2023 Speakers

Emin was a member of the Stirling Square investment team from 2005 until 2010. He re-joined Stirling Square in 2019 as Head of Sustainability after having worked as an independent consultant and investor in the meantime. Previously, he held roles at Agilitas Partners, Credit Suisse First Boston, Siemens, and Dicke & Associates Management Consultants. Emin holds an MBA from The Wharton School and an MSc in Computer Engineering from the University of Siegen.

Nevena Batchvarova is Head of Investor Relations and joined NB Renaissance in 2022.

Prior to NB Renaissance, she was responsible for Investor Relations at Ambienta SGR, which she joined in 2018. Prior to that, Ms. Batchvarova was a senior investment professional at Green Arrow Capital and DeA Capital Alternative Funds in Milan, where she focused on primary investments, secondaries and co-investments. She was also an investment associate with Coller Capital’s global investment team and an executive with Campbell Lutyens’ fundraising team in London. Ms. Batchvarova started her career as an analyst at Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking division in New York.

Ms. Batchvarova graduated with an AB in Public Policy and International Relations from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

After attending some of the best business schools in Europe and South America, Anna Bianchi joined J.P. Morgan where she worked for more than 5 years in the Structured Lending Team.

She joined Ecovadis in 2022 as Manager of the Private Equity and Sustainable Financing Team. Anna’s main role is to lead the development and implementation of this Ecovadis’ solution in the sustainable finance sector in order to accelerate the integration of ESG parameters into Private Equity investment strategies and financial products.

Adam is Partner and Head of ESG & Sustainability at Coller Capital. He holds a BSc (Hons) Environmental Science, MA Environmental Law and a post-graduate in Occupational Health and Safety. Adam’s first in-house private finance role was in 2008 (Doughty Hanson), and as one of the first dedicated ESG leads for the asset class he implemented one of the first ESG value creation programmes in private equity. Adam left Doughty Hanson as Partner and Head of Sustainability to join Coller Capital (global private markets secondaries) in 2016, where he has responsibility for ESG across all investment decision-making and management processes, as well as various initiatives applicable across the wider business.

Andrea C. Bonomi is founder and chairman of Investindustrial, a leading group of independently managed investment, holding and advisory companies with €12Bn of AUM. With ESG principles deeply embedded into the Firm’s core approach, Investindustrial has more than 30-year history of providing mid-market companies capital, industrial expertise, operational focus and global platforms to accelerate sustainable value creation and international expansion. Its mission is to actively contribute to the development of the companies in which it invests, by creating growth opportunities and offering global support through offices in London, New York, Madrid, Lugano, Luxembourg, Paris and Shanghai. He is a Trustee of New York University, a Member of the NYU President’s Global Council and a Private Equity Awards “Hall of Fame” (2018) inductee.

Natasha Buckley joined HarbourVest in 2019 and is responsible for sustaining the Firm’s ESG strategy and partnering with our general partners, limited partners, and the Firm’s employees to embrace sustainable investing.

Natasha joined HarbourVest from Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), where she was responsible for their work in the private equity sector, developing tools and resources for PRI signatories to integrate ESG considerations into their investment processes. During her time at PRI, Natasha co-authored the organization’s guide for general partners, and guidance for LPs and GPs on ESG in fund selection, fund terms and fund monitoring/reporting.

Natasha received a BA in History from University College London, an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and has completed the University of Oxford Private Equity Programme at the Saïd Business School.

Zoe Bulger manages Impact & ESG at Summa Equity, a private equity fund with c. EUR 4bn assets under management.

Summa was the first private equity firm to align its strategy with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Summa has also joined as a key partner with UNDP and UN PRI in UN SDG Impact Initiative to help develop an SDG-alignment framework relevant to all private equity firms.

Zoe is an impact expert, with nearly a decade of experience advancing impact in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. At Summa, Zoe works cross-functionally to integrate impact and ESG across the investment process, portfolio company management, reporting, and LP engagement. Zoe also leads work to monetize the fund’s impact through Harvard’s pioneering impact-weighted accounting methodology.

