COMMERCIAL SCALE ACROSS BORDERS
Jennifer R. White
I design and build the commercial infrastructure that helps companies scale across borders — turning market opportunity into revenue through the right strategy, channels, and operating model.
My experience:
Strategy advisory, PE/VC/Credi investing, Operational leadership
I work with founders, CEOs, investors, and leadership teams navigating growth in markets where execution is often more complex than the strategy suggests. I specialise in translating capital strategy into commercial execution across global markets.
ABOUT
CLOSING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN CAPITAL AND EXECUTION
My interest in how markets work started long before my career did.
It started translating for my family on a trip to a border town in Mexico when I was in high school. It deepened working in communities across Latin America and sharpened when I arrived in Uganda in 2004 to research microfinance across East Africa.
What I kept running into was the same gap: the distance between how people understand a place from the outside and what life looks like on the ground.
Over time, I came to see that the same gap exists in business and investing. Capital moves into markets based on models, assumptions, and pattern recognition. But what determines whether a business scales is often far less visible — how decisions get made, how institutions behave, where execution slows, and what realities on the ground never make it into the model.
From strategy advisory and investing to building my own company in East Africa with personal capital, and later scaling a post-Series B fintech across 15+ markets, the work has always centered on that same problem.
When I am not working, I am usually on a sports field somewhere — most often watching one of my two daughters compete — or exploring a market I have not yet been to.
WHAT I DO
WHERE I ADD THE MOST VALUE
For companies entering markets where the commercial playbook does not yet exist — helping leadership determine which verticals and geographies to focus on, in what sequence, and how to build the infrastructure that makes growth sustainable.
For growth-stage companies building their first scalable revenue engine — I am an outsourced Chief Growth Officer. I help leadership build and test commercial function, structuring channels and partnerships, and building the teams and systems that make growth repeatable across markets.
For investors and funds deploying capital across complex markets — translating market-level operating reality into sharper investment decisions, more efficient investment management stronger LP narratives, and clearer capital deployment strategy.
SELECTED ENGAGEMENTS
SELECTED WORK
Building international partnerships and channel infrastructure for a U.S. fintech
Joined MPOWER U.S.-based fintech post-Series B to build and scale its international partnerships and channel strategy — designing the commercial infrastructure, partner economics, and market sequencing that enabled expansion across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Built and led a distributed team across 15+ markets, growing partner-driven revenue from under 1% to ~20% of total company revenue — driving $150M+ in loan origination through the channel.
Designing a $150M agricultural finance platform for the IFC
Led the end-to-end development of a $150M blended finance vehicle to deploy capital into smallholder agriculture and irrigation infrastructure.
Conducted field diligence, designed the credit product and financing structure, and secured investment committee approval to launch a pilot facility.
Shaping a $25B regional infrastructure investment strategy
At Monitor Deloitte, co-led the development of a $25B regional transport corridor strategy connecting four East African economies.
Selected to join the Government of Kenya delegation to the World Economic Forum on Africa, supporting bilateral discussions with global investors and DFIs.
FIELD NOTES
NOTES FROM THE GAP
Observations from the field — on market entry, investor judgment, commercial growth, and the
realities of building across borders.
THE CAPITAL TRANSLATION PROBLEM
On organizational readiness, the gap between local teams and global headquarters, and what investment cases miss when they are built from a distance.
BOOK A CONVERSATION
WORKING THROUGH MARKET ENTRY, COMMERCIAL SCALE, OR INVESTMENT EXECUTION ACROSS BORDERS?
I work with a small number of organizations at a time. If you are navigating the gap between capital and execution, I would welcome the conversation.