Investment Committee
Kaylene Alvarez
Founder and CEO at Athena Global
Kaylene Alvarez is a global technical specialist in impact investing, access to finance for SME, gender lens investing, and risk management with work experience in nearly 40 countries, spanning a 20+ year career. Her eclectic experience has spanned both private and public sectors, including: international non-profits; M&A for AIG’s Consumer Finance Group ($150M in earnings); and, with the World Bank Group (IFC), where she was the Global Advisory Lead for the Banking on Women Program ($1B+ in investments and advisory, using a blended finance model). Over a decade ago, she founded a niche consulting firm, Athena Global, providing bespoke support to clients to encourage the development of inclusive access to finance and investment structuring (debt and equity) to move money to under-served populations, with a specialty in blended finance facilities; she’s advised on investments and transactions ranging from $10,000 to several hundred million. In 2019, Athena Global launched an investment division focusing on allocating capital in Indonesia and Africa providing unsecured, short-term working capital loans with both a gender and climate lens. Kaylene has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Poland 94-96). She is an avid traveler, textile aficionado, and Vipassana meditation practitioner. Ms. Alvarez serves on the Convergence Funding Committee for the Gender-Responsive Climate Finance Design Funding Window.
Paul Currie
Advisor to the Office of the CEO at the Development Bank of Southern Africa
Paul Currie retired from the role of Chief Investment Officer at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) at the end of February 2022, a position he had held since 2017. During this period, he led the Investment activity of the DBSA with the Project Preparation, Coverage, and Transacting Divisions reporting through to him. In addition, he was responsible for the DBSA’s Innovation program and its 4 ‘moonshot’ projects. Paul joined the DBSA in 2010 as the Chief Risk Officer, a position he held until assuming the CIO position. During this time, the Group Risk Assurance Division was re-engineered and rolled out credit risk rating and pricing methodologies and implemented policies and processes to ensure alignment with the DBSA’s risk governance requirements and strategic business initiatives. Prior to joining the DBSA, Paul held several senior management positions at the Nedbank Group. These included Head of Risk: Investment Banking and General Manager: Corporate Banking Credit. Paul holds a BSc Degree (Physiology) from the University of Cape Town, a BCom (Acc) Degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Accountancy from the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University). He attained his MBA (with distinction) from Manchester Business School and University of Wales and completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at INSEAD. He is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Ricardo Nogueira
Green Climate Fund, Independent Technical Advisory Panel
Ricardo (Rick) Nogueira is an expert on climate finance, international development, and sustainable investing. His clients include major philanthropies, governments, and multilateral development banks. Rick is also the founder of the Tagus Roundtable in Lisbon which supports promising sustainable finance concepts and teams by providing a forum for constructive feedback, networking, and visibility. He is also a board member of Washington, DC’s Green Finance Authority, the first municipal Green Bank in the U.S. The DC Green Bank leverages public capital to increase and accelerate private investment in DC for clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate resiliency. Rick is also a member of the Green Climate Fund's (GCF) independent Technical Advisor Panel (iTAP), which advises the GCF Board on all funding decisions. He previously served as Senior Advisor on Climate Finance in the U.S. Department of State during the Obama administration. He was a U.S. board member of the GCF where he oversaw all GCF related matters, including initial resource mobilization, institution building, strategy, and public outreach. Prior to public service, Rick spent 10 years in private sector fund management with a focus on carbon markets and clean energy. He was the founder and Managing Director at Leaf Clean Energy Company, a private equity fund targeting clean energy investments across the Americas. Rick also has extensive legal experience at Van Ness Feldman, an energy and environmental boutique, and Felsberg & Associados. Rick obtained his B.A. from Lafayette College and J.D. from Seton Hall School of Law.
Sergio Gusmão Suchodolski
Executive Vice President at VR Investments
Sergio Gusmão Suchodolski is the Executive Vice President at VR Investments (Brazil). Mr Suchodolski is also a Senior Fellow at the Brazilian Center for International Relations, CEBRI. Previously he was the CEO of the Development Bank of São Paulo, Brasil. Prior to that he was CEO of the Development Bank of Minas Gerais, Brazil (BDMG) and Director General, Strategy and Partnerships, at the New Development Bank.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of São Paulo, a Master’s of Laws from Harvard Law School, and a Master’s Degree in International Trade and Economics from Sciences Po – Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.