireless efforts to promote gender equality make her the perfect fit for Fasanara's Advisory Board, as we strive to create a more equitable world.

At our core, Fasanara is a credit fund that lends to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across 60+ countries, using advanced analytics and cutting-edge financial technology infrastructure. With this new addition to the Advisory Board, Fasanara hopes to leverage its resources to advance the cause of gender equality and promote best practices in the real economy.

Anita will support the existing ESG practice at Fasanara, led by Greta Renton, Legal Counsel and Head of ESG. Among other things, the ESG team is responsible for:

• the implementation and growth of the recently launched ‘’Fasanara Charity Share Class’’ and ‘’Second Chances Foundation’’
• the publication of the inaugural Annual Sustainability Report (2022)
• the implementation of comprehensive ESG policies at the company level, including standalone policies on diversity and inclusion, modern slavery and stewardship
• the inclusion of ESG covenants, undertakings, and information rights, as well as in some cases, sustainability linked financing, in transaction-level documents
• the integration of ESG considerations within the existing operations and processes of other teams
• monitoring of gender equality and other UN Sustainable Development Goals within investment portfolios. Gender equality specifically relates to Women’s Rights & Inclusion, as the main focus of attention for Fasanara

With Anita as part of Advisory Board, Fasanara will work to disseminate best practices and promote equality across all of the SMEs we work with. Fasanara believes that this is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do, as companies that prioritise gender equality and ESG initiatives have shown to outperform. Fasanara is honoured to have such a highly respected and accomplished individual agree to serve on the Advisory Board and looks forward to working to create a brighter future for all.