Isabelle Barrès is Director of Impact at the impact investment group Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P). For over 25 years, she has worked to challenge how financial systems operate and to push markets toward greater responsibility, inclusion, and sustainability. Her career has focused on ensuring that financial innovation delivers real value for low-income and underserved communities, at the intersection of finance, development, entrepreneurship, and climate.

She co-founded MIX in 2002 to increase transparency and accountability in microfinance, and later led the Smart Campaign in 2010, helping drive a global shift toward responsible finance and stronger financial consumer protection. At Kiva, she played a key role in shaping lending operations and impact strategy during the organization’s early scale-up, contributing to what has since grown into a platform that has lent over USD 2.4B to 6 million borrowers worldwide.