Before joining Summa, Zoe worked as a consultant at The Bridgespan Group, leading strategy projects for mission-driven funders and organizations. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BSc in Psychology from Duke University.

Richard is Chief Sustainability Officer and Director for Earth Capital Limited, as well as a member of the Investment Committee.

Richard has spent over 35 years in international banking. In his 20 years with ABN AMRO he was Head of UK Structured Finance and Corporate Banking and sat on the UK Executive and Credit Committees. As Global Head of Project Finance, he was responsible for ABN AMRO’s award-winning business franchises in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America and Brazil. In this role he was also instrumental in the creation of the Equator Principles, a market recognised standard for managing environmental and social risk issues in project financing.

Latterly, as Global Head of Sustainability, he chaired the group’s Sustainability Council and developed the bank’s strategy on climate change and the carbon markets. He is a former Chair of the UNEP Finance Initiative, a former Steering Committee member of Renewable Energy Networks for the 21st Century and external board member of Forest Renewables (part of the Forestry Commission in Scotland).

Richard is currently a Fellow of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and holds a BA and MBA from Durham University. He is an Independent Non-Exec Director of Triodos Bank UK and a Senior Adviser to the Earth Security Group.

Michelle is a co-founding partner of Blume Equity, a climate-tech growth equity investor transforming the health of planet and people. She has spent two decades in private equity and venture capital. Prior to co-founding Blume Equity, Michelle was an early-stage investor in climate and food-tech businesses. She was previously a Partner and Investment Committee member at Mid Europa Partners, where she spent 13 years investing in high-growth companies across a range of sectors. She started her career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch. Michelle holds a BSc in Finance from Wharton and is a Swedish citizen.

Maria joined Mayfair in 2015 to work alongside portfolio companies to identify, quantify and unlock business process improvement activities. Maria’s expertise as both a former practitioner and consultant allows her to focus on opportunities to drive incremental value in areas such as tax, ESG and finance with the aim of supporting the teams Mayfair partners with to deliver their plans faster or with less risk.

Maria is a qualified accountant, tax and treasury adviser, has a first-class honours degree in Chemistry from The University of Surrey, a PhD in Nanotechnology from Cambridge University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Maria is also a member of the British Venture Capital Association’s Tax Committee and Responsible Investing Advisory Group.

Joana Castro, Partner, Head of Primary Investments, is product head for the Climate Impact Fund and responsible for ESG integration in private equity. Joana is a member of the advisory board of several private equity funds and member of British Venture Capital Association’s Responsible Investment Advisory Group. She joined Unigestion in September 2016. Joana began her career in 2007 in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. In 2010, she joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as Senior Analyst focusing on private equity funds investments and became Principal at EBRD in 2013. Joana graduated in Economics from Catolica Lisbon School of Business and Economics in Lisbon, Portugal.

At the European Investment Fund, Nathalie is heading the unit focusing on lower mid-market investments in Northern Europe. She invests in equity, hybrid debt/equity and private debt funds across various thematic strategies in Europe and she represents the EIF in a number of Advisory Boards. Before joining the EIF, Nathalie had worked as a Financial Auditor in the private equity practice at EY.

She holds a Master degree in Corporate Finance from Neoma Business School and is a CFA charterholder.

Alison joined Pollen Street in 2018. She has responsibility for running
Pollen Street’s ESG programme within the firm and across the PE and
Credit portfolios, and is Chair of the ESG Committee. Alison is a
member of the Pollen Street Hub – a team focused on accelerating
growth and value by leveraging assets, expertise and ideas across the
portfolio.

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Alison spent 12 years at Experian in a
number of roles including Strategy and Global Sales Operations.
During that time, she was involved in a number of strategic business
and performance improvement programmes.

Previously she worked in Strategy and Investor Relations at GUS Plc, and
qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen. Alison holds
a degree in Arabic from Oxford University.

