Suzanne is founder of Catalyst at Large Ltd and is a globally-recognised expert on gender-smart investing. As Co-Founder of GenderSmart she steers strategy, programming, participation, and communications. She is an adviser to foundations, DFIs, and other institutional investors on gender-smart investing, and is a pioneer with her personal portfolio in this arena.

Darian is an accomplished impact investor, social entrepreneur, conference producer, and best-selling author. His work “helping people help” started during his five-year tenure as Executive Director of Craigslist Foundation, after which he co-founded several social impact conference series, consulted to a wide range of mission-led clients, and supported the UN's development of the SDGs around gender and climate. His role on the Summit includes overseeing fundraising, finances, and strategic partnerships.

Sigrid is a seasoned global event producer and live content developer who has collaborated with Fortune 500 corporations, governments, nonprofits, media, and academic institutions to advance diversity and gender initiatives for innovation and market growth. She oversees operations and production at GenderSmart and is passionate about serving as a connector, building communities with reach and impact. She speaks German and English and lives in Washington, DC.

Sana is a social entrepreneur, gender lens investor and activist. She has grown a social impact accelerator, advises on and implements effective blended finance solutions and provides capacity building and advisory support around impact ecosystem building and embedding gender lens frameworks. Her role is to shape the overall GenderSmart programme and Summit agendas, ensuring that topics and themes covered reflect the diversity of voices, trends, challenges and opportunities that underpin the mobilisation of capital in a strategic and gender-smart way. She is also the Lead for the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. She is based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Stella is a project manager, facilitator and coach who joins the Summit team from a career in international development, where she specialised in the design and delivery of leadership programmes for young people in East Africa. Stella’s role on the Summit is to be the glue that keeps everything together, working across the team to ensure efficiency and coordination as well as supporting our delegates and supporters on their Summit journey. Stella is based in the UK, splitting her time between the rolling hills of North Yorkshire and the addictive buzz of central London.

Debbi’s role spans design, communications and editorial. She is a writer, editor and generalist with a broad creative skillset developed during a career at startups, including her own. She launched a print magazine, events series and global network designed to challenge traditional media representations of women and was previously Creative and Digital Lead at Women Effect, a pilot community for gender lens investors now housed at Wharton Social Impact Initiative. Debbi is based in Valencia, Spain.

Julie is a project coordinator, supporting the GenderSmart team across various working groups. She joins the team following a career as an attorney-turned-social-entrepreneur working with Indigenous artisans in the Americas. She’s also a trained pastry chef. Based in the greater New York area, though she makes frequent trips to the UK to be near her family.

Bella is an experienced executive assistant who has previously worked with top executives in digital fashion and 3D design. She joins the GenderSmart team with a passion for gender and racial equality.

Jackie VanderBrug is responsible for defining and executing investment strategies for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank focusing on Impact Investing initiatives across all asset classes. She speaks frequently, representing CIO at conferences including the Nantucket Project, Clinton Global Initiative, Aspen Ideas Festival, and FT for Good.

Prior to joining Bank of America, Jackie was managing director at Criterion Ventures, a hybrid consulting firm where she worked with high net worth individuals and large non-profits on impact strategies; she also led the Business Development of the start-up team at iBasis; and, co-founded WORK IN PROGRESS, a non-profit social enterprise focused on career development for underprivileged youth. She started her career as a domestic policy analyst for the U.S. Congress and as a strategy consultant for Fortune 500 firms.

Jackie received her M.B.A from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and her B.S. in Mathematics from Calvin College. Jackie is an Aspen Institute First Mover Fellow and serves on the Boards of the Trustees of the Donations and US SIF (The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment). She co-authored the 2016 book Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth, Returns, and Impact.

