Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) delivers exceptional learning experiences and opportunities for continuous professional development in both emerging and bridge professions which are focused on helping achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Established in 2015, DFI is a proud brand of Digital Frontiers, which delivers comprehensive capacity building programmes.

We empower you by. . .

Building Capabilities

To date, we have trained over 26 500 industry professionals representing public, private and development sectors in over 166 countries, and we continue to provide opportunities for further development through our Knowledge Bank, webinars, podcasts, blog posts and events.

Building Human Connections

Our alumni continue to stay connected through our physical Communities of Practice, which have been established in multiple markets around the globe, and through our online communities on LinkedIn. You can view more on this on our Continued Professional Development page.

We are proud of the impact we have had and continue to have by supporting and building these emerging professions. You can view more on our impact in inclusive digital finance here, and to see an overview of the capacity we have built in digital financial services click here.

 

 

 

Our Theory of Change

We believe that the professions of the future will be focused on building economies that are inclusive, equitable and drive long-term institutional and systemic change, particularly in low to middle-income countries.

At DFI we are supporting the emergence of these professions by equipping a new generation of professionals with the capabilities and human connections they need to tackle the problems of today and empowering them to create a better future.

Our Founders 

 

David Porteous

Co-founder 

David has been involved in finance inclusion initiatives internationally for more than two decades. He received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Cape Town and later obtained an M.Phil in economics from Cambridge and a PhD (Economics) from Yale. David has held executive roles in public and private financial institutions in Africa and is the founder and CEO of BFA, a consulting firm based in Boston.

Gavin Krugel

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

Gavin has been involved in the payments and financial services industry for over 20 years. He has managed large global development programs as a former manager of the Mobile Money for the Unbanked and Mobile Health programs at the GSMA and has held leadership and board positions in both large multinational organisations and start-ups. He holds an MBA from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business.

Ignacio Mas

Co-founder and Former Executive Director of Digital Frontiers Institute

Ignacio Mas worked at DFI from March 2015 to 31 December 2020. Ignacio is a Senior Fellow at CEME at the Fletcher School. He has been deputy director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has held senior telecoms jobs at Vodafone and Intel, and has been an adjunct professor at the Business School at the University of Chicago. He holds an SB degree from MIT and a PhD from Harvard.

Our Funders and Partners