In tribute to Monique Cohen, by Cerise+SPTF team

On the last day of February 2026, Monique Cohen left us forever. With these few words, we want to let her family, colleagues, and friends know and remember her incredible work, passion, insight and energy.

As we celebrate Women’s Day on March 8, we remember Monique as a remarkable woman and a true role model to all of us. Over the course of our careers, she invested so much of her time, energy, and attention in supporting women in our field. Not only was she a visionary and an expert in our world, but she was also a powerful champion for women — constantly encouraging us, promoting us, pushing us to do more, and reminding us to believe in ourselves.

Many of us are where we are today in part because of her generosity, her confidence in us, and her willingness to open doors.

Monique leaves us with a considerable legacy in the field of financial inclusion. With her impressive work with MFO – Microfinance Opportunities, she has inspired, directly or indirectly, many inclusive finance stakeholders to promote financial education and push for in-depth and concrete ways to listen the voice of the customers. She has been an inspiring pioneer for impact measurement and management.

More recently, and for about 10 years, Monique has been the chairwoman of Cerise’s board of directors. She has guided us towards a new path, with energy, vision, commitment, friendship, and nice French, inherited from her life in Tunisia and visit in France with Lewis, her husband.

Here below, we share with you the message she gave us on Cerise’s 20th anniversary in 2019, when we started joining forces formally with SPTF. She cared about Cerise and its work, and considered one of her most important accomplishments to be the understanding between Cerise and SPTF.

Monique leaves behind an extraordinary legacy that will continue to inspire all of us.

We send our deepest condolences to Lewis, to her family and friends.