Laurie J. Spengler is an impact investment banker, board member and active contributor to the impact investing industry. Among her current board engagements, she serves as a non-executive director of the CDC Group (the UK DFI), Lendable, the UK Impact Investing Institute and Bridges Insights. Laurie serves as Global Ambassador to the Global Steering Group on Impact Investing and is Senior Fellow and Advisory Council member at Casei3 at the Fuqua Business School. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Laurie is a frequent speaker and preferred interviewer at industry convenings on topics ranging from impact investing, values-based banking, gender smart investing to inclusive and sustainable economics and more. Her increasingly regular writings are gaining traction with new audiences expressing interest in building a more resilient future for all.
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Laurie is CEO of Courageous Capital Advisors, LLC, an impact investing advisory firm dedicated to generating outsized positive impact by providing targeted strategy, transaction and governance services. Previously, Laurie was CEO of Enclude Ltd. and Enclude Capital UK Limited, formerly part of the ShoreBank and Triodos family of companies, and now a Palladium Company. Prior to building Enclude Capital, Laurie was founder and CEO of Central European Advisory Group, a regional advisory firm she sold to her management team in 2005. She also worked as an attorney with the New York, Brussels and Prague offices of White & Case. Laurie has a JD from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

James Soukamneuth is the impact investing director of Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian government. Working with impact investors in Southeast Asia, he develops blended finance instruments to move capital to the region in support of small to medium-sized enterprises owned and led by women.

Before joining Investing in Women, he held economic roles with USAID, where he received a number of awards and distinctions through tours in the Philippines and West Africa. He has more than 18 years of international experience, spanning the public and private sectors, in economics, trade and investments. He honed his analytical skills as a quantitative analyst on Wall Street, but his passion for humanitarian causes has taken him to Benin with the Peace Corps and the field of microfinance in Southeast Asia, with many stops in between.

A Lao-American, Mr Soukamneuth holds a PhD in political economy from Cornell University.

Yuri Soares is Chief of Strategy and Impact at IDB Lab, where he is responsible for corporate strategy, developing connections and network assets, impact and measurement and strategic communications. Dr. Soares previously managed the Lab's agenda on climate and agriculture, where he developed a portfolio of investments in agtech and natural capital. IDB Lab is the Innovation Lab of the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB).

Before joining IDB Lab, Yuri Soares was Principal Advisor at the IDB Office of Evaluation and Oversight. He has worked in the US and Brazil, where he has published on such topics as impact evaluation, agriculture, firm innovation and growth, crime and violence, labor economics and workforce, and the economics of public amenities. Dr. Soares holds a PhD in Economics from Michigan State University and a MA in Agricultural Economics from the University of Florida.

Ruth Shaber MD is the founder and president of the Tara Health Foundation, which promotes health, well-being and opportunity for women and girls through innovative evidence-informed programs. She is also the co-founder and board chair of Rhia Ventures, a group of foundations and investors that collaborate to bring new types of capital and enterprise to the field of reproductive health in the United States.

Ruth started her career as an Obstetrician and Gynecology at the Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center in 1990. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she had many leadership positions at Kaiser Permanente including chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Director of Women’s Health and founder of the Women’s Health Research Institute. Ruth was the Medical Director at the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute from 2007 to 2012 where she worked with Kaiser Permanente's regional and national leaders to apply the best evidence and successful systems approaches to create reliable clinical performance.

Ruth received her B.A. from Yale University and her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She served her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California in San Francisco.

Vicki Saunders is an entrepreneur, award-winning mentor, advisor to the next generation of change makers and leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. Vicki is Founder of #radical generosity and SheEO, a global community of radically generous women supporting women-led ventures working on the World’s To Do List. Vicki has co-founded and run ventures in Europe, Toronto and Silicon Valley and taken a company public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Vicki was named one of the 100 most influential leaders of 2015 from “EBW – Empowering A Billion Women”, In 2001, Vicki was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum.

Loren Rodwin is a Managing Director for Social Enterprise Finance in the Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Department at DFC (formerly OPIC). Mr. Rodwin co-manages a team providing debt financing to financial institutions, financial intermediaries, funds and social enterprises in developing countries and emerging markets.

This includes financing for financial access, clean and affordable energy, water and sanitation services, health care, housing, education and enhancing small holder farmer supply chains. He is also part of the OPIC team implementing OPIC’s gender smart investing program called 2X. Prior to his current position, Mr. Rodwin worked in OPIC’s Structured Finance Department where he handled workouts and debt restructurings for a portfolio of distressed loans. In addition, he underwrote debt financing transactions in the financial services, agriculture and mining sectors.

