NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Irit Tamir is the Senior Campaigns and Advocacy Advisor for Oxfam America’s Private Sector Department and is the policy lead for Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign. She works with companies to ensure that their business practices result in positive social and environmental impacts for vulnerable communities throughout the world. She is a foodie and an activist with expertise on human rights. Follow her on Twitter @itamir77

Mara Bolis is Senior Advisor, Private Sector Department, Oxfam America. Mara has over 15 years of experience working in the fields of international development, emerging markets finance and business.  At Oxfam, Mara is currently focused on the Women in Small Enterprise initiative, which combines an impact investing fund with Oxfam’s rights based approach to remove barriers to economic opportunity for women in Guatemala.  Prior to Oxfam, Mara consulted with the Middle East Investment Initiative, a public-private partnership of the Aspen Institute, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Palestinian Investment Fund, to develop a new form of small business insurance to help Palestinian exporters hindered by travel restrictions.