Anticorruption for Development (AC4D) Global Forum: Restoring Trust

Zainab Abdullahi-Mahdi, is a volunteer for the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative, (WRAPA), a Nigerian organization which seeks to advance and protect the rights of women as provided by national laws and policies, regional and international treaties and agreement through an integrated approach that entrenches respect for the human dignity of the woman as well as her inclusion in decisions that affect her life and the development of her community.

Alhaji Abubakar is the Registrar General / CEO of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the agency responsible for registration of companies and charities in Nigeria. A lawyer with 34 years' post¬graduation experience in Litigation, Corporate law, Property law and Insurance law. Prior to his current position, he was the Director in charge of Compliance/Litigation at the CAC. He had earlier served as the Special Adviser to the former Registrar General between 2010 and 2017. In that position, he championed the reforms on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria with particular reference to Starting a Business. Some of the recent reforms he championed include Repeal and Re-enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act as well as Companies Regulation 2021 and Insolvency Regulation 2022, full digitalization of CAC services, deployment of Central Registration Register of Beneficial Ownership. Mr Abubakar serves on the board of the Federal Inland Revenue Service. He is also a member of the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC), and the National Steering Committee on Open Government Partnership. He had previously served on the Governing Boards of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA).

Esther Agelan is currently Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Association of Women Judges. IAWJ Specialist in Cybercrime and gender issues participating in the commissions for the reforms of the laws of Cybercrime, Data Protection and Integral Protection of Women. Agelan is a Former judge of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Dominican Republic. She was Co-Coordinator of the Gender Commission of the Judiciary of the Dominican Republic and member of the Gender Commission of the Ibero-American Judicial Summit in 2016-2018.

Gian Luigi Albano is the Head of Division at Consip, Italy’s National Central Purchasing Body. The Division oversees the twenty-year old mission of implementing centralized public procurement for goods and services on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. He is also Adjunct Professor of Economics at LUISS “G. Carli” in Rome. After getting his Ph.D. in Economics at CORE (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium), he joined the Department of Economics at University College London in 1999, where he taught microeconomics, auction theory and game theory. The passion for auction and market design drew him almost unconsciously to the world of public procurement. In 2005, he joined the new-born Research Unit at Consip in Rome, which he led until his appointment as Head of Division in 2018. Throughout more than a decade he has leveraged his academic background to contribute designing more sound procurement processes, rooting them into modern economics and thus overcoming the “traditional” perception of sign-off ridden procedures.

James Anderson (Jim) is a Lead Governance Specialist and Global Lead on Anticorruption for the World Bank. Jim started his career as a development economist in Mongolia where he lived from 1993 through 1997, researching institutional reform, the informal sector, and the impacts of large-scale privatization. In 1997, Jim took his interest in institutions and empirical tools and began to apply them to governance challenges, notably anticorruption and judicial reform, in the transition countries of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He moved to Vietnam in 2008 and focused his attention on access to information, transparency, anticorruption, and human rights. Jim served as the Country Manager for Mongolia from 2014 through August 2018, supporting the World Bank’s program in all fields. Since returning to Washington in 2018, Jim has led the Bank’s anticorruption work in the Governance Global Practice. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland.

Omar Arias is currently a Lead Economist in the World Bank Education Global Practice. Previously, he held positions in the Social Protection and Labor Global Practice, and has worked regionally in Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and Caribbean, for the World Bank and for the Inter-American Development Bank. He co-authored flagship policy research studies on skills (The Skills Balancing Act in Sub-Saharan Africa), pensions (“The Inverting Pyramid: Pension Systems Facing Demographic Challenges in Europe and Central Asia”), jobs ("Back to Work: Growing with Jobs in Europe and Central Asia"); labor markets, poverty and inequality ("Informality: Exit and Exclusion" and “Poverty Reduction and Growth: Virtuous and Vicious Circles”); as well as country studies on skills, informality and labor markets including in Argentina, Bolivia, China, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru, Poland, and Romania. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he obtained his master's degree and doctorate in economics.

Solongoo Bayarsaikhan is Mongolia’s Deputy Minister for Justice and Home Affairs. Previously, she worked as the Deputy Chief of the Cabinet Secretariat, the Government of Mongolia from 2020 to 2021.  Prior to joining public service, she worked as the founding partner of Avinex Partners LLP, a Mongolian law firm from 2017 to 2020 and worked as senior associate at Ulaanbaatar office of Hogan Lovells, international law firm until 2017. She obtained her LL.B degree from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. She has LL.M degree in Mineral Law and Policy from the CEPMPLP, the University of Dundee in 2011. She obtained her second LL.M degree from Harvard Law School in 2015. 

Martin Benderson is Associate Director for Collective Action and Partnerships at the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN).  Martin joined the MACN secretariat in 2014 and has since catalyzed and led Collective Action initiatives and Public Private Partnerships to tackle corruption in the port and maritime sector in various countries. He manages MACN’s Collective Action initiatives in e.g., Argentina, Indonesia, and MACN’s Collective Action initiative in Nigeria funded by the Siemens Integrity Initiative. Martin also provides oversight and ensures good governance of MACN’s grant portfolio. Prior to joining the MACN Secretariat, Martin worked as a sustainability consultant, advising corporate clients, international organizations and donor agencies. Martin holds a MSc in International Economics and a BA in International Relations.

John Brandolino joined the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in October 2015 as Director of the Division for Treaty Affairs, where he oversees UN-mandated policy processes related to drug and crime issues and technical assistance centers related to addressing corruption, organized crime, money laundering, cybercrime, and terrorism.  Prior to his current position, Mr. Brandolino served 15 years in a variety of management and senior advisor positions at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), including as Director of the Office of Anticrime Programs and head of their Anticorruption Unit.  He has also directed overseas assistance programs for the American Bar Association's CEELI initiative and served as counsel to two US Senate investigations into corruption and mismanagement in the use of federal funding.

Frank Brown is the Director of Anticorruption and Governance Center at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).  He spearheaded the development of two lines of anti-corruption work at CIPE, the Anticorruption Rapid Response program which swiftly deploys resources to support civil society activists in countries that are experiencing unique opportunities for reform, including Sudan, Armenia, The Gambia, and Malaysia, and the Integrated Compliance program which takes a holistic approach to corporate compliance by examining how labor and environmental standards can be upheld in tandem with anti-corruption requirements. This approach is being applied to Indonesia’s palm oil sector and Malaysia’s medical device supply chain. Prior to joining CIPE, Brown spent 15 years as a journalist, the last 11 of them based in Moscow, where he was the bureau chief for Newsweek magazine. Throughout his journalistic career, Brown reported on conflicts in Russia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Sri Lanka, as well as on business, politics, and religion. He is a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional with the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.  In addition to Newsweek, Brown has been published in Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Moscow Times, Washington Post, Easton Bulletin, Lakeland Ledger, and Philadelphia Inquirer.