Prior to joining OPIC in 2001, Mr. Rodwin worked as a Senior Financial Analyst at K&M Engineering and Consulting Corporation focusing on private power transactions. Mr. Rodwin began his career at the Chase Manhattan Bank, where he worked as a Credit Analyst, Credit Auditor, Financial Institutions Credit Officer in the Tokyo Branch, and a Client Service Officer underwriting real estate finance transactions.

Mr. Rodwin is a graduate of Brown University, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business.

Hedda is a private investor, active board member, adjunct professor and government advisor on issues related to sustainable development and socially responsible investing. She is the CEO of TIIME.Org – advocacy, advisory and investment support to drive capital towards positive social and environmental impact.

Hedda is on the investment committee and a board member of the Rising Tide funds, designed to train women in early-stage investing and currently launching Rising Tide Africa. She sits on the advisory board to the Luxembourg government for Sustainable Development (CSDD.lu), focused on social finance developments and the Vodafone F-Lane accelerator for women-empowerment. Hedda is Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship at Sacred Heart University MBA and at the University of Luxembourg.

Alice Page is senior banker, currently Head of Strategy and Chief of Staff for UBS Global Wealth Management. She is responsible for the major strategic initiatives for the bank and is a member of the Global Wealth Management Executive Committee.

Alice has spent two decades of her career in Asia Pacific, where she worked directly with entrepreneurs and investors in Asia. While in Hong Kong, she led UBS’s flagship ‘Tech Connect’ program focusing on early stage entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses and connect with investment capital and ideas. She was a mentor and program advisor on the Chinese University of Hong Kong NGO Leadership program, supporting NGOs and social enterprises to professionalise their approach and maximise their impact. Alice holds an MA (Oxon) from Oxford University and an MBA from the University of Liverpool Management School.

Kanini Mutooni is a Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan, a Venture Philanthropy institution focused on investing in global early stage entrepreneurs creating impact. She is also a Senior Adviser for Toniic, the global action network for impact investors with over 300 asset owners representing over $16b in investible wealth. Prior to this appointment, Kanini was the Director for Investment at the USAID-funded East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, a $65m, 8 country initiative to attract investment and increase trade in the East Africa region.

Kanini is a UK Chartered Accountant with a record of exceptional leadership gained in East Africa, Europe and the United States. She is the immediate former Board Chair of The Global Innovation Fund, a $250m investment vehicle supported by the UK, US, Canadian, Australian and Swedish Governments. The fund focused on investing a range of capital for early stage innovations in emerging markets with a focus on Food and Agriculture, Healthcare, clean energy and Fintech.

Kanini has worked at Board level in leadership positions at investment banks in London and US, such as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. In 2014 she was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader for her exceptional leadership in business and global entrepreneurship. She continues to provide strategic advisory support to a number of Africa focused impact funds such as the $100m African Agriculture SME Fund and is an impact adviser for Union Bank Privee’s (UBP) listed global equity fund. She is a visiting lecturer at the University of Capetown’s Bertha Center for Social Innovation.

Shalaka Joshi is the Gender Lead, South Asia for the International Finance Corporation (IFC)- the private sector focused arm of the World Bank- where she works on gender in the private sector. Shalaka has over 17 years of global leadership experience in early-stage investing, social venture, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, livelihoods and market-based solutions to poverty in emerging markets, especially in Asia.

Her social enterprise career began with UNICEF where she worked on micro-planning and building public- private-nonprofit alliances. She also worked with Ashoka, a global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. Her private sector experience includes ICICI Bank - India’s largest private sector bank - where she led the process of integrating private sector partners into the Bank’s initiatives in health, education and micro finance.

Shalaka’s investment experience includes being part of the early team at the IFMR Trust and serving as a Managing Director of Unitus Impact (now Patamar Capital)- an early-stage fund which supports the growth of scalable livelihood ventures in Asia. Shalaka also served as Managing Director, Asia-Pacific for Toniic- the world’s most active network of impact investors, supporting ventures and funds across 28 countries. She led Toniic’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific region and as its Chief Investment Officer globally, across asset classes.

