Focus: Economic Development
Nima Namdari
Nima Namdari is a social entrepreneur, technology professional, and a fighter to end poverty. He has played a key role in founding or growing eight startups with tens of millions of users, most of which empower low-income people. He is CEO of Karnameh, a platform for empowering low-income blue-collar freelancers in the auto industry. He is also Co-Founder of Baloot Saving, a fintech startup that helps families without pensions to save money. Nima has over two decades of experience in the technology industry, having worked in both the public and private sectors. He was the senior advisor of the Tehran City Council on transparency and smart city planning. Nima also…
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Tarek Mouganie
Tarek Mouganie is a Ghanaian entrepreneur and Founder and Group CEO of Affinity Africa, a digital bank that provides affordable and accessible services to micro and small and medium sized businesses. Since inception, Affinity's contribution has been profound, with nearly 90% of their customers previously unbanked, over 60% of whom are women operating in the informal sector. Tarek was previously a Director at Man Group where he managed a portfolio of investments within the $160 billion global investment fund. He started his career as an academic at the University of Cambridge where he obtained his PhD in Physics at the age of 21 and is currently an MBA Entrepreneurship Tutor…
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Leon McCarron
Leon McCarron is a writer, broadcaster and trail designer from the north of Ireland. In the past decade, he has travelled over 30,000 miles by human power, including walking across China, crossing the Empty Quarter desert on foot, and riding on horseback across Argentine Patagonia. Most recently he followed the river Tigris from source to sea. Leon works at the intersection of journalism and exploration. The slowness and immersion of his projects – reporting at 3 miles per hour – emphasizes the interconnectedness of stories at a local level, and how together they speak to the big issues of our time. As a trail developer, he specializes in creating hiking…
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Babatunde Omilola
Babatunde Omilola manages the African Development Bank’s multi-billion-dollar response to the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives and livelihoods throughout Africa and to help African countries strengthen their health systems, stabilize their economies, and alleviate the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. A global development leader, Babatunde served as Head of Development Planning with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York and led the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the monitoring and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. He also co-chaired the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Task Force on Global Food and Nutrition Security Technical Team. Babatunde was UNDP’s Regional Practice Leader for poverty…
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Cristina VĂ©lez Valencia
Cristina VĂ©lez Valencia is currently the Vice president for Public-Private Partnerships of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá and is in charge of programs to foster regional integration and economic development, as well as the Chamber's knowledge management among other programs involving public and private sectors. Until June 2019, she served as the Secretary for Social Integration in the Mayoralty of Bogotá. She oversaw a department with over 9500 employees and a budget in excess of $360 million. The department defines and implements social policy in a city of over 7 million residents and is responsible for comprehensive programs for early childhood, aging populations, homelessness, youth, people with disabilities, and…
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Nizam Uddin
Nizam Uddin is Chief Strategy Officer of algbra, a technology-based financial ecosystem dedicated to global financial inclusion by focusing on the underserved and underbanked. Nizam was previously the Senior Head of Mosaic and Community Integration at The Prince’s Trust and Head of the Mosaic Initiative. Nizam has a strong interest and background in overcoming the societal and economic challenges that prevent disenfranchised and minority communities from fulfilling their potential. He is a 2019 US State Department International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) participant and a Trustee of: SOAS, University of London, Robert. F. Kennedy Human Rights UK, and Belong – the UK's Cohesion and Integration Network (COIN). Nizam was awarded an…
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Gavin Sheppard
Gavin Sheppard is an innovative cultural entrepreneur who uses art and music as tools for youth inclusion and economic growth. The Remix Project, which he co-founded in 2006, was created in order to help level the playing field for young people from disadvantaged, marginalized, and under-served communities. The Remix Project provides top-notch alternative, creative, educational programs, facilitators and facilities to at-risk youth wanting to enter the creative industries. This program model has been replicated internationally, and Gavin has been an architect of and has helped to create a hemispheric network of youth arts organizations to promote best practices. Gavin is also Founder of Public Records, Inc., a Toronto-based record label,…
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Sati Rasuanto
Sati Rasuanto is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of VIDA, a digital identity company based in Jakarta that promotes digital trust and inclusion. She was previously the founding Managing Director of Endeavor in Indonesia, an organization that supports a global network of high-impact entrepreneurs by helping them scale up their leadership and companies by connecting them to networks, knowledge, talent, and investors, and by providing them with a platform to give back to the next generation of entrepreneurs. Previously, as Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, Sati helped shape Indonesia's development agenda and formulated strategies to increase investment flows into the country. She…
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'Tokunboh Ishmael
'Tokunboh Ishmael is an impact investor with over 20 years' experience spanning investment banking, private equity investing, technology, and new business development in Africa, Europe, and the North America. She is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Alitheia Capital, a Nigeria-based investment management and advisory firm focused on channelling private equity investments into small and medium sized businesses in West Africa. In 2015, she co-founded Alitheia Identity to scale investing in women-led SMEs across Sub-Saharan. 'Tokunboh is a CFA Charter-holder, corporate financier and M&A banker, having worked on over $5.6 billion transactions in the UK, USA, and Africa. She is now focussed on investing in and building sustainable growth businesses across…
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Idayat Hassan
Idayat Hassan is Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), an Abuja based policy advocacy and research organization with a focus on deepening democracy and development in West Africa. Her interests span democracy, peace and security, transitional justice, and ICT4D in West Africa. As the Director of the CDD, she oversaw CDD's rise from not being ranked in 2013 to 16th out of 94 think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the 2019 University of Pennsylvania Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. Under her leadership, CDD became a mover in the civic tech space. She has subsequently strengthened CDD's position as a civic tech leader with a…
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