David Bernstein is a Lead Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank. David is presently working on justice reform and anticorruption projects for the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and West Bank & Gaza. Bernstein is a lawyer who has worked in private legal practice, for the U.S. State Department and for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development before joining the World Bank in late 2003.  David has worked on public sector reform projects focusing on the justice sector since 1992 and on anticorruption since 2010. The majority of his work has been with the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.  David has also worked in the World Bank's Integrity Vice Presidency where he focused on corruption prevention activities in the East Asia Pacific region and served as advisor to INT’s Policy Director.  David has a B.S. in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Anna Bjerde has been the World Bank’s Managing Director for Operations since April 3, 2023. The Office of the Managing Director brings together the operations units of the World Bank, which includes the Regional Vice Presidencies and Operations Policy and Country Services. The World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence Department also reports to the Managing Director. World Bank operations comprise an active portfolio of 1,813 projects to a value of $300 billion. Annual lending has averaged around $65 billion over the past three years. The operational complex of the World Bank also produces groundbreaking analytical work informing policy reforms, priority investments, technical assistance, and targeted poverty reduction. World Bank operations are grounded in a country-based model and focus on responding to the crises of recent years and medium-term development priorities including addressing challenges like poverty reduction, equitable growth, and climate change. Prior to assuming the role of Managing Director, Ms. Bjerde served as Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, where she led the World Bank’s efforts to steer the region through a series of overlapping global shocks—the COVID-19 pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, natural disasters, and the World Bank’s large-scale response to Ukraine. She previously worked as Director of Strategy and Operations for the Middle East and North Africa region. Between 2015-2018, she oversaw the World Bank’s strategies, lending, and analytical work for Sustainable Development, covering all the World Bank’s regions. She was also the Director of Strategy and Operations in the Europe and Central Asia region in 2014-15. Ms. Bjerde held a leadership role overseeing the World Bank’s operations in Sustainable Development and Infrastructure in the Africa region between 2011-2013. Ms. Bjerde has over 30 years of experience working in development across sectors and regions, with a specific interest in inclusive growth and sustainable infrastructure development. She is a recognized and experienced leader with a strong track record of delivering large client programs, mobilizing resources, managing, and motivating extensive and decentralized workforces and forging strong bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Ms. Bjerde holds a Master’s in Business and Economics from the University of Stockholm.

Brice Böhmer leads Transparency International’s work on climate and environmental topics. Brice holds a master’s degree with a specialization in corporate social responsibility and environmental communications. He joined TI in 2012, after seven years spent working as a consultant on sustainable development for the European commission, environmental ministries, and the private sector. His role includes overseeing climate governance programmes on transparency, accountability, and integrity. He is coordinating internal efforts and external advocacy as well as developing the capacity of the countries implementing projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin-America. He is Steering Committee Member of the Alliance for Land, Indigenous, and Environmental Defenders, Observer for the Green Climate Fund and the UNFCCC as well as Member of the Water Integrity Network.

Erica Bosio is a Senior Public Sector Specialist in the Governance Global Practice of the World Bank. Her work focuses primarily on public procurement and judicial efficiency. Between 2012 and 2019, she was a member of the Doing Business team leading the research on contract enforcement and the development of the latest indicator on public procurement. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Erica worked in the arbitration and litigation department of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Milan. She holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Georgetown University and a degree in law from the University of Turin (Italy). 

Veronica Bradăuțanu is a Justice Adviser to the President of the Republic of Moldova. Previously, Veronica was Adviser to the Minister of Justice from and served as President of the Disciplinary Board of Judicial Executors and member of the Authorization and Discipline Board for Insolvency Administrators. She has also worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. Veronica contributed to law reform projects led by the European Union, the World Bank, and the International Finance Corporation. She has a law degree from the State University of Moldova, a master's degree in law from the University of Connecticut, and is a qualified attorney in New York. 

Chiara Bronchi is a Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Governance Global Practice where she leads the Public Institutions Unit. In this position, she is shaping the agenda on governance and institutions to improve sustainable growth opportunities, create jobs and reduce poverty. She previously served as Practice Manager for the Fiscal Policy and Sustainable Growth Global Unit. Chiara has over 26 years of professional experience in economics and development including having worked in multiple regions including as Country Manager for Tajikistan and Lead Public Sector Expert in Tanzania. Recently she spent two years at the Asian Development Bank as Chief Thematic Officer. Chiara holds a PhD in Economics from Bologna University and a MSc in Economics from University College of London, and she has published on taxation and public spending. Most recently, she has co-authored an approach paper for the Conclave of Ministers of Finance on financing Human Capital Development.

Akmal Burkhanov is the Director of the Anticorruption Agency in Uzbekistan.
Between 2001-2020, he held different positions including at the Ministry of Justice, Member of Parliament, International affairs and inter-parliamentary relations Committee of the Oliy Majlis (parliament), Chairman of the Nationwide movement "Yuksalish" (Progress) and Executive Director of the "Development Strategy" Center. Mr. Burkhanov has experience in policy-making and legal as well as teaching experience at the Academy of Public management. He has a graduate degrees from Tashkent State University of Law, and Japan’s Nagoya University School of Law. He recently received a “Doctor of Law” degree from Nagoya University of Economics.

Elena Incisa di Camerana is the Regional Programme Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Development Law Organization, focusing on strengthening access to justice, institution-building, rights awareness and supporting development of public policies, integrating gender perspective, as well as a human-rights centred approach. Ms. Incisa di Camerana has over 20 years of experience as legal and international development professional and has experience in francophone, anglophone and Spanish speaking countries of different regions.

Chris Chalmers is the Deputy Director of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. Chris Chalmers has been Head of DFID China since 2011. He joined DFID in 2000 and previously worked for Voluntary Service Overseas and BBC World Service. Chris has a degree in history

Irene Charalambides was appointed the OSCE PA’s Special Representative on Fighting Corruption by OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (Georgia) in July 2019 and 2020 and by Margareta Cederfelt in 2021 and 2022.

Charalambides is an OSCE PA Vice-President and serves as Head of the Cyprus delegation to the Assembly. She was first elected in 2011 as a Member of Parliament. In the parliamentary elections of 2016 and 2021 she was the first woman to be elected with the highest number of preferential votes among all Cypriot MPs.

She currently serves as the Chairperson of the House Standing Committee on Human Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus. She is also a Member of the House Standing Committee on Development Plans and Public Expenditure Control and of the House Standing Committee on Institutions, Merit and the Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman).

Charalambides submitted a Private Bill for the protection of whistleblowers which was adopted as legislation in 2022. Charalambides also spearheaded efforts to increase transparency in the judiciary and the House of Representatives.

Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church is the Co-Director of Besa Global. She is a scholar-practitioner with a lifelong interest in governance processes that have run amuck. She has significant experience working on peacebuilding, governance, accountability and learning across the Balkans and West and East Africa. For fifteen years, Cheyanne taught program design, monitoring and evaluation in fragile contexts at the Fletcher School. Prior to that she was the Director of Evaluation for Search for Common Ground and Director of Policy at INCORE. She has had the privilege of working in an advisory capacity with a range of organizations such as ABA/ROLI, CDA, ICRC, IDRC, UN Peacebuilding Fund and the US State Department. She can be commonly found in the Canadian Rockies with her fierce daughters and gem of a husband.

David Clarke is a lawyer who specializes in health law and policy. David currently leads work at WHO HQ in Geneva in three main topic areas: (i) Engaging the private sector to help achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC); (ii) Using the law to deliver UHC; and (iii) ACTA – Anticorruption transparency and accountability in health. Before joining WHO, David worked as a lawyer for the NZ Ministry of Health working on, amongst other things, New Zealand's health reforms. He left the Ministry in 2000 to work on a health reforms project for the government of Trinidad and Tobago. David then co-founded and worked as a partner in a public policy consulting company where he worked in global health for governments, NGOs, and development agencies before moving to Geneva in 2015 to work for WHO.

Jonathan Cushing heads Transparency International’s Global Health Programme. As Director of the programme he has led work throughout the COVID pandemic, including research into at the transparency of COVID vaccine contracts, work on increasing transparency and equity within national vaccine distribution, and advocacy efforts to ensure that transparency and anti—corruption safeguards are built into the proposed Pandemic Accord. Prior to joining Transparency International, Jonathan worked for German Development Cooperation in Malawi, Bangladesh and Nepal, working with governments, CSOs and the private sector on health systems strengthening, and improving the quality of care.

