Through previous roles at the World Bank Group and International Finance Corporation, Gay Santos has more than 25 years of experience in investment and portfolio management, credit operations, and operational risks, IT and advisory services. She retired from the World Bank Group in 2019. Gay is a financial inclusion advocate and serves as the chair of the Financial Inclusion Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines and a Trustee of Fintech Alliance Philippines. She worked in various USAID projects as principal specialist in SME finance, E-Commerce and Financial Inclusion. She sits as an independent director in various fintech entities in the Philippines. She developed the new financial literacy training program of the Philippines' conditional cash transfer program. She authored/co-authored international studies in SME Finance, Insurtech and Social Enterprises and a periodic business column writer in major newspapers in the Philippines. She holds an MBA from the Johns Hopkins University and a Certificate in Internal Audit from the George Mason University. Today, she is the regional director for Southeast Asia at Water.org. Water.org is a global NGO co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White in 2009. It seeks to solve the global water and sanitation crisis. It is a pioneer in market-driven financial solutions to the global water crisis.