Director Head of Impact Jo Daley is responsible for setting the strategic direction of Clearwater International’s ESG & Impact strategy which embeds ESG into all areas of the UK business.

With more than 15 years of experience, Jo has a strong background in leading global ESG and sustainability strategy development and implementation for large corporate organisations, with a focus on transition risk mitigation, commercial value generation and brand reputation positioning.

Jo enjoys working with entrepreneurial management teams and investors to truly understand their business and ensure that Clearwater adds value through enhanced ESG integration.

Phil joined Helios in August 2020, taking responsibility for Helios’ ESG, climate and impact related activities across the investment lifecycle, working closely with portfolio companies to realize ESG-related value creation opportunities, as well as with the Helios investment team on Helios’ climate fund, CLEAR. He has 16 years of relevant professional experience, working in over 25 countries around the world.

He was previously Head of Sustainability for EMEA at The Carlyle Group, where he had oversight of regional ESG activities in Private Equity, Real Assets and Global Credit. He was also previously Assistant Director in the Sustainability and Climate Change Consulting team at PwC, providing ESG and climate related services to a range of financial services clients.

Noëlla de Bermingham started her career in the Sustainable Development Department of a major Hotel Group where she was in charge of projects, innovation and brand strategy. In 2014, Noëlla joined Private Equity sector as CSR Manager and then Deputy CSR Director in a leading global investment company.

With more than 12 years of experience in responsible business transformation (8 years in Private Equity), Noëlla de Bermingham joined Andera Partners in 2021 as Chief Sustainability Officer to confirm and accelerate the responsible commitment of the management company.

In January 2022, Noëlla became the Chair of the Sustainability Commission of France Invest and is member of the Private Equity Advisory Committee of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) since 2020.

Founded over 20 years ago, Andera Partners is a major player in unlisted investments in France and abroad. Its teams manage more than €3.5 billion.

Based in Paris, with offices in Antwerp and Munich, Andera Partners is wholly owned by its teams of nearly 90 people, including 56 investment professionals.

Prior to joining Stafford Silva worked for Robeco where she was responsible for ESG integration and the implementation of ESG engagement across different private equity programs.

Before this role Silva oversaw the Responsible Investing Program at Rabobank Sustainability Directorate and held a position of a fund analyst at Rabobank Private Banking. She started her career in responsible investing as an SRI analyst at the Institute for Investment Services Research in 2007. Prior to that, Silva was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Silva is a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative’s Advisory Group and Invest Europe’s Responsible Investment Roundtable. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Peter is Head of Private Equity within the PRI’s Investment Practices team. He has 22 years of experience in the asset management industry. Before joining PRI, he worked in the emerging market private equity team of Capital Group for over a decade. In addition, Peter sits on the steering committee of Initiative Climat International (iCI), an investor-led private equity climate initiative. Peter holds a BSc in Human and Physical Geography from Reading University in the UK. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Axel works as Sustainability Lead at Verdane, a leading European growth investor in sustainable. tech-enabled businesses. At Verdane he is responsible for building a centre of excellence around sustainable growth and strengthening Verdane’s existing sustainability proposition as a core value creator across the firm’s activities.

He brings deep expertise in the opportunities and risks presented by the climate transition and the Circular Economy, and comes most recently from Material Economics, a consulting firm focused on the strategic and commercial implications of the sustainability transition. There he worked with large investors and financial institutions, globally leading industrial and agriculture players, and several European organisations to help them future-proof their business models. Prior to this he worked at another consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, and has experience from both Fintech and Venture Capital in Germany.

Axel holds an MEng. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management from Imperial College London

Jennifer Flood, Sustainability Vice President. Jennifer joined Investindustrial’s Investor Relations team in 2014 and has been managing all ESG issues at both the Firm and portfolio company level since 2016. Jennifer majored in Business and has an MBA from INSEAD. In 2021 she obtained a Sustainability Certificate from NYU Stern School of Business.