A Chevening scholar and an Aspen Global Leadership fellow, Shalaka serves on the Boards of Toniic Global (which seeks to move millions of dollars into impact investing globally), the IEF Entrepreneurship Foundation (which works with Indian State governments to mainstream entrepreneurship) and UnLtd, India (a leading incubator for social entrepreneurs). She is based out of Mumbai, India and enjoys poetry, travel and dance.

Shawn Escoffery is the Executive Director of the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation, where he leads a team committed to social justice and addressing the historical inequities that plague many lower-income communities. Since joining the Foundation 2018, Shawn has led the organisation through a strategy revisioning process, created a fellowship for someone who was system impacted, and launched an Impact Investing portfolio with a 10% carve-out of the endowment.

The Foundation now focuses on Criminal Justice Reform, Environmental Justice, and Affordable Housing Preservation with a trust-based approach that is centered in place and emphasises lasting partnerships as well as capacity building.

Prior to joining RPDFF, Shawn directed the Inclusive Economies portfolio at the Surdna Foundation. In this role, Shawn worked to support the development of robust and sustainable economies that include a wide range of businesses, equitable economic policy, and access to quality jobs. Shawn managed a $9.5 million annual grantmaking budget and an impact investing portfolio over $10 million.

Shawn holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers and a master’s degree from MIT. He also holds certificates in Communications and International Relations, Urban Redevelopment, and Effective Leadership from Carnegie Mellon, the UPENN, and Duke, respectively. Shawn currently sits on the board of The Funders Network and Hispanics in Philanthropy.

At CDC (the UK’s Development Finance Institution), Jen leads the Value Creation Strategies group, which is an in-house expert team focusing on delivering results in CDC’s strategic priority areas, including gender equality, job quality and skills & leadership.

Prior to joining CDC, Jen was Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Kiron Global Strategies, a woman-owned small business focusing on workforce development and skills training in fragile and conflict affected states.

Jen was previously Director of Booz Allen Hamilton’s offices across Africa and Eurasia, based in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she was responsible for building and managing the firm’s International Development and Cooperation portfolio, including projects supporting various local government institutions in Africa and Asia, the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development, and the US Millennium Challenge Corporation. Jen is a licensed attorney in New York, and holds an MA in international relations and economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Hany Assaad is Co-founder and Chief Portfolio & Risk Officer of Avanz Capital and a member of the Investment Committees of the Avanz Capital funds. He leads the sourcing, screening and negotiation of investments and risk management, including the environmental, social and governance aspects. He serves on a number of LP Advisory Committees. He is the executive director of the Avanz Growth Markets Limited, an investment firm listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and investing in emerging markets private equity.

Mr. Assaad has had a long career in emerging markets investments, including two decades at International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. He was Chief Investment Officer in IFC’s Private Equity and Investment Funds. He oversaw IFC’s funds business for new investments and portfolio in the Middle East and North Africa, East Africa, South Asia, Central, Eastern and Southern Europe and Central Asia. Mr. Assaad was responsible for selecting IFC’s investment criteria and screening its deal pipeline, overseeing the due diligence teams, negotiating investment terms, and presenting investment recommendations to IFC’s Board of Directors. He managed a substantial portfolio of funds, shaping governance, strategy, and deal pipelines and was a member of several advisory committees.

Mr Assaad has extensive experience in training on private equity funds management, corporate governance and funds governance. Over the past decade, he designed, organized and led a number of training programs to investors and fund managers. Mr. Assaad is widely recognized for and has notable knowledge and commitment to sustainable and impact investing, and gender-lens investing.

Joy Anderson is a prominent national leader at the intersection of business and social change, whose insights and experience have helped shaped hundreds of ventures as well as the movements of impact investing and gender lens investing. She is founder and president of Criterion Institute, the leading think tank on using finance as a tool for social change, which demonstrates new possibilities through its groundbreaking research, innovative trainings, convenings, and institutional engagement.

In recognition of her leadership, Anderson was listed in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. She published A Blueprint for Women’s Funds on Using Finance as a Tool for Social Change in partnership with Global Fund for Women and Ms. Foundation, following the 2015 publication of Gender Lens Investing in Asia, published jointly with USAID, and Criterion’s The State of the Field of Gender Lens Investing.