David Symington

David Symington is a Policy Advisor at the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA), Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. He has led the UNSGSA’s work on technology-led innovation in financial services and engagement with the G20, the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), and global financial standard-setting bodies, with an increasing focus on strengthening the financial resilience pillar of financial health and collaboration with the newly established Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN).

David has more than 15 years of experience advancing financial health and inclusive digital financial services with the United Nations, the World Bank, and the private sector. Before joining the UNSGSA Office, he was a Senior Consultant at Oxford Policy Management in London, advising governments, donors, and industry leaders on how digital innovation can improve the financial inclusion of low-income populations. He also spent three years in East Africa with the World Bank and as an Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellow in Tanzania. His work has spanned eastern and southern Africa, South and Southeast Asia, as well as China, Latin America, and Central Asia, helping countries strengthen inclusive financial systems and improve household financial well-being.

He is based in New York and holds a master’s degree in International Economics and International Development from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he was a Fulbright and Leverhulme Trust scholar, and a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Queen’s University Belfast.