A Conversation On Strategic Collaboration With The GIIN
Thursday, February 11th at 6am PT/ 9am ET/ 3pm CET.
Diane Damskey, CFA
Head of the Secretariat, Impact Principles
Diane is a senior member of the team that developed the Operating Principles for Impact Management that established a framework to bring greater discipline and transparency to the impact investing market. She is Head of the Secretariat, responsible for the administration, promotion and growth in the number of impact investors adopting this standard. She leads the engagement with private sector asset managers, asset owners, wealth managers and family offices on the Impact Principles. Prior to joining IFC, Diane was an Adviser to the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C., where she led initiatives to promote private sector investment in emerging markets.
Diane joined the World Bank following over 25 years’ experience with private sector financial institutions. Diane began her career at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, managing banking relationships in North Africa, and negotiating the Kingdom of Morocco debt restructuring. She then became a member of the Troika at Lehman Brothers, advising on the debt restructuring for the Republic of Venezuela, and then managed debt repurchase programs for Hungary and Russia at the First National Bank of Chicago. Diane has held several senior roles with institutional and private client investment managemers, including Credit Suisse Asset Management, Northern Trust, UBS International Private Bank, and JPMorgan. Diane holds a B.S. in Foreign Service, cum laude, from Georgetown University and M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is a CFA charterholder.
Amit Bouri
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, GIIN
Amit Bouri is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the GIIN, where he leads the largest global community of impact investors dedicated to increasing the scale and effectiveness of impact investing.
Amit co-founded the GIIN in 2009, following the launch of the Monitor Institute’s, Investing for Social and Environmental Impact, a landmark report, which he helped to conceive and develop. His work would eventually lead to the growth of a global network around the concept of impact investing and provide a blueprint that would seed the GIIN’s creation.
Today, Amit dedicates his work to engaging industry leaders, institutional investors, foundations, and leading financial institutions all over the world to advocate for greater integration of social and environmental factors in all investment decisions, and to develop the tools and resources needed to effectively mobilize more capital towards impact investments. Amit is on the Stewardship Council of Imperative 21, a business-led, network of coalitions driving economic system change.
He has authored many articles and has been frequently featured in leading publications such as the Financial Times, The Economist, Al Jazeera, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Barron’s, and Pensions & Investments. He is also a sought-after speaker at events worldwide.
Amit has significant experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors and previously held positions at Bain & Company, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and within the corporate philanthropy units of Gap Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, an MPA from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Swarthmore College.
He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their daughter, who inspire his life’s work to building a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
Jennifer Pryce
President and CEO, Calvert Impact Capital
Jenn Pryce is President and CEO of Calvert Impact Capital. For a quarter of a century, Calvert Impact Capital has strived to make markets work for more people, more often, by investing in communities overlooked by traditional finance. Calvert Impact Capital invests through organizations that on-lend to people and businesses in the US and over 120 countries. In 2019, the organizations in their portfolio provided more than $5 billion to finance everything from solar panels in Tanzania and small businesses in Texas.
Over the past decade, Jenn has shaped the strategic direction of Calvert Impact Capital to focus on innovation, sustainability, and scale. Under her leadership the organization has expanded the sectors it works in, developed new products and services, and committed to sharing their knowledge and expertise with the field on key topics like gender lens investing. Calvert Impact Capital remains committed to ensuring impact investing is accessible to all investors, large and small, having worked with nearly 20,000 individuals, institutions and advisors to raise $2.5 billion since their founding.
Jenn began her career in the Peace Corps where she taught math in Gabon. She then worked as an equity research analyst for Neuberger Berman and on the investment banking team at Morgan Stanley’s London office before joining The Public Theater in New York City and leading the Washington DC regional office for the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Jenn studied engineering at Union College and holds an MBA from Columbia University. She currently serves as a Forbes contributor, a lecturer at Oxford Saïd School of Business, and the Advisory Board Chair of Quantified Ventures.
Dietske Simons
Director Finance, Impact and Data, FMO
Dietske Simons is director Finance, Impact and Data a.i. at FMO, the Dutch Development Bank. In this role, she is responsible for finance and accounting, impact measurement, integrated reporting, data management and analytics. Over the past years at FMO she held several positions amongst which head of Financial Risk Management and head of Impact Measurement and Integrated Reporting. Before joining FMO she worked at the Dutch Central Bank in Banking Supervision. Dietske has a MSc in econometrics and quantitative finance.
Allison Spector
Director, Responsible Investment, Nuveen
Allison is a member of the Responsible Investing team and leads sustainability for Nuveen real assets and private markets, which include investments across the farmland, timberland, agribusiness, energy & infrastructure, private equity and private debt. She is responsible for setting the sustainability strategy and drives implementation of best practices in ESG integration, climate risk management and impact investing within alternative investments. She also leads impact measurement and management for the Nuveen Global Impact Strategy and the Nuveen private markets impact investing portfolio.
Prior to joining the firm, Allison worked for the Global Impact Investing Network, where she led impact investing market development efforts and advised institutional investors on responsible and impact investing strategies. Previously, she advised large fintech and agribusiness companies on sustainable business strategies and impact measurement and also worked in microfinance for PlaNet Finance in China.
Allison graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude, in International Studies from Emory University and an M.Sc. in Sustainable Development from the School of Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of London, where she focused on sustainable agriculture.
Maria Teresa Zappia
Chief Impact & Blended Finance Officer, Deputy CEO, BlueOrchard Finance Ltd.
Maria Teresa Zappia is responsible for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) funds under BlueOrchard’s management and impact practice. Maria Teresa joined BlueOrchard in 2008 as Chief Investment Officer. Previously Maria Teresa worked as Senior Banker in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development financial institution team both in London and Central Asia. Prior to that she worked for the Asian Development Bank in Manila and was an ODI Fellow in Africa. She holds a M.Phil degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Florence.