The Visa Economic Empowerment Institute (VEEI) is joining forces with some of the world’s preeminent thought leaders to advance our mission to expand economic empowerment through payments system innovation. As the 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) commence in Washington, D.C., Visa brings together a community of experts to help inform the policy debate and find solutions that expand access to digital payments for everyone. This solutions-driven approach is connected to the continued priority of the Group of 20 (G20).
This year’s convenings offer an important opportunity to hear from the Visa Institute’s Advisory Council and Non-resident senior fellows on policy issues that are central to the future of global payments.
With regulatory fragmentation, swift policy changes, technological developments and ongoing barriers to financial access challenging the global economy, the Visa Institute has further strengthened its community of experts by welcoming two more distinguished leaders to its Advisory Council and three well-respected experts as Non-resident senior fellows. This strategic expansion uniquely positions Visa to deliver actionable research, unlocking new opportunities for economic growth through access to digital payments.
The vision: Co-creating a new era of inclusive payments
The Visa Institute leverages Visa’s unparalleled global reach to measure the impact of payments technology diffusion on economies and communities globally. We believe that payments can be a force for good — empowering consumers and businesses big and small and reducing transactional frictions that stifle economic activity. By digitizing payments, public and private stakeholders can accelerate the path to uplifting communities everywhere. The expanded Advisory Council will share these key perspectives during the Bank Fund Spring Meetings this week and on an ongoing basis.
Welcoming Dr. Loretta Mester and Mimi Alemayehou
Launched in October 2023, the Visa Institute’s Advisory Council combines extensive industry experience with policy expertise. We are pleased to announce our two newest Advisory Council members:
- Dr. Loretta Mester: After a decade-long tenure as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Dr. Mester offers insights into central banking and monetary policy. Dr. Mester was an influential member of the Federal Open Market Committee and played a key role in engineering the so-called ‘soft landing’: a monetary tightening approach that slows the economy, and inflation, without triggering a recession. She is highly respected in Washington and on Wall Street and is well-known to our clients across the U.S. midwestern states. Dr. Mester is also an adjunct professor of finance at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and senior fellow of the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation.
- Mimi Alemayehou: A leading expert in development finance, Alemayehou has built an expansive career with deep expertise in international finance, development and payments in emerging markets, centered primarily on Africa. She is a managing partner at Semai Ventures, a boutique advisory firm focused on emerging markets. She currently serves as a senior advisor at Three Cairns Group, a mission-driven investment firm. President Obama appointed Alemayehou to serve as executive vice president at the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and in that role she helped grow the portfolio by more than 24% to $18 billion. Alemayehou was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as U.S. representative on the board of the African Development Bank.
Dr. Mester and Alemayehou join Advisory Council Chair Dr. Axel Weber, Lord Jonathan Hill and Ambassador Koji Tsuruoka, further building a council that spans both continents and disciplines.
Research in action: Non-resident senior fellows
These distinguished scholars and practitioners contribute to Visa’s research agenda, bringing their perspectives to bear on the most complex problems in the global payment system.
- Ambassador Demetrios Marantis has deep expertise in helping public and private companies integrate geopolitical, regulatory, sustainability and philanthropic priorities into their strategy and risk management. A former Acting and Deputy United States Trade Representative and member of President Obama’s Cabinet, Ambassador Marantis also brought his experience negotiating trade agreements to senior executive roles at JPMorgan Chase, Visa and Square. Ambassador Marantis was recently elected to be President of the National Foreign Trade Council Foundation.
- Dr. Kati Suominen brings experience in enabling international trade through technology, data and analytics. Earlier in her career, she served as trade economist at the Inter-American Development Bank working on global trade policy issues with other multilateral organizations like Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization, and as a fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Dr. Suominen is the author and editor of over 120 papers and 10 peer-reviewed books on trade, globalization and technology
- Dr. Peter Conti-Brown is an associate professor of financial regulation, legal studies and business ethics at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. A financial historian and a legal scholar, Dr. Conti-Brown studies central banking, financial regulation and public finance, with a particular focus on the history and policies of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He is the author of many books, most recently Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America (Princeton University Press, June 2025).
These global experts and diplomats share Visa’s commitment to economic empowerment and will bring fresh perspectives to the payments policy debate. We are thrilled to have their collective expertise, which represents more than a century of experience.
By bringing the best minds together, Visa is helping to shape a payments ecosystem where technology accelerates financial access. With our deepened expertise, the Institute is ready to co-create the future of payments, with the public and private sectors working together to enable an innovative ecosystem where individuals, communities and economies can thrive.
Visit the new VEEI website for an overview of our mission-driven, data-rich research.