Victoria is responsible for the management and development of JTC’s ESG Service offering to clients and supports JTC Plc’s ESG Strategy.

She is a Certified Chartered Accountant with 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, specialising in various aspects of E S and G. Victoria has conducted bespoke projects, including working with Fundsmith to assist with their oversight and supplier governance framework for the Equity Fund when it launched in 2011.

Victoria holds the Investment Operations Certificate awarded by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, Certificate in ESG Investing with the CFA Institute, Certificate in Sustainability within Finance, awarded by ACCA and Certificate in Leading Sustainable Organisations, Certificate in Private Markets – both awarded by Oxford Said Business School.

Kate is Head of ESG & Sustainability, where she leads a team placing individuals at all levels of seniority with firms across the Private Capital market.

Kate is an experienced recruitment professionals who has spent almost 20 years in the private capital market. Before moving into recruitment almost eight years ago, Kate worked as an Investor Relations Manager for both Capital Dynamics and SVG Advisers. During her time with SVG, she was part of a small team which led the development of the firm’s responsible investment strategy which was implemented across the business. Kate’s industry experience combined with a qualification in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge provides her with a unique insight into ESG and Sustainability which underpins her advisory approach to each mandate – from helping clients to define roles to identifying the best talent, both generalists and specialists, at all levels of seniority, including several Head of ESG positions and, building teams. Kate also regularly participates in industry events and provides commentary.

Jan is a Partner at in AG’s Investment Management Group and leads our private funds offering.

He has a unique mix of transactional and regulatory experience, having also spent part of his career at the FCA and as general counsel at a leading asset manager, giving him a practical insight on the issues facing both fund managers and investors.

He combines his core focus on raising private funds (incl. structuring, formation and marketing with a strong interest in fund regulation, such as AIFMD and emerging ESG regulation affecting fund managers and investors alike, with a particular interest in raising sustainability-focussed funds and other related investment products for both established and emerging fund managers. Jan also advises investors on their fund investments including institutional, HNWIs, family offices and pension plan investors.

Jan is an active member of the public affairs committee of INREV and is AG’s co-lead partner for LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Aaron joined Federated Hermes in 2018 and is currently Director of Engagement & Strategy for Sustainable Fixed Income. He is responsible for overall engagement strategy, working with companies in the SDG Engagement High Yield Credit strategy and wider sustainable fixed income products, and advises on sustainable investment analyses and approaches. Aaron has a decade of experience advising on corporate sustainability strategy and environmental and social challenges across private, public and NGO sectors. Aaron previously consulted with Accenture Strategy in London, engaging consumer goods, telecoms and logistics clients in sustainability strategy, ethical supply chain development, circular economy and environmental valuation projects. He also served as a senior advisor with Forum for the Future, a UK NGO that partners with companies to use systems thinking for developing long-term sustainable business models, and in sustainability advisory roles in Canadian technology consulting and government settings. Aaron holds an Honours Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Ivey School of Business at Western University, and a MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London.

Claire Hedley is ESG Director at 17Capital where she is responsible for ESG strategy across the firm’s investments and operations. Prior to joining 17Capital in June 2022, Claire worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management for 15 years. She joined as an analyst in 2007 working in both London and New York in their Alternative Investments & Manager Selection (AIMS) Group. Prior to leaving GS, Claire led the ESG & Impact Client Strategy Group in London, where she was responsible for driving GS Asset Management’s client facing and commercial ESG efforts in EMEA. Claire has a BA (Hons) in English from the University of Leeds (UK).

As Director of ESG and Responsible Investing, Mr. Hill is the Chairperson of Adams Street’s Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee, and supports Adams Street’s ESG efforts across all investment strategies. He collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to analyze, measure, and report ESG performance, as well as drive improvement. Mr. Hill’s career in the fields of ESG research and sustainability spans two decades. Prior to joining Adams Street, he was at S&P Global Trucost where he played a key role in managing and delivering projects that provided data-leveraged ESG insights to leading businesses and institutional investors.