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Anke D'Angelo is the Auditor General and Vice President of Group Internal Audit (GIA). In this capacity, Anke leads the Bank Group’s efforts to strengthen governance, risk management, and controls. She reports to the World Bank Group President, and is under the oversight of the Audit Committee. Anke brings extensive leadership experience connecting the first, second, and third lines of defense across multiple departments. Her knowledge of the coordination and development of policy, and guidelines for integrated assurance between the three lines of defense, will help the World Bank Group improve the effectiveness of the risk and control environment and, in particular, internal audit.  A dual Swiss and German national, Anke brings 24 years of experience working at Swiss Re, a leading wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance, and other insurance-based forms of risk management. She served in many different roles throughout her career, including Finance, Risk Management, Internal Audit, and Compliance – in various locations around the globe.  In her role as Chief Compliance Officer at Swiss Re, Anke introduced compliance assurance services, strengthened the compliance risk assessment methodology, and oversaw risk frameworks regarding anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, insider trading, code of conduct, and international trade controls. She was heavily involved in the promotion of integrity through Swiss Re. Anke was one of the founding members of the Global Insurance Chief Compliance Officer Forum in January 2015, and a leader of Compliance Assurance, one of the global working groups. In her most recent assignment, Anke worked in China to strengthen the governance structure and the regulatory risk management process, where she introduced a regulatory risk management and branch-related scorecard. Anke was until recently a Member of the Board of Supervisors for New China Life, Co. Ltd. (NMCI), in Beijing, China – one of the largest life insurance companies in China. She is the Associate Risk Manager of The American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, at the Insurance Institute of America. In addition, Anke is a member of the Insurance Supper Club, a business network for women operating in or involved with insurance, providing an industry-wide networking platform. Anke holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany.

Liz David-Barrett is Head of the Global Programme on Measuring Corruption at the International Anti-Corruption Academy. She is on leave from the University of Sussex, where she was Director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption. From 2010 to 2014, she was a Research Fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Prof David-Barrett has been researching corruption for 20 years, with particular interests in political corruption, public procurement, business integrity, and the role of transnational networks in countering corruption. Keen to ensure that academic research and evidence feeds into policy, she engages widely with policy-makers and practitioners and in 2020 chaired the first Academic Roundtable of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group. She has advised several governments on anti-corruption policy as well as training anti-corruption professionals, working with private-sector organizations , and authoring several reports for Transparency International; she was formerly chair of Spotlight on Corruption, a UK-based anti-corruption NGO (2019-22). 

Klaus Decker is a Senior Public Sector Specialist working at the World Bank in Washington since 2002. He supports justice sector reform initiatives worldwide with a focus on the Middle East and Northern Africa. He is currently the chair of the World Bank’s Justice and Development Community of Practice. He has managed numerous World Bank investment lending operations supporting justice sector reform, primarily in Europe and Central Asia. He has led World Bank technical assistance initiatives to justice sector institutions across a range of specific technical topics in different parts of the world. He has also led teams delivering justice sector analytical work to clients. 

Emilio Barriga Delgado is Federalized Spending Special Auditor at the Supreme Audit Institution of Mexico. Previously, he held various positions including Mexico City Government’s Treasurer, Government’s General Director of Inter-institutional Liaison and Tax Policy Director, Planning Director at the Ministry of Economy. He also served as Director of the School of Economics of the “Cristobal Colón University of Veracruz”. Emilio Barriga has written several specialized publications on economics and fiscal federalism, and he has given presentations and lectures both nationally and internationally. Emilio Barriga has a bachelor's degree in economics from “Cristobal Colón University of Veracruz” and a master's degree in economics from “El Colegio de México”.

Akuei Mayuen Deng Dut is the Director General for Investigations and Legal Services, South Sudan Anti-Corruption Commission.

Jonathan Drimmer is a Partner at the Paul Hastings firm in Washington, D.C., where he resolves anti-corruption, business and human rights and other complex cross-border challenges with the benefit of having sat in every chair at the table: senior legal officer for a global 500 company, federal prosecutor, and seasoned advocate. Before joining Paul Hastings, he was Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Barrick Gold, one of the world's largest mining companies, with operations on five continents. Mr. Drimmer has directed hundreds of investigations around the world related to anti-corruption and human rights, as well as AML and export controls, tax controversies, environmental incidents, public disclosures, fatalities and health and safety injuries, sexual harassment and discrimination, and similar areas. He has been retained as an expert witness, both in relation to anti-corruption and business and human rights, and has assisted companies in building best-in-class anti-corruption and business and human rights compliance programs. He previously served in the Justice Department as Deputy Director of the Criminal Division's Office of Special Investigations, where he led cross-border investigations, first-chaired numerous prosecutions, and argued federal appeals. He is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on the Future of Good Governance, and taught international law courses at Georgetown University Law Center for nearly 20 years.

Margarita Dobrynina is the Head of the Strategic Analysis Division at the Special Investigation Service in Lithuania.
Currently Margarita is in charge of managing and providing leadership to the Strategic Analysis Division, as well as providing expertise on conducting analytical anti-corruption intelligence in detecting corruption risks and treats, conducting criminological research in the area of corruption, PEST and SWOT analysis for anti-corruption, monitoring and assessment of the national anti-corruption programme, drafting anti-corruption policy recommendations, participating in anti-corruption evidence-based policy making. Margarita's main areas of interest are corruption risk analysis, corruption prevention, evidance-based criminal justice policy, and public criminology.
Margarita has been teaching sociology and criminology at Vilnius University. Previously, she held the position of an Acting Director and Research Fellow at the Law Institute of Lithuania, She pursued her postdoctoral research on justice reinvestment at the University of Lausanne, School of Criminal Justice. She is also a former Fulbright Scholar, and Associate Editor of the European Journal of Criminology.

Juan Carlos Echeverry is the founding partner of Econcept, Bogota and Washington, DC, an economic consultancy with over 12 years of experience in macroeconomic analysis, public policy design and evaluation, and microeconomic research in Latin America. Previously, he was the CEO of EcoPetrol, Colombia’s largest Oil and Gas producer, No. 559 in Forbes World’s Biggest Public Companies and among the 30 largest O&G producers worldwide, as well as former minister of finance of Colombia. He was also a former minister of economic planning, former dean of economics at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá), and associate professor at Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, with teaching experience at New York University and other Colombian universities. Echeverry published papers in different fields of economics, in specialized journals, and three books on the Colombian economy and other Latin American economies. He has a PhD in economics from New York University.

Eduardo Engel is the director of Espacio Público, a Chilean think tank, and a professor of economics at the University of Chile. He is also an associate researcher at the National Bureau for Economic Research and the International Growth Centre. Prior to this, Engel chaired Chile’s Presidential Advisory Council on Conflicts of Interest, Influence Peddling, and Corruption in 2015 and was a professor of economics at Yale University from 2001 to 2012. He has been a consultant for multiple governments and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America, the European Investment Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Engel has published extensively in the areas of macroeconomics, public finance, regulation, and infrastructure economics and co-authored the book The Economics of Public-Private Partnerships: A Basic Guide (2014). He was awarded the Frisch Medal by the Econometric Society in 2002. Engel earned a Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University, a Ph.D. in economics from MIT, and an engineering degree from University of Chile.

Daniel Eriksson is the CEO of Transparency International in Berlin. Daniel joined the organisation in January 2019 as Head of Technology and oversaw Transparency International’s work on the role of emerging technologies in corruption. Prior to his appointment as CEO in April 2021, Daniel served as an Interim Managing Director for a year. Daniel has been an employee with the Swedish government, the United Nations, the European Commission, civil society organisations and, in recent years, in leadership roles of publicly listed corporations. Notably, he was the country manager for a multinational corporate security services firm in India which provided services, including investigations into suspected corruption. Having started his career as a military peacekeeper in the conflict in former Yugoslavia, Daniel was inspired to work in the humanitarian sector. Subsequent work in sustainable development in Africa, Asia and the Middle East redirected his focus towards corruption as an obstacle to human development. He is a passionate anti-corruption advocate and a big believer of the role of technology in global efforts to end the injustice of corruption. Daniel is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and has a BSc in Information Systems Analysis from Linköping University, Sweden, and a PhD from Coventry University, United Kingdom.

