Arend Kulenkampff is the Director of the NatureFinance convened Sustainability-linked Sovereign Debt Hub and leads the work on sovereign financing. He has 15 years of experience in sovereign debt, spanning from credit trading, risk management, economic research, credit ratings, and debt advisory at Citibank, BFA Global, Fitch Ratings, Swiss Re, and Standard Bank Group.
He holds a B.A. from McGill University in Montreal, and a M.Sc. from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Dr Cintia Külzer-Sacilotto is an Assistant Professor of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU).
Prior to joining UAEU, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, and a Research Fellow at the Technology and Management Centre for Development, University of Oxford. Her research interests include sustainable entrepreneurship, green innovation, R&D management, business networks, and industrial clusters.
Cintia has co-authored several books and case studies on entrepreneurship and innovation and has published papers in leading peer-reviewed journals. She has conducted research and consultancies for both private and public sectors, as well as international organizations such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
Cintia holds a DPhil in International Development and an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford, as well as a BSc and MPhil in Economics from the University of Chile.
Isabelle is a former prime time news anchor and journalist with more than 20 years experience, she now moderates and MCs at leading forums and summits around the globe.
Isabelle was the lead anchor for Euronews-NBC. She also criss-crossed the planet interviewing heads of state and government, CEOs and celebrities.
Isabelle has moderated at high level and large scale events throughout her career, including the first ever EU Presidential debate, deep dives at the Davos World Economic Forum and the European Commission. Now, this is her principal activity: she works with corporates, international organisations and NGOs on issues relating to all things tech-AI, health, sustainability and more. Today her clients include the European Commission, the UN, WHO, The Consumer Goods Forum, Proctor and Gamble, LEAP and Saatchi and Saatchi.
Isabelle is bilingual in French and English and holds British and German nationality. She is a disability activist, the President of a charity helping people with autism and does pro bono work with the charity Lake Aid helping unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers and homeless families in Annecy, France.
Prof Nagesh Kumar is the Director and Chief Executive of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID). In 2024, he was also nominated by the Government of India as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India for a four-year term. He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow of UNU-WIDER, Helsinki, and of the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre, Boston, USA.
Prior to taking up the ISID position in May 2021, Dr Kumar served as Director at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), holding several senior management roles over 12 years, including as Chief Economist, Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division and Social Development Division at the UN-ESCAP headquarters in Bangkok and Head of the South and South-West Asia (SSWA) Office located in New Delhi, that he also had the privilege of establishing.
During 2002-2009, Dr Kumar served as the Director-General of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a policy think tank of the Government of India (Ministry of External Affairs). He has also served as an Economist at UNU/INTECH (now UNU/MERIT) in Maastricht, the Netherlands during 1993-1998.
Prof Kumar has served on the boards of the EXIM Bank of India, the International Centre for Trade & Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Geneva; the South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), Kathmandu. He has also served as a consultant to the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Commonwealth Secretariat, Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), ILO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UN-DESA and UNIDO.
A PhD from the Delhi School of Economics, Dr Kumar is recipient of the Exim Bank’s first International Trade Research Award in 1990, and GDN’s Research Medal awarded by the World Bank and the Japanese Government in Tokyo in 2000, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Delhi School of Economics in 2023.
Dr Kumar has researched extensively on different aspects of economic development, resulting in the publication of 18 books and over 120 peer-reviewed papers, attracting more than 8500 citations at Google Scholar. He also contributes regularly to mainstream newspapers on economic issues.
Robin Kumar is the coordinator of the Youth Action Hub Mumbai and a Chartered Accountant. Robin, being on the forefront in his professional journey in finance, he is an avid learner of financial products and technological development which includes blockchain, cryptocurrency, equity markets, green economy, etc.
He has been working in the rural areas of Rajasthan for the benefit of villagers on water scarcity issues, teaching underprivileged students in Mumbai and representing India at United Nations events, such as OP-14 held by United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and speaking at India at CRIC-19 (2021), UNCTAD ECOSOC (2021), UNCCD COP-14 (2019), World Investment Forum (2018), UNCTAD Youth Forum (2018), World Sustainable Development Summit (2018), and Harvard US-India Initiative (2018).
He was the youngest Editor of a national newspaper in India, founded a society in Delhi University, and is currently running the UNCTAD Youth Action Hub in India.
Rishabh is a Technical Officer for Sustainable Enterprises and Just Transition at the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Rishabh completed his PhD in Development Studies from The Graduate Institute, Geneva, where his research explored the impact of conservation efforts on the Pardhi-Baheliya tribe in India. His work highlights the challenges faced by marginalized nomadic communities in balancing development and conservation. He aims to use his findings to foster better policies for tribal welfare and environmental sustainability in India.
Previously, Rishabh was awarded the Albert Gallatin Fellowship at Yale University and a Visiting Study Fellowship at Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre, where he researched forced migration, conservation, and sustainable development.
Sanjay Kumar Verma is a seasoned diplomat with 37 years of experience in the Indian Foreign Service (1988-2025). He has held key ambassadorial and leadership roles including High Commissioner of India to Canada, Ambassador to Japan, Sudan, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as Consul General in Milan, Italy. He has also served on diplomatic assignments in Hong Kong, Beijing, Hanoi, and Ankara. He currently serves as Chairman of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) since January 2025.
His distinguished career reflects expertise in strategic diplomacy, multilateral engagement, international trade, counter-terrorism, cyber diplomacy, development cooperation under sanctions, and technological innovation diplomacy.
Ambassador Verma pursued an M.Sc. in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and has completed executive training in cybersecurity, e-governance, international business, and WTO agriculture policy. He is recognized for his principled diplomacy anchored in realism, with a strong commitment to advancing India’s global interests through strategic engagement and innovative solutions.
Julio Kunda Muya is Acting Head of Division in charge of commodities at the Department of Multilateral and Regional Trade Agreements, Ministry of Foreign Trade, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Julio has worked for several years at this Ministry and officially hold the position of Chef de Bureau. He holds a Master's degree in Global ICT Policy from PUSAN National University in South Korea, an advanced postgraduate diploma in Trade Policy and international trade law from the African Trade Policy Training Center in Arusha (Tanzania) and Lund University in Sweden, as well as a Licence (BAC+5) in applied computing from the Higher Institute of Computer Sciences, Programming and Analysis in Kinshasa. Julio represents his country to various international and regional organizations (such as the WTO, UNCTAD, UNCITRAL, SADC, etc.)
Amrita Kundu is an Assistant Professor of Operations and Analytics at the McDonough School of Business. Her expertise is in circular supply chains, business model innovation, technology adoption and small firm operations in emerging markets. She works with large corporations, startups and national and international policy makers to develop, design and implement interdisciplinary solutions for businesses to create social value and improve environmental sustainability. Her research has been published in journals such as Management Science and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. She has won numerous research grants and is a frequent speaker at academic, policy and industry events on sustainability, social development and the role of the private sector.
Amrita completed her postdoc at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Ph.D. in management science and operations at London Business School, and Masters in environmental systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Previously, she worked at the World Bank.