Shai began his career on the buyside at what is now JP Morgan AM, before moving to the sellside where he worked in several research roles. He was Head of Research at Macquarie Group for 10 years before founding Integrum ESG in 2018. Shai has an M.A. in English from Cambridge University.

Dörte Höppner is the Chief Sustainability Officer of The Riverside Company and heads up global ESG initiatives for the firm. In addition, she leads the firm’s European fund raising and investor relations activities. An economist by training, Dörte joined Riverside in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer for its European operations. Prior to Riverside, she was Chief Executive at Invest Europe, the European private equity association, and Managing Director of the German private equity association. Dörte has been widely recognised for her work championing ESG within the wider PE community and is a frequent speaker at conferences and author or media articles on the importance of ESG and D&I initiatives.

Beth Houghton leads the Impact team at Palatine and has been responsible for successfully investing Impact Fund I. Beth joined Palatine in 2007 having completed her MBA with distinction at Manchester Business School. In 2016, Beth was awarded the BVCA’s “Outstanding Individual Contribution” award, in recognition of her contribution to responsible investment within the industry. Beth was also recognised by Real Deals in 2020 as a leader in Diversity and Inclusion within the private equity industry. Beth sits on the Responsible Investment Committee for the BVCA and often contributes to industry panels and webinars regarding ESG, Impact and Diversity.

Cilian Jansen Verplanke (57) studied Law at Leiden University and has over 30 years of experience in the financial sector in private equity, equity capital markets and commercial banking of which 20 years at ABN AMRO and Rabobank and since 2010 at her own co-founded investment Fund Karmijn Kapitaal. She has done numerous acquisitions and exits and has encountered many entrepreneurs. Karmijn only invests in SME companies led by balanced gender divers management teams.

Cilian is a.o. Chair of the Dutch Level20 Committee.

Maria Knapp is a Partner for ESG Consulting. The practice supports companies to manage their performance and the risks emanating from environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues

Maria specialises in advising investors, DFIs and corporate clients as well as their legal advisors, providing tactical and strategic advice on programme audit, development and implementation, end-to-end ESG due diligence, investigations and monitoring across the ESG spectrum.

Qualified as a lawyer in England & Wales, Maria trained and practiced in finance and capital markets at Clifford Chance in London and Paris. Maria has worked and lived in France and Canada as well as in sub-Saharan Africa, including for the Zimbabwe chapter of Transparency International, the Namibian Legal Assistance Centre, and the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Canada. Maria has a LLB from City University, London, and a BA (Hons) from McGill University and Sciences Po (Paris) and a Certificate in Sustainable Finance from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL).

Stefanie is a specialist in impact measurement and management. An economist by training, she previously led the impact team at Bridges Fund Management in the UK before recently joining the team at Three Hills Capital Partners to build the sustainable European alternatives platform, Atypical Partner. Alongside her colleagues from Bridges, she also launched the Impact Management Project, a global network to define standards and norms for impact measurement and management.

Nina is a Principal on Hamilton Lane’s global Fund Investment Team.  She is based in the firm’s London office, where she focuses on fund investments across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  Nina is a member of Hamilton Lane’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council and leads the global Fund Investment Team’s ESG Taskforce.

Nina began her career at Hamilton Lane in 2013 and has previously worked for Hamilton Lane in Philadelphia and Munich, where she focused on North American and DACH market fund investments, respectively. Nina is involved in Level20 as a member of the Future Leaders Committee.

Nina received a B.A. in Economics, with Honours, and a minor in Biology from Hamilton College.

Matthew is Director of Finance and Strategy and Head of ESG at Park Square Capital, and a member of the firm’s ESG Committee and the AIFM’s Valuation Committee.

Prior to joining Park Square in 2016, Matthew worked at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, an independent philanthropic organisation focused on improving children’s lives and mitigating climate change, where he provided financial and technical advice on investments and strategy. Matthew graduated from Loughborough University with Bachelors of Science in Geography and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC.

