Vymala Poligadu-Thuron

Deputy Chief of Party, Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund

Vymala is responsible for supporting all technical, financial, and operational aspects of the initiative. She brings to this role more than 20 years of experience in policy advocacy and campaigning, diplomacy, high-level representation, strategic leadership, executive management, and programming at national, regional, and global levels.

Most recently, Vymala led Programme Development and Partnership within GroFin, where she was responsible for new projects and worked on various initiatives related to gender, youth, climate, investment, and enterprise development. She was instrumental in designing and facilitating a Gender Fund and a Youth Fund, which aim to create a prosperous future for young women and young men in the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Prior to joining GroFin, Vymala was Directing the External Relations of AFRINIC, where she led the outreach and community programmes, the AFRINIC Government Working Group, and led the Communication, PR, and Marketing activities. She launched the Fund for Internet Research and Education Fund with key donors, aimed at closing the gap to digital access.

She has worked with governmental, international, regional and local development organisations such as United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank (WB) and for programmes funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Union (EU). She worked closely with actors involved in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in projects promoting socio-economic development in Africa.

She currently also advises AFCHIX, a leading African woman-in-tech association and is a frequent public speaker at international events. Vymala holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs and a Master’s in finance from Sorbonne University in Paris, France.