Peter Evans is the Director of U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Center. Evans has 25 years of experience across international development, public policy, and social and political research. Understanding and tackling corruption has been a thread running through his career, including in 20 years spent working in Tanzania, India, Malawi, and Bangladesh. He holds a PhD in medical geography (urban health in Tanzania), and his approach to understanding and tackling governance problems combines technical and political approaches. He spent 20 years in DFID/FCDO, and from 2014 led the commissioning team for Governance, Conflict, Inclusion and Humanitarian research. In this role he designed and led the Anti-Corruption Evidence (ACE) programme, and oversaw a wide range of other research programmes on themes including applied political economy, taxation, cities, tackling gender inequality, VAWG, migration, crime and conflict.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan is a lawyer with the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. She is the Chief Executive of Bangladesh’s Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), where she is responsible for coordinating research, awareness raising, public interest litigation and advocacy. Her cases are redefining the current notion of development that is devoid of environmental consideration. Rizwana has received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for the year 2009 for her outstanding contribution in protecting and conserving the environment of the country. She has also been named as one of the 40 Environmental Heroes of the World by TIME magazine.

Haykuhi Harutyunyan is the Chair of Armenia’s Corruption Prevention Commission, a newly established independent body that develops and implements the country’s corruption prevention policies. She previously led Protection of Rights without Borders. She has over 15 years of experience working with local and international civil society organizations on rule of law, judiciary, and human rights issues, including as a member of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum from 2016 to 2019. She received the 2018 Universal Rights Award in the Access to Justice category for her work documenting human rights violations, assisting peaceful demonstrators, and identifying systemic police impunity. She was a 2018 Draper Hills Summer Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law and a 2011-2012 Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the University of Minnesota Law School’s Human Rights Center. During her fellowship, Ms. Harutyunyan analyzed and proposed innovative approaches for sustaining state institutions and guaranteeing that they uphold the rule of law.

Arturo Herrera is the Global Director for Governance Global Practice in the Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions Practice Group (EFI) Vice Presidency at the World Bank.  Herrera joined the World Bank in 2010 as Senior Public Sector Management Specialist in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. He held various positions in the Bank including as Sector Manager in LAC, Practice Manager in Governance Global Practice for the LAC and East Asia and the Pacific regions in the Global Unit before leaving the World Bank Group in 2018.  Between 2018 and 2021 he has held leadership positions in the Government of Mexico as Co-Head of the Finance Team in Presidential Transition Team, Deputy Finance Minister and, most recently, as Minister of Finance and Public Credit. As Global Director for Governance, Herrera’s priorities include leading the formulation of strategy and engagement of the Bank’s work on public institutions and country-level governance, especially in fragile, conflict and violent settings; maximizing the effectiveness of operational support for public financial management and public procurement; fostering excellence in the Governance Practice’s work on public sector administration and operational support for legal and judicial reforms. Mr. Herrera has also taught Monetary and Banking and Macro and Microeconomics at both El Colegio de Mexico and New York University where he completed his doctoral studies in Economics.

Mihály Fazekas is the Director of the Government Transparency Institute and Associate Professor at the Central European University, Department of Public Policy, with a focus on using Big Data methods to understand the quality of government globally. He has a PhD from the University of Cambridge where he pioneered Big Data methods to measure and understand high-level corruption in Central- and Eastern Europe. He worked at the University of Cambridge as the scientific coordinator of the Horizon 2020 funded project DIGIWHIST which used a Big Data approach to measuring corruption risks, administrative capacity, and transparency in public procurement in 33 European countries. While at University College London, he served as a co-Principal Investigator on the Global Integrity/FCDO funded research project looking at anti-corruption in development aid-funded as well as national procurement. He regularly consults the European Commission, Council of Europe, EBRD, OECD, World Bank, and a range of national governments and NGOs across the globe.

Ray Fisman is an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Human Capital Initiative Global Development Policy Center and the Slater Family Chair in Behavioral Economics at Boston University. Previously, he was the Lambert family professor of Social Enterprise and co-director of the Social Enterprise Program at Columbia University’s business school. Professor Fisman’s research –focused on various aspects of political economy and behavioral economics – has been published in leading economics journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics; this work has been widely covered in the popular press, in such outlets as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, the Economist, and the Washington Post.. His most recent book, Corruption: What Everyone Needs to Know (with political scientist Miriam Golden), was published by Oxford University Press in 2017.

Brian Fitzpatrick is a core editor at OCCRP, editing and coordinating reporting and investigations. He was previously with Canada’s Postmedia group, most recently as deputy news editor at the National Post in Toronto, and earlier as a reporter in the province of Saskatchewan. His work has been published by a range of European and North American titles, much of it from Latin America and covering topics like paramilitarism and the drug wars. He has also reported extensively on drug cartel activity in Canada. Previously part of the team behind Atlantic, an award-winning documentary from Ireland’s Inver Films on the shadowy politics of ocean resources, he is currently a producer and writer on an international co-production film about conflict and the cocaine trade. A holder of degrees from the National University of Ireland Galway and Technological University Dublin, he is now studying at King’s College London.

Natalie Forsyuk is a Governance and Transparency expert in the field of Infrastructure.  Holds Master’s degree in law. Worked for 12 years in a business sector as a General Manager in a Danish factory in Ukraine. Following the Revolution of dignity, shifted her career path, towards the improving the Ukrainian governance. During 2016- 2019 became a recognized expert in transparency, accountability, and governance in public infrastructure procurement as the CoST (Construction Sector Transparency) Ukraine country manager.  in 2019, appointed a Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, covering Road Infrastructure and Transport, as well as EU Integration and IFI funded projects.  2021 - 2022 - led EU integration efforts as a Head of EU integration Office in Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers, coordinating successful EU membership application despite the full-scale war with Russia, earning an award from the Cabinet of Ministers for her personal contribution.

Simon is a British national and strategic leader with over 30 years of international experience in the development, investment and commercial banking arenas. Based in Washington D.C and London while operating internationally, Simon now provides a unique brand of custom event design, facilitation, moderation and teambuilding services to corporate clients. He offers customized solutions in the following:

• In-person, virtual and hybrid Event design, planning, facilitation & Master of Ceremonies services for small to large groups (10-750+)
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• Team and individual coaching

Simon can be reached at: www.linkedin.com/in/simonvfowler

Adrian Fozzard is a regional Practice Manager for Governance covering Latin American and the Caribbean at the World Bank.He also leads the Climate Change Governance community of practice. Adrian joined the Bank in 2001 as a Senior Public Sector Specialist in the East Asia and the Pacific region and has held various managerial and operational positions, including World Bank Representative in Honduras, Coordinator of the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, Head of the Public Finance Practice and Practice Manager for Governance in Europe and Central Asia and South Asia. Adrian has a Ph.D. from Durham University and a B.A from Oxford University.

Francis Fukuyama is the Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and Director of Master's in International Policy Program at Stanford University. Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, The End of History, and the Last Man, has published in over twenty foreign editions. His latest book, Liberalism and Its Discontents, where he analyzes the challenges to liberalism from the right and the left was published in May 2022. Besides being a best seller author Dr. Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University. He is also professor (by courtesy) of Political Science. Francis Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science.

Till Hartmann is a Governance Specialist at the World Bank, where he works at the intersections of anticorruption and GovTech. Till first joined the World Bank in 2014 as a Junior Professional Associate in the Public Sector Unit in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, working on project design and implementation. He holds a Ph.D. in Governance from the Hertie School in Berlin, a graduate degree in International Economics and Development from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and undergraduate degrees in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin and Sciences Po Paris. Till’s publications focus on the nexus between corruption and development.

Gavin Hayman is the Executive Director of Open Contracting Partnership, a silo-busting collaboration across government, business and civil society to open up and transform public contracting and procurement. Before joining the Open Contracting Partnership, Gavin was Director of Campaigns and then Executive Director of Global Witness. He oversaw the organization’s groundbreaking and award-winning investigative, campaigning and advocacy work uncovering secret deals, corruption and conflict around the world. He helped create the international Publish What You Pay campaign and negotiated the intergovernmental Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative to improve disclosure and oversight of over trillion dollars of oil and mining money paid around the world. He is also an expert on illicit financial flows and helped lead global efforts to end the abuse of anonymous shell companies for money laundering and financial crime, including at the G8 and Open Government Partnership.

