The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Barbara Rambousek to the newly-created role of director for gender and economic inclusion, bringing together two key policy areas for the bank.

In her new role, Rambousek, who has been with the bank since 2012, will strengthen and expand the EBRD’s focus on inclusion and gender across its investments and policy engagements in the 38 economies where the EBRD invests.

Speaking about her appointment, Rambousek says: “I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with my team, our clients and partners to enhance access to skills, jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities for all. We will build on our distinctive private sector focused model and experience over the past years but also continue to innovate and learn in order to further deepen and strengthen our impact.”

Rambousek has 20 years of international development experience across the Western Balkans, the Middle East, Asia and the UK. Her career spans stints with the World Food Programme, World Vision, and London Development Agency. Most recently, she developed EBRD’s approach to economic inclusion from a small pilot to a portfolio that now covers over 10% of the bank’s annual project volume. She is the lead author of the bank’s 2017-2020 economic inclusion strategy, and has played a leading role in uniting the EBRD’s gender and inclusion agendas.