Not So Strange Bedfellows: Influencers and Enablers
Speakers
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Partner and Head of Social Entrepreneurs Fund, Bridges Ventures
Antony Ross has been a Partner at Bridges Ventures for 10 years and he is the head of the firm’s social sector funds. Bridges Ventures is a specialist fund manager, dedicated to using an impact-driven investment approach to create superior returns for both investors and society at-large. The firm manages nearly 300m across three different types of funds: sustainable growth, property and social sector. Antony has 25 years of private equity, venture capital and social investment experience in a wide range of businesses and is a Teaching Fellow at London Business School.
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Partner, Sumerian Partners
Chris has a background in business and development. He is a co-founder of Sumerian Partners, and was the former Director of the Shell Foundation. Chris has a track record in applying an “enterprise-based” approach to philanthropy, being an early pioneer of “impact investing”. Through his leadership of Shell Foundation he supported the creation and scale-up of a portfolio of leading global social enterprises. He is the author of various reports including Shell Foundation’s Enterprise Solutions to Poverty (2005), Enterprise Solutions to Scale (2010) and Accelerating Access to Energy (2014). He received the World CSR award for “Social Innovation” in 2013.
Chris completed his Doctorate in Ecology at Oxford University and then set up a business in the environmental services sector. He then acted as senior environment adviser at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). He has worked with a variety of donors, governments, NGO’s and businesses in over 100 low and middle income countries and has lived in both West and East Africa.
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Co-Founder & President,
KivaPremal helps lead Kiva.org —a crowdfunding website that connects people through lending to alleviate poverty. Since 2005, over $1B in philanthropic loans has been crowdfunded to millions of underserved entrepreneurs in 90 countries — with a 96% repayment rate. The site has been named as one of Oprah's Favorite Things and a Top 50 Website by TIME Magazine. Premal's inspiration came while volunteering in India while on leave from PayPal, where he had been an early employee. Premal began his career as a management consultant and graduated from Stanford University. He’s passionate about making it easier for anyone to discover their own power to make real impact. He serves on the Board of VolunteerMatch.org & Watsi.org — a crowdfunding for developing world health care site. For his work as a social entrepreneur, Premal was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and selected to FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40″ list.
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Global Director of Inclusive Finance, Citigroup, Inc.
Bob Annibale
Global Director,
Citi Community Development and Inclusive Finance
Bob leads Citi’s partnerships with global, national and local organizations to support inclusive finance and community development through economic empowerment. He also leads Citi’s commercial relationships with microfinance financial institutions, corporations, investors and municipalities, working across Citi’s businesses and geographies to expand access to financial services in underserved communities.
Since joining Citi in 1982, Mr. Annibale has held a number of senior regional and global treasury, risk and corporate positions in Athens, Bahrain, Nairobi, London and New York.
Bob serves on the U.S. FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion and the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs Advisory Council on Financial Education and Inclusion. He serves as a Founding Member of SAGE’s Housing Advisory Council supporting the senior LGBT community, and serves on the board of the Citi Foundation, Accion International and the Bedford Stuyvestant Restoration Corporation.
In 2014, Bob was honored by the Obama Administration as a White House Champion of Change for his work leading Citi’s programs promoting immigrant integration and citizenship in the United States. His leadership contributed to Citi’s recognition by Euromoney as the inaugural “Best Bank for Financial Inclusion” and “Latin America’s Best Bank for Sustainable Finance”. Bob was individually recognized by Euromoney as a “Global Impact Banking Champion”. In 2018, he was again named by the Financial Times as one of the OUTStanding Top 100 LGBT Business Leaders for the fifth consecutive year.
Bob, a U.S. and U.K. national, holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from Vassar College, New York, and an M.A. in African Studies (History) from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
