Focus: Finance
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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Adi Pundak-Mintz
Adi Pundak-Mintz is Founder of Canaan Partners Israel, a venture capital fund in Israel, which is one of the world’s largest venture capital markets. An expert in seed investment and entrepreneurship, he has overseen transactions totaling over $1 billion. Adi has also helped finance socially responsible start-up businesses including Galil Software, a Nazareth-based company with over 100 employees that creates career opportunities for Israeli Arabs who might otherwise encounter difficulties finding employment in their field. Adi is also an Advisory Board Member of Tzeva, a non-profit organization providing access to quality education to all children, attempting to eliminate social gaps. He is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and mentor to startups…
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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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Siobhan Cleary
Siobhan Cleary is Director of Capital Markets Engagement for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the pre-eminent international sustainability standards setter. In this role she is responsible for driving adoption of the GRI Standards by capital market actors and reinforcing the significance of ESG disclosure in capital markets. She is also an independent non-executive director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Previously she worked as Head of Research and Public Policy at the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and as Director of Strategy and Public Policy at the JSE. Her areas of expertise include capital market development and sustainability. She has written on this topic for—amongst others—the UNEP FI Inquiry into…
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Xenofon Avlonitis
Xenofon Avlonitis is a finance expert serving as Executive General Manager, Group Compliance Officer, at Alpha Bank, a major financial services corporation based in Greece that operates across Europe. In this role, Xenofon supervises Alpha Bank’s Compliance Unit for managing the compliance risk of the Bank and its Group Companies, specializing in the local regulatory framework in Greece and abroad. His mission is to ensure the full adherence to all regulatory requirements pertaining to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Policy and the Group Compliance Policy. For 10 years prior to that, Xenofon was Vice Chairman at the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC), where he played a…
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John Kingman
Sir John Kingman became Chair of Legal & General, a financial services company based in the UK, in 2016. He was previously Second Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury, where he was responsible for policy relating to business, financial services and infrastructure. He is also Chair of UK Research and Innovation, which oversees UK Government science and innovation spending of over ÂŁ7bn a year. At the Treasury John was closely involved in the UK response to the financial crisis, handling the resolution of Northern Rock and leading negotiations with RBS, Lloyds and HBOS on their ÂŁ37bn recapitalisation. He was the first Chief Executive of UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI). From 2010-12,…
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Raheela Khan
Raheela Khan is Director of Business Development and Strategy at R2 Business Advisory Consultants, a multidisciplinary consultancy. She facilitates value chains and the strategic implementation of DEI frameworks between Canada, Pakistan, and the Middle East, promoting effective, responsible funding for financial inclusion to bring about profitable social change. Currently based in Vancouver, Raheela has initiated and led community awareness programs on the importance of cultural confidence, integration, diversity and avoidance of self-exclusion. Her current initiatives are borne of her experiences of being a mother of two, which she uses to offer support to new mothers with postpartum depression as well as new immigrants and refugees. Canada's open border policies, offering…
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Elizabeth Addonizio
Elizabeth Addonizio is a partner at Cranemere, a global investment holding company. Prior to joining Cranemere, she worked at Morgan Stanley in the Investment Banking and Corporate M&A and Strategy Divisions. Elizabeth served on active military duty at U.S. Central Command for eighteen months, working as a strategic analyst on the personal staff of General David H. Petraeus. As an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve since 2004, she has supported the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group, the Navy Warfare Development Command, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. As a Henry Luce Scholar, Elizabeth worked in the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University and in…
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WEN Yuanhua
WEN Yuanhua manages the Corporate Banking, International Trade Finance, e-Banking, Information Technology, and Research and Product Development departments of the China Construction Bank, Tianjin Branch. He is responsible for over 6,000 employees and has led successful reform, reorganization, and restructuring efforts resulting in increased competitiveness and market share for CCB. He has extensive experience with banking reform in China and has held a variety of management positions at several of China’s major banks. Previously, Yuanhua worked for China CITIC Bank and Central Huijin Company Ltd., a shareholder of the Big 4 Chinese banks. There, he took part in the financial restructuring of ICBC, the largest commercial bank in China, and…
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Chetna Gala Sinha
Chetna Gala Sinha is an activist, farmer, and banker. In the early 1980s, while still a student in Mumbai, she joined the Jayaprakash Narayan movement and travelled through the country championing land rights and other social issues. In 1996, Chetna founded the Mann Deshi Foundation in Mhaswad, a drought-stricken area of Maharashtra, with the aim of economically and socially empowering rural women. In 1997, she set up the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank – India’s first bank for and by rural women. Today, the Mann Deshi Bank has over 100,000 account holders, has loaned over $50 million, and regularly creates new financial products to support the needs of female micro-entrepreneurs….
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