Laura joined Cinven in October 2022 as ESG Director. Prior to joining Cinven, she was Global Head of Sustainability at Compass Group PLC where she led the ESG and sustainability agenda internally and externally including across 45 markets on climate action, food waste, and human rights. In addition, she has worked in sustainability consulting across a range of corporate clients and has helped several tech start-ups reach scale. She started her career in infrastructure finance at Macquarie Capital Funds. Laura has an MBA from INSEAD and a degree from the University of Oxford and was named in Sustainability Magazine’s top 100 women in sustainability 2022.

Nazo is a Managing Partner at Energy Impact Partners, a multi-geography, multi-asset platform focused on the theme of sustainability and the energy transition with over $2.5b of AUM. Nazo has a 20-year track record of investing in enterprise and industrial technology companies. She was part of the founding team of the European technology fund of The Carlyle Group where she invested in enterprise and industrial technologies across three funds. As a Managing Partner, she went on to lead the investment efforts of C5 Capital, Europe’s first cyber security fund. She serves on the boards of Grover, ESG Book, RangeForce, Studytube and 42 Crunch. Previously, Nazo has also served on the boards of The Arts Council England and The Charity Commission. She graduated summa cum laude from UCLA and earned her MBA from Columbia Business School.

Sarah Peasey, Director of European ESG Investing, joined the firm in 2021. Sarah leads ESG integration and client engagement across Europe, working with our investment teams and analysts in the region to advance our ESG capabilities. Prior to joining Neuberger Berman, Sarah was Head of Responsible Investment Strategy – Investments at Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM). Prior to this Sarah previously held a number of roles at LGIM including Investment Strategist and Head of Fixed Income Investment Specialists. Sarah holds a first class degree in business management from the University of East Anglia.

Henry leads marketing and communications for Beringea in the UK, working closely with the investment and fundraising teams.

Henry also advises the portfolio on PR and communications, and he leads the Beringea Scale-Up Academy, an annual series of workshops and webinars for portfolio companies. Henry has also led Beringea’s work on ESG, including co-founding ESG_VC, an industry initiative to help portfolio companies improve their ESG performance.

Henry previously advised VCs, founders, and financial institutions on communications campaigns at Seven Hills, a London-based agency. Henry read History at the University of Durham and holds an MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge.

Matthew Powell is a Vice President on the BeyondNetZero team and serves as Head of ESG & Reporting for the venture. Before joining BeyondNetZero, Powell was the Chief of Staff at L1 Energy.

Established in 2021, BeyondNetZero combines General Atlantic’s significant expertise in growth equity with a dedicated, senior team of climate investors, advisors and industry experts. The team focuses on identifying entrepreneurs who are addressing climate-focused problems and helping them scale.

Olivia is a Partner at Bridges Fund Management, a sustainable and impact investment manager. Olivia is responsible for Bridges’ impact strategy and impact management practice across all funds. Olivia also leads the firm’s research and development efforts to promote the growth of the wider sustainable and impact investment sector.

Previously, Olivia co-founded the Impact Management Project (IMP), an ambitious sector-wide initiative to build market consensus on sustainability and impact management. The IMP concluded in 2021 having achieved the creation of the UN-managed Impact Management Platform, and facilitated the launch of the International Sustainability Standards Board, out of the IFRS Foundation.

Olivia began her career working in emerging market impact investing at BII (formerly CDC)), the UK development finance institution. Olivia has extensive experience advising both investors and corporates on designing impact management approaches and investment strategies across diverse geographies and asset classes. Olivia is a visiting lecturer at a number of global academic institutions and industry networks, and is currently authoring the CFA qualification on Impact and Investing.

Benjamin joined Paragon Partners in 2021. He is responsible for driving value creation within the portfolio companies. Prior to Paragon he was in leadership and strategy roles for a leading testing, inspection and certification player. Before that, he built a team for buy & build platform sourcing for the leading German small-cap buy & build PE investor. He started his career in restructuring at Roland Berger.