Sir Anthony Hooper is an associate member of Matrix Chambers in London, England. Following an academic career in England and Canada, he practiced at the English Bar, both prosecuting and defending. He was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1987. He then spent 17 years as a judge, including 8 years in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Following his retirement from the Court of Appeal, Sir Anthony has worked extensively in many different fields, both public and private. He has written two major reports on whistleblowing. He has conducted a number of investigations for the IAAF, now World Athletics, into corruption within athletics. He has worked extensively in East Africa, Mauritius, Eastern Europe and the Balkans for the World Bank, IDLO, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and EWMI on issues of corruption, money laundering, asset recovery and judicial governance and integrity. In November 2018 he was appointed Chairman of the 6 person Public Council of International Experts of Ukraine to assist in the selection of judges to the new High Anti-Corruption Court.  In 2021 he was appointed by the OECD as a member of the team preparing a pilot monitoring report on Georgia with particular responsibility for evaluating the judiciary in Georgia. Sir Anthony is currently Deputy Chair of the 6 person Ethics Council of Ukraine. The Council’s task is to determine whether candidates for membership of the High Council of Justice and sitting members comply with the criteria of professional ethics and integrity.

Ann-Sofie Jespersen is a Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank. Ann-Sofie joined the World Bank in 2014 in the Egypt Country Office, and brings more than 10 years of experience working on social accountability mechanisms and citizen engagement. She previously worked in Operations Policy and Country Services on citizen engagement and external accountability. She has operational experience in the MENA and Africa regions, where she worked on a range of Bank products including CPF, IPFs, and PforRs. Before joining the World Bank, she worked on social accountability with ActionAid in the Middle East, West Africa, Europe and USA. She obtained her Bachelor and master's degree in international development and business Studies at Roskilde University in Denmark.

Ivan Kantardjiski is the Advisor for Global Programme Combating Illicit Financial Flows implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). He joined the company in 2017 and has since held positions in the Western Balkans and Germany, leveraging his diverse professional background. Ivan's core expertise lies in the prevention of illicit financial flows (IFFs), covering areas such as risk-based supervision, beneficial ownership registration, and collaboration with the civic and journalist sectors. Notably, he was part of the team that established the Beneficial Ownership Register in North Macedonia, an experience he will share at the conference. Ivan eagerly looks forward to sharing insights from his field work and engaging in meaningful discussions with fellow participants.

Judge Claude Karam is the President of the National Anticorruption Commission in Lebanon.

Daniel Kaufmann is a Senior Fellow at Results for Development and at the Brookings Institution, and President emeritus of the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI) which he headed until recently.  He also served for a long period at the international Board of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI).  In the past he was a director at the World Bank Institute and also opened and headed the Ukraine country office of the World Bank following the country’s independence in the early ‘90s. He has served in various boards on governance, anticorruption and natural resources, as well as in high-level expert commissions such as at the OECD and the IDB. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard; has advised leaders of states and of international organizations and has published extensively in research and policy journals. With his co-authors, he developed global indicators on governance (with Aart Kraay) as well as diagnostic tools and survey methodologies (including Francesca Recanatini) to improve governance, as well as developing the initial work on State Capture (with Joel Hellman).  He holds degrees in economics from the Hebrew University and from Harvard

Joyce Koech is Kenya’s Registrar General.

Joseph Kizito is the Governance Financial Management Practice Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank. He is responsible for overseeing the implementation of financial management policy in Bank-financed operations and for building country systems that reflect global knowledge and cutting-edge solutions to governance challenges. During his 24-years at the World Bank, Kizito has has contributed to designing and implementing reforms to bolster the country systems used to manage public resources, and to strengthen financial reporting regimes and internal and external control agencies. He also has experience in supporting the strengthening of accountancy professions. Prior to joining the World Bank, Kizito worked as an audit manager in Coopers & Lybrand, which was PWC at that time, in London and in Uganda. Kizito, a Ugandan National, is a chartered accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He has a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from the University of Glasgow, and a Masters degree in public policy and management from the University of London.

Jillian Kohler is a Professor at the University of Toronto. She focuses her research on issues that are linked to anticorruption, transparency and accountability in the pharmaceutical sector, as well as those related to trade issues and intellectual property rights. In addition to her role as professor and cross-appointments at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, she is the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Governance, Transparency and Accountability in the Pharmaceutical Sector.

Jennifer Lewis currently serves as Deputy Director for Programs of USAID’s Anti-Corruption Task Force, where she provides senior leadership on efforts to elevate, strengthen, and integrate anti-corruption efforts across USAID and to rejuvenate anti-corruption programming and policy engagement. For the past six years, Jennifer has served as USAID/Washington’s anti-corruption lead, providing technical leadership to the Agency, missions, and other USG agencies in transparency and accountability, anti-corruption, good governance, and rule of law, and working closely with inter-agency colleagues at the Departments of State and Treasury and the National Security Council on issues related to anti-corruption. She serves as USAID's representative to the Open Government Partnership (OGP), Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), and the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), as well as Co-Chair of the OECD/DAC’s Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT). Prior to joining USAID, Jennifer served for over 16 years in senior leadership roles implementing USAID programs, including serving as regional governance director, project director, and Chief of Party for Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) and Chemonics International Inc. An attorney, Jennifer also practiced law for five years, where she focused on international trade, anti-corruption, and business conduct/ethics.  She has a JD from American University's Washington College of Law and a BS from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where she serves as adjunct graduate professor.

Simon Lock is a Reporter for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s Enablers team. Before joining in September 2021, Simon was a news reporter at Legal Week, where he covered the ins and outs of the UK’s biggest commercial law firms, for more than two years. In addition, he has written several pieces for Private Eye on areas including local government finances, property investments and the legal sector. In 2019, Simon received a distinction in his Investigative Journalism MA at City, University of London.

Twalib Abdallah Mbarak is the CEO of Kenya’s Ethics and Anticorruption Commission. He played a key role in creating the Intelligence Department which is in charge of undercover operations. Mbarak was appointed as a member of the Executive Committee for the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, IAACA. Mbarak had a distinguished career in the military and intelligence services. He also served as a United Nations Military Observer in Western Sahara and was awarded a United Nations Peace Keeping Medal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Sociology and Masters in Armed Conflict & Peace Studies from the University of Nairobi.

Lisa Miller is the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Officer and heads the Integrity Compliance Unit in the World Bank Group's Integrity Vice Presidency. She previously was a Senior Counsel in the World Bank's Legal Vice Presidency focusing on sanctions and legal procurement matters. Prior to joining the World Bank, she was in private legal practice in Boston and Washington, D.C. Her practice focused on integrity compliance, sanctions, public procurement, and corporate matters. Lisa Miller received an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center. She received her J.D. from George Washington University Law School where she was a member of The George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics, and a Dean’s Fellow. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a B.S. in International Politics and Certificate in German Studies.

Pamela Monroe Ellis is the Auditor General of Jamaica. In 2012-2018, she was appointed to the Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) where she served on both the Audit Committee and Chaired the Governance Committee. Mrs. Monroe Ellis was appointed Secretary-General of the Caribbean Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI) in 2016. In the same year, she was appointed to serve as Jamaica's representative on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Audit Committee, which she Chaired until December 2019. Mrs. Monroe Ellis served the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) over 15 years combined as a member of its Audit Practice Committee, Public Sector Committee and Investigations Committee- four years as Chair. She is currently a Director on the Board of the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI). Mrs. Monroe Ellis has been a member of the ACCA Global Forum for the Public Sector since January 2019. In May 2020 she was appointed Chair of the International Financial Reporting for Non-Profit Organizations (IFR4NPO) Steering Committee. Mrs. Monroe Ellis was appointed to the Integrity Commission and Commission for Prevention of Commission in 2008; she served both Commissions until the merger of both to form Jamaica's New Integrity Commission, where she currently serves a Commissioner. She is currently a member of the Board of the Governor-General of Jamaica Trust. Mrs. Monroe Ellis is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA, UK).

