Maryse is a Canadian-born to Togolese parents and she grew up in Lomé from age 5 to 17. After that, she went to college in Montreal and graduated of Business Administration from HEC Montreal. Maryse is a Director in Transaction Services at PwC Montreal with 12 years of in-depth experience in financial due diligence for mergers and acquisitions transactions, project management and auditing for the private sector. From 2007 to 2011, she has successfully completed two long-term assignments within PwC (Boston, USA and Milan, Italy). She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Quebec) and she holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Maryse has been exposed to development issues through her childhood in Togo and her involvement with CAUSE Canada, an international relief and development agency. She wishes to use her skills to contribute to sustainable development efforts. She strongly believes that one effective way to alleviate poverty is by empowering women through financial inclusion, enabling them to improve their quality of life and feel hopeful and confident about the future. As such, Maryse is delighted for the opportunity to get a unique insider experience into the microfinance industry as a Kiva fellow, particularly in West Africa.