Impact Lens Investing – Grabbing the investor’s attention?

With a career spanning over 25 years in the Social Business, Health Tech, and Impact Investing sectors, Karen Hitschke brings a wealth of expertise and a profound commitment to driving positive change. She is a firm believer in bringing together people, cultures, and ideas to transform business and society. Former Chief Operating Officer of the WHO Foundation, Karen's leadership and strategic vision have driven organizations towards greater impact and sustainability. Graduating with a degree in Biology, she later obtained an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. Karen's career has encompassed roles in both for-profit and non-profit sectors, including board memberships and advisory positions. She is a Board Member, Co-Founder, and former Managing Director at Yunus Social Business Global Initiatives, an Impact Investing organization funding social businesses across India, East Africa, and Latin America. Her deep knowledge of finance, in both the public and private sector throughout multiple geographies, lies at the heart of the initiative and supports the execution of the Building Bridges Foundation's mission to further align finance with sustainability.  

Guillaume Chapuis is a Senior Investment Manager dedicated to the Plastic Circularity Strategy. He joined in 2023 with direct private equity experience. Prior to joining Lombard Odier, he worked for 7 years as an Assistant Director with Advent International in Paris, where he was involved on several transactions in Europe in the Industrials and Business Services spaces. Previously Guillaume was a Senior Associate at the Boston Consulting Group for 3 years.

Sandra is the Head of Acumen's Hardest-to-Reach development facility, which invests in companies that bridge the energy access gap, ensuring the clean energy transition is equitable and inclusive, particularly for those most at risk of being left behind. Prior to Acumen, Sandra was an Investment Principal at Ceniarth, a global impact-investment fund and a single-family office, where she built the investment team and led on fund and direct investments. Her career spans nearly two decades during which she worked at a number of leading impact, development, and finance institutions, including Social Finance UK, the World Bank's IFC, and UNDP. She is also on the Advisory Board of Refugee Education UK, a charity helping refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people to build more hopeful futures through education and is on the CFA UK's Impact and Investing Panel. Sandra holds an MIA from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a BS from University of Virginia's School of Commerce.

Kostis is considered a pioneer in the sustainability and impact investing market in Europe with his two-decade experience in managing portfolios with funds and direct investments targeting global environmental and social challenges. He has covered several areas of expertise working with Lombard Odier, Bregal Energy of the COFRA Holding, Quadia and Alternative Bank Switzerland, before launching Swiss Impact Office in Zurich, a bespoke sustainability and impact-focused investment boutique. He has been invited as a speaker in international events and conferences, organized impact events, published articles, and held guest lectures in renowned Universities. He serves as Board Chair of Generation Forest Invest, a biodiverse reforestation and carbon company, and established also the Hellenic Impact Investing Network, an ecosystem-building platform for Greece and SE Europe. He earned his Masters degree with magna cum laude in Economics & Finance at the University of Zurich, is Swiss and Greek, and resides in Zurich.