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People
PRI Secretariat |
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Dr James Gifford, Executive Director
James Gifford is Executive Director of the PRI and has been guiding the initiative since its inception in November 2003. He has a PhD from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney on the effectiveness of shareholder engagement in improving corporate environmental, social and corporate governance performance. He was a member of the Global Reporting Initiative Working Group on environmental indicators for the finance sector. He has a background in IT and environmental protection. James has degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of Queensland, and a Master's of Environment Management from the University of New South Wales. He is a board member of the Melbourne-based Centre for Sustainability Leadership. |
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Jerome Tagger, Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer for the PRI, since 2006, Jerome Tagger is in charge of overseeing operations and signatory relations and recruitment. Previously, Jerome was Head of Research at Eurosif, the European Social Investment Forum, where he led the first comprehensive European surveys of SRI markets, supervised the publication of investor toolkits on Responsible Investment and Active Ownership, and piloted work on transparency guidelines. Jerome has prior experience in the life insurance sector at BNP Paribas Group. He was also on board one of the first CSR supply chain assessments in the non-food retail sector in France at Promodes in 1999-2000. Jerome is a graduate of ESSEC Graduate School of Business, France. |
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Narina Mnatsakanian, Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Project Manager
A project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and implemented in partnership with UNEP Finance Initiative.
Narina Mnatsakanian is the Project Manager for the PRI in Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Project, and is responsible for promoting the PRI within over 30 countries including the BRIC's. Her role includes recruitment of new signatories and supporting PRI implementation, as well as engaging all PRI signatories on issues related to these markets.
Previously, Narina worked in strategy consulting at KPMG where she performed Commercial Due Diligence and advised major financial and strategic buyers in transactions across a number of sectors including renewable energy. Prior to KPMG she was a consultant at Ernst & Young International Location Advisory assisting multinational companies in their market entry and strategic (re)location decisions in Central and Eastern Europe. Narina has an MA (Cantab) and BA (Hons) from Cambridge University in Land Economy (Economics, Law, Resource Management) and MSc degree in Financial Economics and Business from Erasmus University Rotterdam. |
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Valeria Piani, Clearinghouse Manager
Valeria Piani joined the PRI initiative in June 2008. She is the Head of the Clearinghouse, the PRI global repository of investors’ collaborative engagement initiatives. Her role is coordinating and promoting institutional investors' campaigns with investee companies and policy makers on environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics. Valeria is also responsible for directly managing the PRI collaborative engagements on human rights, labor standards and disclosure on sustainability. Before joining the PRI, she worked for three years as consultant on corporate communications and corporate social responsibility for multinational companies operating in Italy. In 2007, Valeria was awarded the United Nations Fellowship Programme to work in international development cooperation in Argentina for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme. Valeria graduated in International Public Administration and Development at the Luigi Bocconi Business School of Milan. She also completed a Master of Arts in CSR at the University of Nottingham Business School with a dissertation on effectiveness of shareholders’ collaborative engagement activities with companies on ESG issues. |
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Olivia Watson, Clearinghouse Project Manager
Olivia Watson is a Project Manager for the PRI Clearinghouse. Her role includes developing, coordinating and facilitating investor engagements, with a focus on environmental issues. Most recently Olivia worked for two years as a corporate responsibility consultant, and advised UK and US companies on projects related to sustainability strategy, stakeholder engagement, sustainability reporting and climate change communications. Previously Olivia worked as a research analyst at PIRC, where she analysed FTSE companies’ ESG performance and contributed to several engagement projects on climate change risks and opportunities. She has an MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and a BA in Biology from Bates College in Maine, USA. |
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Elliot Frankal, Communications Manager
Elliot is a communications professional with previous experience as a political PR consultant and journalist.
Prior to the PRI, Elliot worked for five years as a press and policy advisor to the Parliamentary Labour Party in the UK and for the British government's economic development bodies - the RDAs. He also worked as a senior consultant for Linstock Communications a strategic communications agency with a specialist interest in financial services. He has an honours degree in International History and Politics.
Elliot has also worked as a freelance journalist and has been published in a range of national newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, Observer and as a regular contributor to Social Enterprise magazine.
