Episode 5: Gender-Lens Investing

Impact Principles Webinar Series Episode 5: Gender-Lens Investing

Strategies On How To Apply Gender Focus To Investment Processes 

Tuesday, March 30th 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.

Tim Radjy

Founder and Managing Partner, AlphaMundi Group 

Tim is the Founder of and Managing Partner of AlphaMundi Group since 2008, and based in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also Chairman of the Board of AlphaMundi’s SocialAlpha Investment Fund (SAIF) in Luxembourg, the Treasurer of AlphaMundi Foundation in Washington DC, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the AlphaJiri Fund in Mauritius. Tim previously worked at UBS Wealth Management where he became a founding member of UBS Philanthropy Services for UHNWI clients. He also spent time in Bolivia, assessing microfinance programs on behalf of the Swiss Development Agency, and with WWF International as an advisor on major donors. Tim holds a Degree in Political Science from the University of Geneva and a Private Banking Diploma from UBS, and is fluent in French, English and Spanish.

Heather Mae Kipnis

Entrepreneurship | Inclusive Business Lead, IFC Gender and Economic Inclusion Group  

Heather is the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Business Product Lead for IFC's Gender and Economic Inclusion Group. In this role, she is the global technical specialist advising project teams, clients, and partners on how to close gender gaps in access to finance, markets, and non-financial services -- with the goal of unlocking opportunities for increased profit, growth and innovation for both IFC clients and women entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Additionally, she leads global product development, partnerships, and research for new advisory and investment solutions that support women entrepreneurs and individuals at the base of the economic pyramid. 

Heather brings 20 years of experience in international development and financial services across Latin America & the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. Prior to IFC, Heather led the programs and educational activities for a network of 75,000 women-led small to medium enterprises and held positions in impact investing and private wealth management. Heather has served as an advisor for the Aspen Institute’s ANDE Gender Inclusion Learning Lab and was a member of Global Impact Investing Network’s Gender Lens Advisory Committee. Heather has an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Science in Decision and Information Sciences from University of Florida.  

Marijn Wiersma

Interim Gender Lead, CDC Group

Marijn is the Interim Gender Lead for CDC Group. As a corporate anthropologist, she inspires people with her vision for a better world. She is passionate about, and stubbornly committed to, solving world problems by unlocking the potential of women, ensuring that they get access to finance and seats at decision making tables. Marijn is an ESG and gender expert, has co-authored the book ‘Banking for a Better World, is a gifted storyteller, facilitator of powerful female leadership programs and has made a docuseries of female role models from the financial sector globally. She has coached numerous executive women worldwide.

Marijn has twenty-two years of sustainable development experience and has worked in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe. She masters bridging private sector interests with ESG opportunities. As the founder of Zambia’s first private nursing school, she knows what it takes to do good and make money. Marijn combines strong interpersonal skills with leadership, adaptability and integrity. As a visionary, multi-linguist and free thinker, she is creative, curious and innovative with and in front of all types of stakeholders. Marijn has lived on three continents, travelled to eighty-five countries, worked in thirty-five and is a mother of four. She is a Dutch national and a South African resident.

Gwendolyn Zorn

Head of Impact, Phatisa

Gwendolyn is the Head of Impact at Phatisa, a development-focused private equity fund manager, with more than US$400 million under management. She is primarily responsible for identifying, designing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aligned projects primarily targeted at bringing bottom of the pyramid suppliers, distributors, vendors and customers into the business value chain and addressing food security on the African continent. Gwendolyn led a work-stream for the authorship of a climate finance and green economy advisory report produced for the National Business Initiative, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and ultimately, the South African National Treasury. She has been published in the South African business journal, The Corporate Report, edited by Professor Mervyn King and has lectured on sustainability, business ethics and corporate governance to MBA students, strategic risk management to Bachelor of Business Science students and accounting ethics to Bachelor of Accounting students. She was a member of the Global Impact Investing Network’s Gender Lens Advisory Committee and has contributed widely through both publications and presentations to the evolving impact investing industry.  Gwendolyn holds an MA (Cum Laude) in Economic Philosophy and a BA (Hons) (Cum Laude) in Political Philosophy and has studied in South Africa and the United States. Gwendolyn has worked in a diverse range of locations including the United States, Europe, the Middle East and East, West and Southern Africa.  

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