Benjamin holds a PhD in Finance from Technical University Munich (TUM) and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Passau. He is still an active lecturer on Private Equity in the executive education

Fabio Ranghino is Head of Strategy & Sustainability at Ambienta and is based in Milan. He has joined Ambienta in 2011 and since then has led the development of Ambienta’s approach to sutainability driven investment across asset classes building internal proprietary knowledge across sectors and industry.

Under his leadership, Sustainability & Strategy develops sustainability driven insights and ideas generation for Ambienta’s investment teams, advises on investment decisions across asset classes and develops proprietary environmental impact methodologies.

Prior to Ambienta, he was a management consultant with Value Partners where he developed experience on a wide range of sectors and industries as industrial goods, automotive, luxury goods and energy. He hold a BSc and a MSc in Aerospace Engineering from Politecnico di Torino and has an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France and Singapore)

Sarah is the COO at Seraphim Space, overseeing Finance, Legal, Compliance, Operations, Investor Relations, Risk Management and HR. She has 25 years of finance experience.

Prior to Seraphim Space, Sarah was a partner at Development Partners International for 14.5 years from its inception in 2007. She was responsible for administration of the firm and its funds, including legal, compliance, HR, IT, operations, facilities and ESG and also sat on the investment committee.

Sarah has experience as an active board director on private equity fund general partners and investment holding companies. She was previously a co-chair of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) Compliance & Best Practice Committee.

Before joining Development Partners International, Sarah was an Associate Director on the Technology Equity Research team at UBS in London, specialising in the telecommunications equipment sector and covering large-cap European companies, including Nokia, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent.

Sarah worked in various operations risk, accounting and financial systems analyst roles at UBS, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and HSBC Investment Bank in the early stages of her career.

Sarah holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics and Accounting from the University of Bristol.

Lee is the firm’s global Head of ESG and Responsible Business and also Head of Social Sustainable and Green Finance practice, which encompasses our legacy nationally recognised first tier Social Housing Finance Practice. He is passionate about the social finance space generally, and has invested his whole career in this area, leading on structuring the majority of innovative transactions over the past two decades

Lee was first recognised as a leading social housing finance lawyer nationally at the age of 27 two decades ago, and was one of the first two lawyers nationally to be inducted into the Legal 500 ’s Hall of Fame for Social Housing Finance Most recently he has been described as the “pre eminent funders’ lawyer” and “without doubt, the sector expert” by peers, clients and the markets in independent legal directories

During 2021 Lee was shortlisted by the Financial Times as one of the ten most innovative lawyers in Europe for his work in relation to sustainable finance

Outside of the practice, Lee lives with his husband Dave, dividing his time between London and Manchester He also sits on the policy committee of the UK Sustainable and Investment Finance Association

A CFO with over 15 years’ Private Equity experience. Strong Finance and Investor Relations background with both operational and investor-facing skills. Developed best-in-class investor and stakeholder reporting. Advises on ESG and Sustainablity in PE. Recently completed studies in Sustainability and Sustainable Finance with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).

dr Robert Sroka is the ESG Director and Chief Ethics Officer for Central Europe at Abris Capital Partners. He is responsible for developing and overseeing a responsible investment policy and all ESG areas. He has 15 years of experience working on business ethics, ESG, corporate governance, ant-bribery, human rights, and sustainable development projects.

Previously, Manager at EY Climate Change and Sustainability Services and EY Business Integrity and Corporate Compliance practices. Robert is a member of the Invest Europe Responsible Investment Roundtable and the European Business Ethics Network. Author and co-author of many research reports, books and articles available on www.robertsroka.pl.

Heleen van Poecke is the CEO and Co-founder of KEY ESG, a Software-as-a-Service company that enables companies and fund managers to manage their ESG data, reporting and performance.