He is also a specialist speechwriter and involved in charitable activities supporting peace projects and microfinance in the Middle East. |
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Christina Zimmermann, Manager of Investor Engagements
Christina Zimmermann is Manager of Investor Engagements at the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and has been working with the initiative since October 2007. Christina's primary role is to facilitate collaborative engagements amongst investors and support PRI signatories in active ownership of their investee companies. Her current work focuses on engagement strategies with companies signed up to the UN Global Compact. She previously worked at Fortis Investments in Boston where she completed research on prospective clients and business development strategies. After Fortis, Christina worked at a Swiss business ethics research firm where she analyzed ESG issues for client reports. Christina holds a double Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. |
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Christina Gehring, Project Manager, PRI Academic and Public Policy Networks
Christina joined PRI a to develop the Academic Network on Responsible Investment, as part of a joint project with the Danish Government. She will also oversee the Public Policy networks. Christina holds a masters degree in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen. Christina previously worked for the Danish Government Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (CenSa) under the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. She participated in the development of the National Action Plan for CSR publicised in May 2008 and the law on disclosure adopted in December 2008. Christina also worked at The Copenhagen Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility. |
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Lorenzo Saà, Assessment and Training Manager
Lorenzo manages the PRI's annual signatories' assessment. He is also responsible for identifying and providing solutions for the signatories' training needs. Prior to joining the PRI, between 2004-2009, as a project manager in UniCredit Group, he oversaw microfinance initiatives and advised on responsible investments. Before this Lorenzo specialized in assessments and evaluations both as an independent consultant for development organizations such as the World Bank and IFAD as well as a senior financial analyst at MicroRate, a dedicated rating agency for microfinance institutions. Lorenzo started his career in 1996 as an economic analyst at Arthur Andersen. He obtained his BA in Business and Economics in Università Cattolica, Milan and his joint MBA and Master in International Public Policy at SDA Bocconi, Milan and at SAIS - Johns Hopkins, Washington DC. |
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Ryan Pollice, Project Assistant
Ryan Pollice (BA hons. Political Science, Wilfrid Laurier University) joins the PRI (London) as a PRI Fellow serving as Project Manager of the Academic Network and Assistant to the Clearinghouse Manager. Ryan is currently researching for the Master of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo (Canada). His current research examines emerging non-state actors in Global Environmental Governance with a focus on the growth and mainstreaming of responsible investment. Ryan also holds a Bailsillie Fellowship at The Centre for International Governance Innovation (2008-2009). |
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Marcela Zonis, Project Assistant
Marcela has joined the PRI to promote and support the PRI network in Brazil and she is based in São Paulo, Brazil. She has a Bachelors degree from EAESP- Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in Business Administration, with focus in Corporate Finance. Regarding her professional background, she has previous experience in Environmental Finance, particularly in the trading of carbon credits (CERS) and in the investment analysis and funding of clean energy projects. She has also worked in financial markets, participating in the trainee program of Banco Itaú BBA, Brazilian's largest investment bank. |
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Lauren Miller, Project Assistant
Lauren joined PRI in New York as a Fellow in December. She holds a joint Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, in Environmental Studies and Sociology from Middlebury College in Vermont, USA. Her senior thesis explored business responses to climate change, specifically analyzing factors that made companies more likely to adopt climate-related initiatives. Before joining the PRI, Lauren worked in the Social Responsibility Department of a New York interior design company. She also has experience with the Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding and at Granville Capital Inc. |
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Eunjin Kim , Project Assistant
Eunjin Kim joined the PRI in Fall 2009. She is based on Seoul, and responsible for the PRI's emerging market activities in South Korea. Eunjin Kim has a Bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University (SNU) in economics (with a focus on international economics and finance) and is currently completing a Master's degree on the same subject at SNU.
