EBRD

Advisory board member and investor with deep capital markets experience across Africa. Former CEO of SGB Securities and previously held senior roles at JPMorgan and Credit Suisse Standard Securities. Has served on the boards of Finfind and HealthCloud and is a co-founder of Sovara.

Oti Ilentamhen is an Investment Principal at the firm, where the role involves identifying and evaluating investment opportunities in line with the firm's investment thesis.

Anna Kowalczyk is Associate Director and Head of External Communications at the EBRD. She has more than 20 years of experience in global communications, including crisis management, media relations, and digital campaigns. Her work spans strategic communications, international development, and reputation management.

Anton Usov serves as Media Adviser in the Office of the Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The EBRD, founded in 1991 and headquartered in London, is a multilateral development investment bank that supports market economies across more than 30 countries from central Europe to central Asia.

Jelena Pajic is a Communications Associate at the EBRD, where she handles media relations covering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. She has over 20 years of experience in international external and internal communications, marketing, PR, and business development, including work on marketing strategies, employer branding, and promotional campaigns. She is a certified transactional analysis advisor and delivers training in communication, PR, and public speaking.

Joel Cela works in communications at the EBRD, handling media relations for Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, and Romania, and serves as a spokesperson on green finance. An author and journalist, Cela was a judge for the 2020 Orwell Prize for journalism and speaks Russian and French.

Ksenia Yakustidi is Principal Communications Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. She plans communications and produces multimedia content, including videos and podcasts, focused on the EBRD's environmental finance and partnerships. Her background is in corporate communications.

Lucia Sconosciuto is Associate Director, Communications at the EBRD. She has 20 years of experience in international organisations, with a focus on strategic communications, international development, and institutional donor relations.

Max Saakyan is an Analyst in Gender and Economic Inclusion at the EBRD, where he joined the Communications Department as its first data analyst and developed reporting frameworks for media and social media analysis, campaign evaluations, and executive briefings. During a 2024–2025 secondment with the Gender and Economic Inclusion team, he co-led the Impact Report and served as TC Coordinator, and he has also led AI initiatives and live streaming for the Bank's Annual Meetings. He is the creator of the documentary podcast Uncovering Roots and holds an MSc in Data and Decision Analytics from the University of Southampton and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics, and Economics.

Nigina Mirbabaeva is a Principal, Communications at the EBRD. She works on external and internal communications within the institution.

President of the EBRD who manages the Bank's work under the guidance of the Board of Directors.

Olga Aristeidou is Principal Communications Adviser at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. She works in corporate communications, planning communications strategy and producing multimedia content such as videos and podcasts to support the EBRD's environmental finance work and partnerships.

Rezo Bitsadze is Principal of the SME Communications team at the EBRD, where he has previously served as spokesperson on green transition and handled communications for the Western Balkans and the Caucasus. Prior to the EBRD, he worked at the UN Office of the Director General in Geneva, as well as in academia and a political organization in Tbilisi, where he assisted with electoral campaign management. He holds a BSc in International Relations and an MSc in History from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBA from Grenoble Ecole de Management, and speaks English, French, Georgian, and Russian.

Richard Porter is Managing Director of Communications at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he leads the Bank's external and internal communications strategy, sits on its Executive Committee, and advises the President on communications matters. Before joining the EBRD, he spent more than 15 years as a senior editor at BBC News, primarily in the World Service/Global News division, serving as Controller of the BBC World News TV channel and bbc.com/news, Controller of the World Service English radio network, and Editor of the Breakfast programme on BBC One. He also held director roles in BBC commercial subsidiaries, with responsibilities spanning content partnerships, advertising compliance, and editorial policy, and began his career training as a newspaper journalist.

Vanora Bennett is Associate Director of Communications at the EBRD. She has approximately 20 years of experience in international organizations, working in areas including strategic communications, international development, and institutional donor relations.

First Chief Accountability Officer of the EBRD's Independent Project Accountability Mechanism, a role reporting to the Board of Directors.

Viktorija Quartly is an electrical engineer and energy consultant serving as Director at Alinga Energy Consulting, specialising in renewable energy and microgrids. She began her career at Arup, spending seven years in Melbourne and San Francisco working with clients including Google and on buildings such as the Louvre, and in 2018 volunteered for six months with Engineers Without Borders and UNHCR in Ethiopia, training refugee energy co-operatives to design, build and maintain solar and battery storage mini-grids. Her experience spans electrical building services, lighting design, medium voltage distribution and large-scale solar and microgrid design, and she has been recognised by Engineers Australia among 100 engineers making a difference and as Young Professional Engineer of the Year for Victoria.

Principal in EBRD's Venture Capital team, previously a VP at Arma Partners and earlier at PwC and RSM US in North America. Holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BBA from HEC Montreal.

Senior member of EBRD's Venture Capital team, formerly a strategy consultant advising TMT clients in the US and an investment banker at UBS in London. Holds MSc degrees from Oxford's Said Business School and LSE and a BSc from Wharton.

Founding partner of Pentech leading the firm's fundraising, with interests in machine learning, enterprise infrastructure, blockchain and SaaS business models. Previously co-founded and led Objective Software Technology to an exit to Wind River Systems, and holds a B.Sc in Applied Physics from the University of Strathclyde.

Head of Venture Capital Investments at EBRD, previously leading the bank's risk management unit covering direct equity and venture capital. Began his career investing in equity and debt deals across sectors and holds BA degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration.

Founded Kingson in 2016 and leads capital formation, investment strategy, and advisory relationships. A Chartered Accountant who began in financial leadership roles and served as CFO of a fintech that grew revenues past $50 million before being acquired.

Co-founder and CEO of Outlines Venture Group and co-founder of Moz and brettapproved. A global thought leader in diversity venture capital and gender-lens investing, board director and advisor across four continents, tech advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and founder/co-host of the CEOcoach Podcast.

External advisor to EBRD's Venture Capital team, Managing Partner at Joy Capital and Executive Chairman of DisplayLink, formerly a Partner at Atlas.

Jade Meyer is the Operations & Community Co-ordinator at the Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, an incubator for technology transfer and spinout businesses originating from Stellenbosch University. In this role, she coordinates operations and organizes monthly community and networking events hosted at the LaunchLab.

Investor in EBRD's Venture Capital team, formerly an investment banker at Credit Suisse and a private equity investor at a leading CEE technology fund. Holds an MBA from INSEAD, an MA from University of St. Gallen and is a CFA charterholder.

Advisor to EBRD's Venture Capital team and a Senior Banker at EBRD, previously a Partner at UBS Capital, the private equity arm of UBS AG. Holds an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Founding director of Alinga Energy Consulting, focused on affordable and sustainable off-grid systems for Indigenous communities, and a descendant of the Jaru people. She previously designed electrical systems and microgrids as a consultant at Arup.

External advisor to EBRD's venture capital team and founder of Frontline Ventures, previously a Partner at Delta Partners and a consultant at McKinsey. Holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Senior member of EBRD's Venture Capital team, previously a Director at Arma Partners and earlier at Rothschild in London and Los Angeles. Holds an MBA from Chicago Booth and a BA from Koç University.