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi is the Director of the European Research Centre for Anticorruption and State-Building (ERCAS). She is Professor of Democracy Studies at the Hertie School in Berlin. Her research centres on anti-corruption policy and good governance. Her research projects have resulted in resources like integrity-index.org, europam.eu and opentender.eu. Her governance work is cited and applied by a string of development organisations, by some EU governments and the European Commission. Mungiu-Pippidi has recieved the Harvard University Shorenstein Fellowship, an Open Society Institute Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship and the Jean Monnet Fellowship of the European University Institute. She is President of the Romanian Academic Society (SAR) and founder of the social media watchdog platform Clean Romania! (romaniacurata.ro). She studied political science at Harvard University after completing a PhD in Social Psychology in 1995 at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi in Romania.

Ana Patricia Muñoz is International Budget Partnership’s Executive Director. Previously, she was the Executive Director of FARO, non-partisan Ecuadorian think tank that generates research and implements initiatives to influence public policy and build a more equitable, just, and sustainable society.  Her work has mainly focused on reducing inequality. She spent a decade at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where she rose through the ranks to become Assistant Vice President. During this time, she spearheaded ground-breaking research and produced a seminal report on the racial wealth gap, which has had huge impact. She also played a pivotal role in bringing diverse sectors together—from local housing advocates to private banks—to reduce the number of foreclosures in the city during the 2008 financial crisis. Ana Patricia has written more than 20 research reports, book chapters, and articles published in academic journals. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Brown University, a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Montreal and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

Vira Mykhailenko is Ukriane’s Head of the High Anti-Corruption Court. Prior to that, she was a judge and a judge-speaker in the High Anti-Corruption Court. She started her legal career in the public service in the legal department of the State Committee for the State Material Reserve. She was also a lecturer in Criminal Procedure, Judicial and Law Enforcement Agencies, Human Rights Protection Mechanisms; a trainer of the National Police (training of patrol police cadets; representatives of departments of human rights protection as part of the reform of internal affairs bodies; and advanced training of investigators). Over the past decade, she participated in various human rights projects of non-governmental and international organizations (including the Council of Europe, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the Norwegian Refugee Council, etc.). Mykhailenko has a PhD in Law, and higher education degrees in Law and Intellectual Property. She is a national trainer of the Council of Europe on European Anti-Discrimination Standards. 

Daniel Ortega-Nieto is a Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank. In this capacity Daniel has supported projects and analytical work in Argentina, Bangladesh, Croatia, Ecuador, Mexico, Mozambique, and Uruguay. Currently, Daniel leads the World Bank’s public financial management program in Indonesia; supporting reforms in areas such as budgeting, treasury, civil service, and digital government. Previously, he led the ​​public sector management operations in Brazil, as well as research and technical support in governance and public financial management. He designed and led the Subnational Pro-Gestão Program, a $1 billion credit line to improve fiscal and public financial management across Brazil. Daniel led the development of DeCODE, an evidence-based system that leverages data to help anticipate and solve delivery challenges, and the Governance Risk Assessment System that uses artificial intelligence for extracting 200+ firm-level and agency-level corruption risk red-flags. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was an advisor to the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, a consultant to the Inter-American Bank, as well as the Ministry of Labor and the United States Agency for International Development. He has conducted research at Harvard and Sciences-Po Universities. Daniel has a degree from El Colegio de México, a master's degree in development management from the London School of Economics, and a PhD in Public Policy and Government from Georgetown University.

Pablo Arellano Pardo is the Comptroller General of Spain.  Previously, he held a number of positions including General Director of Rationalization and Centralization of Procurement, Deputy Director General of Budgets at the Ministry of Finance and Public Function, Director of the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenses at the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations, General Deputy Director of Financial Relations with the Autonomous Communities at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Head of Financial Advisory (Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Jean Pesme is the Global Director of Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice at the World Bank. His global team of experts works with governments and partners to make financial systems more resilient, to open access to finance for poor and vulnerable people, to support economic activity and to develop financial markets. Their strategy and its implementation emphasize development of digital financial services, addressing climate change and sustainable finance and creating opportunities for women by bolstering their financial inclusion. Previously, Jean led the World Bank’s Financial Stability and Integrity global team, which assists countries in building and restoring robust and resilient financial systems operating with integrity, transparency and in compliance with international standards and recommendations. He has extensive experience working on financial sector issues, notably in the Middle East and North Africa. 

Gael Raballand is the Practice Manager for Governance in Senegal at the World Bank. He holds a PhD in economics and a degree in political science and international public law. He co-authored several World Bank books on transport, trade and customs in Africa and has also been involved in several customs reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has been based in East Africa in the last 5 years working on public spending efficiency, governance and aid effectiveness issues especially on fragile and conflict affected countries, in particular Somalia.

Francesca Recanatini is a Lead Economist at the World Bank and has worked on institution building and corruption for more than two decades.  Throughout her career, she has focused on integrating issues of governance and corruption in development policies using data and stakeholder participation. She joined the World Bank in 1998 and has worked in several countries in Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to support the design and implementation of governance reforms through in-depth data collection, coalition building and multisector engagement. Currently she works on public sector reforms and multistakeholder anticorruption initiatives in Latin America, with a particular focus on institutional factors that can contribute to country resilience and reduce instability and state capture. She has published several papers on corruption, governance indicators and transition, co-authoring the Building for Peace in MENA Report (World Bank, 2020), and contributing most recently to the Report on Enhancing Government Effectiveness and Transparency (World Bank, 2020) and to the Oxford Handbook on Quality of Government (Marcia Grimes and Bo Rothstein, eds. 2020).

Cristina Ritter is the Head of Anticorruption and Governance at the UN Global Compact. Prior to this position, Ms. Ritter worked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) since 2014, where she provided technical assistance in various continents on the international standards and tools to address corruption and money laundering, while engaging in international cooperation and asset recovery. Over the years, she was designated Global Coordinator of the Integrity Component of CRIMJUST, a UNODC flagship programme against drug-trafficking, she became responsible for the Americas at the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch (CEB) and served as Regional Anti-Corruption Advisor twice. In this context, she engaged with chambers of commerce, compliance associations, private sector entities and companies in over twenty countries to promote business integrity. She also fostered private-public dialogue, achieving the adoption of multiple policies, legal frameworks and national anti-corruption strategies.

Semereta Sewasew is Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance. Previously, she held several positions, including Director of Public Affairs and senior communication advisor for the economic reforms and Privatization Secretariat Coordinator. Semereta began her career over 20 years ago in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where for seven years she provided guidance on strategic and diplomatic partnerships, economic and trade relationships, and related issues for countries in Asia and the Middle East. Semereta holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Communications and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations both from Addis Ababa University.

Fergus Shiel is the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists's managing editor, based in Washington, D.C. Shiel has overseen many recent ICIJ projects, among them the Pandora Papers and the FinCEN Files - the biggest and second biggest global investigative journalism collaborations of their kind ever, Luanda Leaks, Implant Files, China Cables, Mauritius Leaks, Solitary Voices and Bribery Division. The projects have garnered numerous national and international awards for ICIJ.  Before joining ICIJ, Shiel was editor of The Age newspaper’s internationally-acclaimed tablet edition in Melbourne, Australia. During more than 20 years with The Age, he was national editor, state editor, and chief-of-staff. He was tasked with overseeing the publication’s world coverage and he was editor of the National Times political website. Shiel led The Age team that covered Australia’s all-time worst bushfire disaster, the Black Saturday bushfires. One hundred and seventy-three people died as a result of the fires and hundreds more were injured.  Shiel commenced his journalism career with several rural titles in his native Ireland before moving to Australia. He is a fan of the Liverpool Football Club who does journalism, in that order.

Massimo Tommasoli is the Director of Global Programmes for International IDEA. With expertise in democracy building, democratic governance, social development, and aid effectiveness, he has held key positions in international organizations such as the OECD and UNESCO. Tommasoli’s responsibilities include strengthening strategic partnerships, policy advocacy, and outreach for International IDEA at the UN General Assembly and other multilateral policy fora. He has authored numerous publications on participatory development, aid evaluation, and conflict resolution. With field experience across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Russian Federation, Tommasoli’s work has contributed significantly to advancing democracy, peacebuilding, and gender equality.

