What does it take to tackle extreme poverty in a world where systems often work against the poorest?

In this episode, we step inside BRAC’s Graduation Approach (UPGI), a model that has lifted millions out of extreme poverty.

Stephanie explores how BRAC International reimagines coaching, livelihoods, and confidence-building to create lasting transformation in diverse geographies in diverse ways.

The conversation dives into government partnerships, system redesign, and what it takes to deliver impact at scale.

A story of iteration, ambition, and the willingness to reimagine what “graduation” truly means.

About BRAC:

BRAC is a development organisation dedicated to alleviating poverty by empowering the poor and helping them to bring about positive changes in their lives by creating opportunities. The organisation's priorities are: focus on women, grassroots empowerment, health and education, farmers' empowerment, inclusive financial services and self-sustaining solutions.

About BRAC International:

BRAC International empowers people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, disease and social injustice. Their work combines social development with market-based solutions, like microfinance and social entrepreneurship. We achieve large-scale, transformative change by working with individuals, especially women, and their families and communities to overcome poverty and become self-reliant and resilient.

About the speaker:

Stephanie is the Director for Programme Design and Impact at BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI).

She leads an international team of graduation and governance experts who, in partnership with our country teams, provide technical advice and support to our Government partners designing and implementing large-scale, quality graduation programmes. Through this work, she is leading efforts to distil lessons and key insights from across contexts on how Governments design and implement graduation programmes for scale.

Stephanie is a social policy and governance specialist with extensive experience in designing and implementing policy reform and poverty reduction programmes across Africa and Asia. Before joining BRAC, Stephanie led Oxford Policy Management (OPM)’s work in Poverty and Social Protection and was the Country Director for OPM in South Africa.

She holds an MPhil in Comparative Government and a BA in History and Politics, both from the University of Oxford.

Additional resources:

BRAC International: https://www.bracinternational.org/

BRAC: https://www.brac.net/

BRAC's UPGI: https://societalthinking.org/blog/the-transformative-power-of-rituals-bracs-upg-ultra-poor-graduation-programme/

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