About Us: Board of Directors

has served as an EMpower Board Director since 2016. Patricia works in Asian Equity Sales at Goldman Sachs where she has been working since 2018.

Marc Balston has been part of the EMpower board since 2013. Marc spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank where he was a Fixed Income Research Analyst and CTO.

joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2015. Eric spent 24 years at Morgan Stanley where he was a Managing Director.

has been an EMpower Board Director since 2014. Kristin is a Managing Principal at Payden & Rygel where she has been working for 25 years.

has been on the board since 2010 and is the current US Board Chair. James is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst at Lazard Asset Management where he has been working for 26 years.

joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2018. Carlos is the Head of Global FX and EM Macro at Bank of America. He previously spent 22 years as a Partner at Goldman Sachs.

has been an EMpower Board Director since 2005. Beth is a Senior Associate in the Department of Family & Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Liza is former Head, Corporate Citizenship and Foundations at Credit Suisse, now Strategic Projects, Social Impact at UBS . She is an accomplished international social impact leader with 15+ years of experience in strategic philanthropy, foundation development, and employee engagement. She is an experienced communicator on transforming private sector philanthropy models to help solve escalating, systemic social challenges through collaborative action and investment.

joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2005. He is the CEO and Founder of the company mbl | Transforming Furniture, and is the former Executive

has served on the EMpower Board since 2019. Tim spent 20 years at Oaktree Capital Management where he was a co-manager of its emerging markets fund.

has been an EMpower Board Director since 2019, and also previously served on the board from 2014-2016. Kathleen is an emerging markets finance professional and former Managing Director at CIBC.

has served on the EMpower Board since 2005. Robert is the Director of Portfolios at Porticus where he has worked for 7 years. He has 25 years of human rights and development experience, including as Director of International Operations at the Open Society Foundations.

joined the EMpower Board in 2022. Kevin is a Portfolio Manager at Wellington Management where he has worked for 7 years.

joined the EMpower Board in 2022. Rekha is a Managing Director at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking.

joined the EMpower Board in 2023. Osmin is a Partner at Goldman Sachs where he has worked for 12 years.

has been an EMpower Board Director since 2012. Matthew is a Portfolio Manager at MFS, where he has worked for over 20 years.

Cynthia Steele, EMpower’s President and CEO, also serves on the Board of EMpower. Cynthia has been with EMpower since 2005.

has served as an EMpower Board Director since 2015 and is a Premier Underwriter. Jim is a former Partner and Portfolio Manager at Wellington Management where he worked for 23 years, founding and leading the firm's emerging markets debt effort.

joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2023. Basak is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management where she has been working since 2011.

Marcelo Assalin joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2022. Marcleo is the Head of Emerging Markets Debt at William Blair where he has been working since 2020.

Marc Balston has been part of the EMpower board since 2013. Marc spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank where he was a Fixed Income Research Analyst and CTO.

Mary-Therese Barton joined EMpower as a Board Director in 2023 and has played an integral role in the ESG partnership between EMpower and Pictet. Mary-Therese has served as the Head of Emerging Market Fixed Income and Equity Partner of Pictet where she has been since 2004.

Jonathan Bell has served as an EMpower board member since 2020, and became EMpower’s UK treasurer in 2023. Jonathan has been with his firm, Cape Ann Asset Management, for 7 years. Cape Ann is an EMpower underwriter and generally hosts the UK team in their offices.

Andrew Curran joined EMpower’s board in 2019. Andrew works at BMO Global Asset Management as a Director since 2021.

Swatee Deepak is EMpower’s current Co-Chair and has been with us since 2020. Swatee brings years of experience in the social justice and philanthropic field.

Reggie Dodge has been a UK Board Director since 2019. Reggie is Chief Compliance Officer at Atomic Invest.

Adeel Khan joined our UK Board in 2021. Adeel has been with Barclays Capital since 2017 and is the Head of Credit Business where he oversees its credit trading.

Alessandra Labombarda has served as a Board Director with EMpower since 2017. Alessandra has been part of BBVA since 2013, and serves as their Managing Director, Head of Emerging Markets Sales Europe.

Jeremy Llewelyn has been with EMpower since 2011. He previously resided as Co-Chair in the UK, and is currently the Chair of EMpower’s Global Executive Committee. Jeremy worked at Black River Investment from 2004-2016, and now enjoys retirement.

Pontso Mafethe has been a Board Director on our UK board since 2014. Pontso is the Director of Programmes at the African Women’s Development Fund, where she has been since 2020.

John Patton joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2020. John is a Founding Partner and Managing Director at Argentem Creek Partners since 2016.

Colin Reedie joined the UK EMpower Board in 2019. Colin has been with Legal & General Investment Management since 2005, and currently is the Head of Active Strategies. Legal & General is one of EMpower’s generous Underwriters in the UK.

Kunal Shah joined EMpower in 2016 as Board Member and has recently gone on to lead as Co-Chair. Kunal is Partner at Goldman Sachs where he has been there since 2004.

Parvoleta Shtereva has been with EMpower since 2012, and was Co-Chaired the Board in 2014-2020. Parvoleta is Partner at Gemcorp Capital LLP where she has worked since 2014.

Ozan Tarman has been a Director with EMpower since 2009. Ozan works at Deutsche Bank as Vice Chair of Global Macro and is part of the Deutsche Bank Underwriting Syndicate for EMpower.