Thom Townsend is the Executive Director and Chief Strategist of Open Ownership. He is an expert on open data and was previously Head of Data Policy for the UK government. He has led some of the UK’s biggest open data commitments at the national and global level, and has spent his career ensuring that good data is being produced and used inside and outside of government.  Thom led the open contracting elements of the 2016 London Anticorruption Summit, and it was here that the real push towards open, usable beneficial ownership data got started and Open Ownership was born. It was clear that beneficial ownership disclosure is the last link in the long chain required to follow the money and the next frontier to work on, which is why Thom left government and now leads Open Ownership.

Emile Van Der Does is the Lead Financial Sector Specialist and Global Lead for Financial Market Integrity at the World Bank. He is responsible for setting and leading the policy dialogue related to the financial markets integrity area on behalf of the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice. Emile, a Dutch national, has been with the Bank since 2004, providing policy advice to countries on anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism and asset recovery and building country capacity to conduct financial investigations. Emile specializes in the abuse of legal entities, beneficial ownership issues and the use of non-profit entities for terrorist purposes. Previously he was with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and in private practice, specializing in banking and securities law. Emile holds degrees in Philosophy and Law from Leiden University.

Manuel Vargas is a Practice Manager for Governance at the World Bank.

Elsa Peraldi is Associate Director for Integrity and Anticorruption at Global Integrity where she leads the design, implementation and management of anti-corruption, governance and anti-kleptocracy projects. A human rights lawyer and governance advocate with over 12 years of operational and hands-on management, research, and policy advocacy experience helping underserved populations hold their governments accountable in challenging environments throughout the world. 

Sanjay Pradhan joined the Open Government Partnership in May 2016 as Chief Executive Officer. He previously served in three senior positions at the World Bank: as the Vice President for Leadership, Learning, and Innovation, the Vice President of the World Bank Institute, and the Director for Governance. While at the World Bank, he led the WBG’s Governance and Anticorruption Strategy, launched the Global Partnership for Social Accountability, incubated ICT-mediated citizen feedback to improve governance, initiated Open Contracting with Partners, and rolled out a flagship Collaborative Leadership for Development program to help government and civil society leaders undertake collaborative actions. During his tenure at the World Bank, Sanjay gained extensive experience working in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia. Mr. Pradhan is a global spokesperson and distinguished speaker on open governance and anticorruption issues, appearing in major world forums including the European Parliament, the BBC World Debate, and the TED Global Conference. He has published widely and was a principal author of the 1997 World Development Report, The State in a Changing World. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Aly Rahim is the Program Manager of the Global Partnership for Social Accountability at the World Bank. He also serves as the World Bank’s Global Lead for Social Accountability and Citizen Engagement. He most recently served as Practice Manager for Social Sustainability and Inclusion for West Africa, where he and his team managed social impacts under the Bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework and established a $1 billion platform of multi-country community recovery projects to help stabilize conflict-affected zones across the subregion. Aly previously served as Assistant to the President of the World Bank Group where he coordinated a portfolio including CSO/stakeholder engagement, sustainable development, climate and conflict/fragility. Aly started his career at the World Bank in 2004, and held social development roles in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia leading projects, and advisory/analytic work with a focus on participatory, community-driven and inclusive development programs. He has also served in the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, focusing on peacebuilding for Sudan and Afghanistan. Aly holds a Masters degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown and an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth in International Relations.

Martin Raiser is the World Bank’s Regional Vice President for South Asia. He manages Bank relations with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and oversees a portfolio of projects, technical assistance and financial resources worth almost US$55 billion. Before joining the region, Mr. Raiser was the World Bank’s Country Director for China and Mongolia, and Director for Korea. Mr. Raiser has also held positions as the Country Manager in Uzbekistan, Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Country Director for Turkey, and Country Director for Brazil. Mr. Raiser holds a doctorate degree in Economics (summa cum laude) from the University of Kiel, Germany, and degrees in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. Before joining the World Bank in 2003, Mr. Raiser worked for the Kiel Institute of World Economics and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he was Director of Country Strategy and Editor of the Transition Report. Mr. Raiser, a German national, is married and has four children. He has published numerous articles in refereed economic journals and authored several books.

Mark Robinson is the Executive Director of the Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative. Mark serves as Board Secretary and is responsible for managing the International Secretariat, fundraising and financial management, and oversight of implementation in EITI’s member countries. Prior to joining EITI in 2018, Mark served as Global Director for Governance at the World Resources Institute in Washington D.C. He previously held senior positions at the Department for International Development, the Institute of Development Studies, the Ford Foundation, and the Overseas Development Institute. Mark has held several board and advisory roles and currently serves as an Envoy for the Open Government Partnership. Mark was a founding member of the OGP Board of Directors and the first Board Chair from 2016-2020. He holds a DPhil and MA in Comparative Politics from the University of Sussex, and a BA honours degree in Social and Political Science from the University of Cambridge.

Pablo Saavedra is the World Bank’s Vice President for the Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions (EFI) Global Practice. In this position, he leads the World Bank’s practice groups that work on macroeconomic analysis and policies, fiscal policy, finance, trade, investment, competitiveness, poverty, governance, and climate economics. Saavedra, a Bolivian national, served in several positions of responsibility across the World Bank. Until recently, he was the Chief of Staff of the World Bank Group. Prior to that, he served as the Country Director for Mexico, and earlier as the Practice Manager of the Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment unit in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. He also worked as Economic Adviser at the Country Economics department of the Operational Policy and Country Services (OPCS) Vice Presidency and was the Operations Committee (OC) Secretary. He held several positions in the EFI unit of the Europe and Central Asia Region. He brings to the position significant leadership experience, extensive technical knowledge of EFI areas, and rich operational experience across regions. He has worked with senior policymakers in several countries on reforms related to economic growth, macroeconomics and fiscal policy, and finance.

Roby Senderowitsch currently serves as the Practice Manager for Public Administration, Governance Global Practice at the World Bank. Previously, he has held various positions, including Practice Manager, Governance Global Practice, Europe and Central Asia (West); Manager for Leadership, Learning & Innovation; Manager of the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA); and Country Manager in the Dominican Republic. His work includes a strong focus on political economy analysis, building coalitions for change, anti-corruption, and performance-based management of public institutions. He has been a lecturer in Human Resource management in nonprofit organizations, as well as director of educational programs and community development and HR management in the private sector. Roby’s publications include “Building Effective, Accountable, and Inclusive Institutions in Europe and Central Asia,” “Democratic Governance in Mexico: Beyond State Capture and Social Polarization” (with Yasuhiko Matsuda), “Performance Informed Budgeting and Trust in Government” (with Nick Manning and others), and “From the International Financial Crisis to Inclusive Growth in the Dominican Republic.” Senderowitsch holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Buenos Aires and a Masters in Policy Studies, Public Administration/Nonprofit Management from the Johns Hopkins University.

Jeffrey Sallett is a Forensic & Integrity Services partner at Ernst & Young LLP (EY). He serves on the Investigations & Compliance team, with a primary focus on forensic services and investigations and Crisis Management Services and Incident Response. Jeff has more than 25 years of experience in investigations, forensic accounting, government regulations, leadership and communications. He previously served as Associate Deputy Director of the FBI, third in command. As a special agent, Jeff incorporated forensic accounting with traditional methods to investigate terrorism and terrorism financing, fraud, corruption and organized crime. He is a certified public accountant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a Certified Financial Forensics Professional. Jeff earned a BBA, with a focus in accounting, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he regularly speaks to students about career opportunities in accounting.

