BEAM Grab the Mic webinar
Insights from the 2025 Global GESI in MSD Conversation Series
Date: 29 January 2026
Speakers:
Holly Krueger, Managing Partner and Inclusion+ Practice Lead, The Canopy Lab
Reema Shrestha, Nepal Agricultural Market Development Programme (NAMDP) implemented by Swisscontact
Isuri Munasinghe, Market Development Facility Sri Lanka (MDF) implemented by Palladium
Watch the webinar
This webinar shared key insights from the conversation series that brought together 400 practitioners from different countries, donors and programmes to examine what it really takes to deliver meaningful, lasting inclusion in MSD.
The speakers reflected on how shifting operating contexts influence the depth and durability of GESI work. They also drew on experiences from two programmes working in different contexts to offer practical lessons for teams looking to deepen or recalibrate their inclusion approach.
- Holly Krueger discussed what really drives or derails meaningful GESI in MSD
- Reema Shrestha reflected on the challenges she and the NAMDP team faced in advancing transformational change for women and discriminated groups in Nepal’s complex context, and how they learned that GESI needs to be a shared programme-wide responsibility rather than one person’s remit.
- Isuri Munasinghe shared her perspective as MEL Lead for MDF Sri Lanka, including how a review of their ways of working pushed the team to rethink their GESI approach and empower more staff to engage in core GESI research and diagnostics. She also discussed how they experimented with language to bring stakeholders along with their vision of inclusive market systems development.
Related reading
- Insights from the global conversation series: Gender equality and social inclusion in market systems development
- MDF programme profile
- NAMDP Sahaj programme profile