Linda is a leader at the nexus of strategic advocacy, communications, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Her expertise spans advising philanthropy, multinational organisations, business, and civil society on impactful advocacy strategies and investment approaches. She is currently Global Director, Equity, Gender & Youth at the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).

Toby West joined the UK EMpower Board in 2020. Toby has been with MarketAxess since 2018 and is currently the Global Head of Marketing. MarketAxess has been an EMpower’s Underwriter since 2020.

Rachel Andrews joined EMpower’s board in 2021. Rachel is a trusted advisor to both corporate and non-profit stakeholders, with a proven track record in designing, implementing and evaluating philanthropic investment strategies and addressing complex regional development needs.

Stephen Chang has been part of the EMpower board since 2012. Stephen is a Portfolio Manager at PIMCO where he has been working since 2018.

Benjamin Falloon rejoined as an EMpower Board Directors and Underwriter in 2021. Ben has 20 years of experience in financial services in Asia on both sell side and buy side roles spanning day to day operation, management, trading, investment, compliance and business strategy.

Maddy Foo is the founding member of the EMpower entity in Hong Kong and Singapore. She is both a Board of Director and Underwriter. Maddy has been with EMpower since 2011. Maddy started her involvement with EMpower due to their vision for youth—to equip them with a tool, a skill, and the ability to be independent. Then they can take care of themselves and also give back to their communities.

Susee has been involved with EMpower since 2021. She is also an EMpower Underwriter. Susee is an experienced capital markets professional with a 20- year track record in global capital markets and investment banking. She has deep experience across major markets globally having worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and London.

Ben Hall has served on the Board of EMpower since 2013, and was the Chair and Co-Chair between 2015 and 2020.

Aleem Jivraj joined EMpower in 2016 as Board Member and is now the Co-Chair. He is also our Underwriter. Aleem is Chief Operating Officer, Global Markets at Nomura. Aleem is also the Co-founder of Future Health, an angels' group focused on health-tech startups in Asia.

Richard Johnston has been a Director and Underwriter with EMpower since 2016. Richard set up Albourne Partners branch in Hong Kong in 2004 in order to expand Asian coverage for the leading UK-based independent hedge fund and private equity advisory firm.

Nicholas Koh has been a Board Director and Underwriter on EMpower’s board since 2019. Nicholas is active angel investor in innovative companies in a range of sectors and geographies – biotech, medtech, telehealth, HR SaaS, fintech, supply chain logistics, restaurant-tech.

Jessica Koh joined as an EMpower Director and Underwriter in 2024. She is Head of Asian Listed Real Estate and Senior Portfolio Manager at Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), a role she first assumed with AMP Capital in March 2018. Jessica is responsible for the capital and risk allocation across the Asian region of MAM’s Global Listed Real Estate strategy.

E.G. Morse joined EMpower’s board in 2017. He is also an EMpower Underwriter. E.G. has served as the Co-President of Goldman Sachs’ China unit and head of the global market division in the country. E.G. has been at Goldman Sachs since 2008.

Avon Neo joined EMpower’s Hong Kong Board in 2022 and is our newest Director in the region. Avon is also a Managing Director at Nomura. Avon is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and is motivated by the impact young people can make in their communities, society, and the world at large when provided with a safe environment where they can thrive.

Aasha Pai joined EMpower’s Board of Hong Kong in 2012 and is EMpower’s current Co-Chair and Underwriter. Aasha is a freelance consultant in global health and strategy/organizational development. Aasha has over 20 years of experience working for non-profit organizations and social enterprises with a focus on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender equity.

Cynthia Steele, EMpower’s President and CEO, also serves on the Board of EMpower. Cynthia has been with EMpower since 2005.

Vivien Teu joined as an EMpower Board Director in 2021. Vivien is the Partner and Head of Asset Management & ESG at Dentons Hong Kong. Vivien is a strong believer of responsible capital and sustainable finance.

Maryann joined EMpower's Board in 2024. She is a veteran of the financial markets with experience spanning across global capital markets and investment banking. She has been Managing Director, managing teams at bulge bracket firms and multinational investment banks as a senior leader.

Nisha Dhawan, our Vice President, Impact & Influence, also serves on the India Board of EMpower. Nisha has been with EMpower since 2012.

Dr. Ravinder joined our India Board in 2023. She is the founder-member of IIT Delhi’s gender unit IGES (Initiative for Gender Equity and Sensitisation) where she collaboratively initiated many steps to improve the gender climate on campus.

She is currently the co-lead on a major Women in STEM project “Fixing the Leak: Advancing STEM Innovation and Inclusion in India, One Woman Scientist at a Time”, funded by the Co-Impact Gender Equality Fund. The project aims to design a gender inclusion framework to enhance women’s and girls’ presence at all levels in the STEM ecosystem in India.

Prarthana joined our India Board in 2023. She is a true professional in talent development, with focused experience in learning and leadership development. Her experience spans across Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Through her expertise, Prarthana has partnered with global organisations to craft strategic and impactful leadership development programmes. These initiatives have not only facilitated organisational transformations but have also nurtured talent pipelines and enhanced overall capability building.

Devanshi joined our India Board of Director in 2024. Devanshi oversees audience growth, dissemination, global partnerships, and talent at the India Development Review (IDR). Devanshi's work on digital outreach has helped make IDR the largest social-impact-focused independent media platform in Asia. Previously, Devanshi worked as a communications and research lead at Dasra, and built a wide range of communications products around philanthropy.