Tim Steele is a Forensic Accountant by training. He has been involved in corruption and asset recovery work for 20 years. In the early 1990s, he was centrally involved in the investigations into the demise of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, and this work led directly to successful, large-scale international asset recovery. In 2004 the South African Mail and Guardian produced a list of the ten highest-profile corruption cases in the first ten years of democracy in South Africa. Tim was involved in the investigations of 4 of these cases. More recently, Tim has worked in the policy arena. This policy work includes acting as an embedded adviser to the Zambian and Kenyan Anticorruption Commissions, heading the Anticorruption Team for the UK Department for International Development, and as a Senior Governance Expert in the Joint World Bank/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative. Currently Tim is Chief of the Field Support Section of the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch, UNODC.

Leslie Tsai is Director of Social Investment and General Counsel of the Chandler Foundation. Prior to joining the Chandler Foundation, Leslie was on the executive team of Microclinic International, a global health nonprofit working on chronic disease prevention in the U.S. and abroad. Leslie started her legal career at the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell before moving into the non-profit and philanthropic sector. Prior to law school, Leslie spent a year at the World Bank working on financial sector development in Africa. She has been honored as a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, a John Gardner Public Service Fellow, a Shafik Gabr U.S.-Egypt Exchange Fellow, and a TEDx speaker. Leslie received her law degree from Harvard and her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Axel van Trotsenburg is the World Bank’s Senior Managing Director (SMD), responsible for Development Policy and Partnerships. A Dutch-Austrian national, he directs the World Bank’s core development work captured by the Bank’s Global Practice groups – including equitable growth, finance and institutions; human development; infrastructure; and sustainable development – and ensures its integration into operations, with a special focus on climate change, fragility, human capital, and debt sustainability issues.  He currently co-leads the Evolution Roadmap aimed at increasing the scale and impact of the World Bank operations and systematically incorporating sustainability, resilience and inclusion into the Bank’s work on poverty reduction and boosting shared prosperity. This reform effort seeks to solidify the World Bank’s critical role as the knowledge bank on development and expand its engagement on global challenges such as climate change, fragility and health, as well as to increase mobilization and facilitation of private capital together with the private sector arms of the World Bank Group. He oversees the Bank’s numerous partnerships including with the UN, international financial institutions (IFIs), and bilateral partners.  In addition, van Trotsenburg co-chairs the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA) and represents the Bank in the G7 and G20 meetings.  He leads the Bank’s climate engagement in the context of the annual COP convenings. As SMD, he is focused on mobilizing knowledge, talent, partnerships and communications to enhance the Bank’s impact globally and in the client countries it serves. Prior to this, van Trotsenburg was the Managing Director of Operations for 3.5 years, from October 2019 – April 2023 and oversaw Bank operations globally, with a footprint spanning more than 140 offices worldwide. He was responsible for delivery of the World Bank program which includes an active portfolio of more than $304 billion in loans, grants, credits, and trust funds and an annual lending and financial support program that averaged around $70 billion/year. During his time as MDO, he oversaw the massive increase in financial assistance especially during the COVID19 crisis and other global crises including climate change, reaching about $225 billion. Most notably during that period, climate change financing doubled to $29 billion,  health financing tripled to $9 billion, and fragility related financing tripled to $16 billion. Van Trotsenburg brings deep experience in regional operations and finance, drawing on his experience as the longest serving Bank executive at MD-Vice Presidential level, with two tenures in the Finance Complex and two in Operations.  In the year before assuming his MDO position, he was at separate times Acting World Bank CFO and Acting World Bank CEO, serving these roles concurrently with his roles as Vice President. Van Trotsenburg has extensive experience mobilizing financial resources for development. As Vice President for Development Finance in 2016-2019, he was responsible for the replenishment and stewardship of the International Development Association (IDA), the largest source of concessional financing for the world's poorest countries. He has been a strong champion for IDA, leading and negotiating IDA16 and IDA18 cycles, and chairing IDA20, which together mobilized a record $293 billion for the world’s poor – this includes $93 billion for IDA20; $75 billion in 2016 for IDA18; and $50 billion in 2010 for IDA16. Under his leadership, for the first time, IDA leveraged its equity by blending donor contributions with internal resources and funds raised through debt markets while increasing its operations to Africa, which now accounts for about 70 percent of total IDA support, up from 15% in 2000. Van Trotsenburg also oversaw the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) corporate finances. He co-led the WBG’s efforts to obtain a capital increase which resulted in shareholders endorsing a transformative package in April 2018, including an increase of the IBRD capital by $60 billion. He also co-chaired twice the replenishment negotiations for the Global Environment Facility – the GEF5 and GEF7 – and was responsible of a multi-billion-dollar trust fund portfolio. Apart from his experience in managing World Bank finances, van Trotsenburg has had extensive experience in country operations and regional programs. He served as Vice President for the Latin America and Caribbean Region in 2019; as East Asia and Pacific Region from 2013 to 2016; as Country Director for Colombia and Mexico from July 2007 to July 2009; and as Country Director for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay from 2002 to July 2007. He also worked as a Senior Country Economist for Côte d’Ivoire and Economist for Guatemala. Van Trotsenburg was a Senior Manager and architect of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, the largest and most comprehensive debt relief program for poor countries. In this capacity, he was responsible, with his IMF counterparts, for the design of the debt relief framework as well as the delivery of debt relief packages of about $30 billion for 20 countries. He joined the Bank as a Young Professional in 1988. Prior to joining the World Bank, van Trotsenburg worked at the OECD in Paris. He holds a master’s and a doctorate degree in economics and a master’s degree in international affairs. He is married and has two adult children.

María José Veramendi Villa is the Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Officer at the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. Previously she was Coordinator of the Rule of Law Unit of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras (2021-2022), she was a researcher for South America at Amnesty International (2016-2021), senior lawyer and coordinator of the Human Rights and Environment Program of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) (2012-2016), lawyer at the Instituto de Defensa Legal (2012), Human Rights Specialist at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) (2008-2011) and a researcher at the Human Rights Program of the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City (2004-2007). She has participated as a professor and lecturer in courses and seminars and has published on various human rights topics. Maria José has practical work experience in human rights and its interlinkages with corruption, including the protection of human rights defenders and anti-corruption activists. She is a Lawyer from the Universidad de Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Lima, Peru), holds a diploma in Women's Human Rights: Theory and Practice from the University of Chile (2006) and an LL.M (Master of Laws) in International Legal Studies with a specialization in Human Rights from the Washington College of Law, American University (2008).

Corinne Woods is the Director of Corporate Communications at the World Bank. In her previous role, she served as Senior Adviser to the United Nations and United Nations Foundation focusing on the post-2015 Development Agenda. She has been a key player in the transition and strategic implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She has helped to foster and create global partnerships with various organizations, Fortune 500 companies, and corporate sectors, fueling support for the SDG’s Campaign—more widely known as Global Goals Campaign—by strengthening corporate social responsibility and increasing outreach and advocacy through social and conventional media.

Alexis Kamuhire is a Fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwandan (ICPAR).  He became Auditor General following the Cabinet resolution of 13th October 2021.

He has extensive local and regional experience in Public Financial Management (PFM).  He served as Government chief Internal Auditor over seven years, a department under the Ministry of Finance and Economic planning (MINECOFIN).  His responsibilities included to coordinate and oversee internal audit function across all government agencies: Central Government entities, local Government entities, Public Enterprise and Government Programs and projects.

Before serving as Government Chief Internal Auditor, Mr. KAMUHIRE was a Financial Management Specialist in MINECOFIN and supported the implementation of the Integrated Financial Management Information System Project (IFMIS). He was in charge of change management strategies and capacity building.

From August 2015 to August 2021, Mr. KAMUHIRE served in Advisory Committee of the East African Community as Audit and Risk Committee member and chaired the committee in 2019 and 2020. The committee was advising the Council of Ministers of EAC on matters relating to governance, financial management, Accounting, Audit, internal controls and risk management.

From 2007 to December 2010, he served as Internal Auditor of a World Bank funded project under Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources.

His professional career started from March 2003 where he joined the Office of the Auditor General as Auditor and later became Senior Auditor, a position he occupied until May 2007.