Prior to her position at the PRI, she held a position as a Research Assistant at the Bank of Korea, working on a research project on foreign direct investment. She also has previous experience in the financial market, having completed the trainee program of the SC Chartered bank, one of the largest banks in South Korea. |
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Anna Bowden, Assistant to the Executive Director
Anna Bowden joined the PRI at the start of 2009 as the Assistant to the Executive Director. Prior to joining the PRI, Anna completed a Masters in International Development at Oxford University. Her academic studies focused on post-conflict development programmes, development economics and international humanitarian law. In 2007, she conducted fieldwork on development projects in post-conflict zones in the Southern Philippines. In her Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) at Macquarie University, Australia, she majored in Politics and Anthropology, and completed a double honours in both subjects. She previously worked as an Executive Assistant for a private equity company in Australia. |
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Adrian Bertrand, PRI Fellow South Africa
Adrian Bertrand joins the PRI (Cape Town, South Africa) as a PRI Fellow assisting the PRI Emerging Markets: South Africa Network. Adrian is currently completing his MBA studies at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) in Cape Town, South Africa. Adrian has worked as a Junior Research Fellow with the Unit for Corporate Governance in Africa, a unit within the USB. Adrian’s work and research included the application of a Corporate Governance Matrix to the Top 40 listed Companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), a project funded by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) in South Africa. Prior to his MBA studies, Adrian worked as a high school English Educator for a few years at a government high school in Bellville, Cape Town. Adrian’s academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA Humanities) and a Post Graduate Certificate of Education, both of which were also from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. |
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Joshua Kendall, Communications Fellow
Joshua joined the PRI in London as a Fellow and helps manage the PRI in Practice site, one of the main implementation support tools for signatories. Joshua is also involved in the communication, research and administrative tasks of the PRI Secretariat. Joshua holds a BA (Hons) in Politics and Modern History from the University of Manchester and is
currently working towards an MSc at the University of London. Joshua previously worked for one of the 'Big 4' accounting firms, and completed an internship at the UK sustainable investment and finance association. Prior to joining the PRI, Joshua helped recruit Turkey's first PRI signatory. |
Chair and UN partners |
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Donald MacDonald, Chair, PRI
Donald has a background in the UK telecommunications industry and the trade union movement, he was a technician with British Telecommunications (BT), and a former President of the Communication Workers Union (UK). He is a Member Nominated Trustee (MNT) and a Director of the Trustee Board of the BT Pension Scheme, a defined benefit (final salary) scheme, with assets of approximately £38bn (€54bn, US$76bn). Donald is also a member and current pensioner of BTPS. BTPS is the UK’s largest occupational pension scheme, with over 350,000 members, of whom over half are current pensioners. The bulk of BTPS investments are managed by Hermes, an institutional fund manager that is wholly owned by BTPS. |
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Paul Clements-Hunt,
Head of Unit,
UNEP Finance Initiative
Paul Clements-Hunt Head of Unit, UNEP FI Paul Clements-Hunt has been the Head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative (FI) since November 2000. UNEP FI, based in Geneva, is the largest partnership between the United Nations and the financial services sector counting more than 170 banks, insurers and asset managers as members. Prior to joining the United Nations, Paul spent 1998-2000 representing the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) directing the organisation’s policy work in energy, environment and sustainable development. From 1991 to 1998, he was based in Bangkok, Thailand, where he founded the country’s first environmental strategy consultancy which developed projects throughout Southeast Asia. Paul graduated BA Economics from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and completed postgraduate studies in journalism at University College, Cardiff. |
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Gavin Power, Deputy Director,
UN Global Compact
Gavin Power is a deputy director at the UN Global Compact, working in the Office of the Secretary-General. In this capacity, Gavin heads financial-markets initiatives for the Global Compact program, which today includes more than 5000 companies and stakeholders in over 100 countries. He also has responsibility for the Global Compact in the USA; in addition, he heads global advocacy and public affairs. Prior to joining the United Nations, Gavin was Senior Vice President for Corporate Responsibility at Ketchum, where he advised Global 500 companies on issues of reputation management, transparency, accountability and stakeholder communications. For five years, Gavin was a senior manager at Levi Strauss & Co. where he worked on a range of corporate reputation and sustainability issues. Prior to joining Levi Strauss, he was a business editor, reporter and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle where he covered economic trends, financial markets, the apparel industry, and business ethics. |
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Conference organisers note: High resolution versions of some photos for use in conference publications and websites:
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