Prior to founding KEY ESG, Heleen has worked in Software Sales Operations at Collibra and private equity investing and finance at AlpInvest Partners and Greenhill. She holds a BSc and MSc from Erasmus university and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She serves as a Director at Atlas Invest and serves on the boards of several energy transition focused firms.

Eva is Head of ESG & Impact at EMK Capital, a global private equity firm that specializes in control buyouts with hard-to-recognize value in the business services, consumer, and industrial sectors. Eva has a diverse and broad range of experience in sustainability in her professional career spanning the last 15 years. She has held her role at EMK Capital for the last 2 years.

Weight Partners Capital (“WPC”) was founded by Jim Weight in December 2009 to fill a gap in the UK private equity market by bringing together the best of both operating and investing expertise to produce superior returns. The operating focus naturally brings sector focus and for WPC that is healthcare services and consumer in the UK. Jim leads the investment team and chairs the investment committee. He also serves as chairman of Rileys, Trinity, Grosvenor, WPC Hotels and Towerview.

Before launching WPC, Jim enhanced performance as corporate operator and private equity advisor at a series of large companies. Jim was CFO of HiT Entertainment backed by Apax Partners; CFO of Westminster Health Care, backed by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, and Goldman Sachs; and divisional board director at Kingfisher (Comet, B&Q, Staples, Entertainment UK, e-Kingfisher). Jim also spent eight years with The Boston Consulting Group.

Jim was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard Business School where he received an MBA. He also holds a BA in Engineering from Cambridge.

Kristen Weldon, Managing Director, is the Global Head of BlackRock Alternative Investors Sustainable Investing. Kristen is responsible for instilling BlackRock’s firm-wide sustainable investing strategy across BAI’s Real Estate, Infrastructure, Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Credit businesses. This includes integrating sustainability considerations and risk factors across the platform’s investment and asset management processes, expanding BAI’s sustainable product offering and driving greater transparency on ESG analysis and reporting.

Prior to joining BlackRock in 2021, Kristen was Global Head of ESG and Impact Investing at Partners Capital. Before this, Kristen was with Louis Dreyfus Company where she was Head of Food Innovation and Downstream Strategy and launched Louis Dreyfus Ventures, a sustainability-focused fund management group, from which she led the company’s investment activities in the ag-tech and food technology industries. Previously, she spent 13 years at Blackstone, where she was a Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the London office for Hedge Fund Solutions.

Kristen started her career at JPMorgan on the interest rates derivatives sales and structuring team. Kristen has a Masters of Science (MSc) in Strategy and Leadership from London Business School where she was a Sloan Fellow and earned a BSBA degree in Finance and International Business from Georgetown University.

Emily joined Beechbrook in May 2015 following 5 years at Royal Bank of Scotland plc. At Beechbrook, Emily is Head of Investor Relations and ESG, having set up the IR function in 2018. Prior to this, she was an Associate Director in the Investment Team. Beechbrook Capital, a specialist direct lender founded in 2008, invests in SMEs across a range of industries in the UK and Europe. To date, it has raised more than €1bn through eight funds and has invested in 90+ companies in the European lower mid-market. Beechbrook’s private debt funds support northern European private equity-backed companies with a typical enterprise value of €10 million to €100 million, investing between €5m and €25m per transaction. Beechbrook’s UK SME funds support non-private equity backed SMEs across the UK with a typical enterprise value of £10 million to £100 million, investing between £5m and £20m per transaction. The Beechbrook team consists of 20 plus investment professionals located in the UK, Germany and Ireland. Beechbrook is a signatory to the UN PRI.

Serge is the Head of Sustainability at Investindustrial, responsible for Sustainability (ESG), Responsible Investing, Impact Investment and sustainable growth. He leads a team of highly experienced domain experts in Sustainability & ESG to deliver tangible value and impact in the investment process working closely with portfolio companies. Serge was previously a Director at Accenture Strategy and previously was a Director of Sustainability Services at WSP Environment & Energy.