Speakers

Lauren Behr

Senior Advisor for Innovation and Investment, Chemonics

Lauren Behr is a business strategist with 13 years of experience designing and implementing organizational systems that enable innovation and transformation. As Senior Advisor for Innovation and Investment, she leads efforts and oversees standards for human-centered design, innovation, and scale on programs worldwide. She also manages partnerships and drives investment opportunities that increase Chemonics’ ability to accelerate sustainable development worldwide. Lauren leads Chemonics’ lead scale partnership with the UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab, serving as a member on both the innovation team and the Innovation Advisory board, providing input on strategy and programs. She co-created the UNLEASH+ incubator program for early stage, social impact ventures, which has supported the launch and scale up of 75 innovative companies and organizations since 2019. She also has specialized expertise in designing and overseeing ISO 9001:2015-certified quality management systems for the professional services and supply chain sectors. Lauren has extensive experience in organizational design and is a Prosci-certified change management practitioner. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Jamey Butcher

President and CEO, Chemonics

Since joining Chemonics in 1998, President and CEO Jamey Butcher has served across a variety of roles and regions. Most recently, Jamey oversaw Chemonics’ global health and supply chain portfolio. In that capacity, he led efforts to implement sustainable supply chains, improve health service delivery, and scale up innovative approaches in developing country environments. He also championed the development of Chemonics’ knowledge sharing and learning hub that provides continual learning opportunities for Chemonics’ global network of more than 5,000 employees. Previously, he served as senior vice president of the Europe and Eurasia, Global Health, Africa, and then East Africa business units. In addition to diversifying and expanding the company’s portfolio, he developed a quality assurance approach to new business and trained staff in innovative enterprise development methods. While providing strategic management and operational oversight of Chemonics, Jamey draws from experience as a private sector development specialist with more than 20 years of experience in Eurasia, Latin America, and Asia. He has conducted technical assignments on international trade, competitiveness, and micro-, small, and medium enterprise development. He also served as chief of party of the Armenia Micro Enterprise Development Initiative (MEDI). Jamey received an M.A. from American University in international political economy and a B.A. in political science from Colorado State University.

Richard Crespin

CEO, CollaborateUp

As the CEO of CollaborateUp, Richard advises businesses, governments, and nonprofits on how to work together to solve big problems. He also serves as a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies as part of its Project on Prosperity, conducting research and hosting multi-sector dialogues on how to improve lives in emerging economies while addressing U.S. foreign policy goals. Richard has served on multiple boards for companies and NGOs, including the Corporate Responsibility Association and the Office Depot Foundation. He currently serves as Treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of the Global Electronics Council and serves on the Board of Directors of the Falls Church Education Foundation.

Tatiana Estevez

Founder, Permalution

Tatiana Estevez Carlucci is the Founder and CEO of Permalution, a Canadian Cleantech startup working on fog and cloud water collecting technology and climate adaptation, based in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Tatiana has significant experience in sustainable cities, corporate innovation, and project management, and over nine years of experience working in the high-tech industry where she worked developing apps, hybrid platforms, local initiatives involving IoT and tech ecosystem development. Tatiana has worked with partners and companies such as Facebook for Developers, IBM, Bosch, Google, and more and was named a top talent for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #6 – Clean Water and Sanitation, at the UNLEASH Innovation Lab for the SDGs.
Tatiana is also the founder and director of Tech Quiero, an NGO that teaches technology and entrepreneurship to women and girls in Latin America and Quebec.

Elizabeth Fustos

Deputy Chief of Party for the Future Technologies Activity in Moldova, Chemonics

Elizabeth Fustos is the Deputy Chief of Party for the Future Technologies Activity in Moldova funded by USAID and Sweden. She has more than a decade of experience in international development and related areas, specializing in design and implementation of economic development projects and proposals for donor funded projects in Europe and Eurasia, Asia, and Africa. As deputy chief of party, she leads or oversees international partnership development and co-creation, client engagement, communications, learning, and adaptation (CLA), strategic communications and outreach, gender equality and social inclusion, and program planning and management. She leads and supports initiatives focused on innovation, private sector engagement, digitalization, startup and entrepreneurship support, investment and access to finance, creative and digital media industry development, and workforce and skills development. She previously served as business development director and advisor for Chemonics’ Europe and Eurasia division, leading the division to 15 project wins totaling more than $250 million, including the largest projects for the region to date. She is experienced in market systems and adaptive management principles, partnership development approaches, and co-creation and co-design best practices.

Grace Kim

Senior Program Manager, Development Innovation Ventures, USAID

Grace Kim is a Senior Program Manager at USAID Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) Program – an open innovation impact investment fund that provides grant funding for breakthrough solutions to the world’s most intractable development challenges. By funding innovation and focusing on rigorous evidence, DIV impacts millions of lives at a fraction of the usual cost. In addition to conducting due diligence, Grace co-leads the Venture Assistance Program to provide DIV grantees with non-financial, capacity building support to meet the ever-changing needs and challenges that organizations face as they scale their innovations.

Development Innovation Ventures was co-founded in 2010 by Dr. Michael Kremer – 2019 Nobel Laureate in Economics. Since 2010, DIV has made over 260 grants, totaling over $190M in grant funding, for projects implemented in 49 unique countries.

Sabira Mehrin Saba

Founder and CEO, Wander Woman

Sabira Mehrin Saba, born and raised in Bangladesh, has founded Wander Woman, the revolutionary platform that empowers women to travel with vetted information, verified partners, and holistic assistance.

She is a Global Mentor at Wedu and Ambassador at Westerwelle Foundation. Sabira won The Diana Award for creating a positive impact on 37,000+ Bangladeshi women around the globe and received a $20,000+ grant from Chemonics International for winning UNLEASH Plus 2021.

Sabira has worked in varied industries ranging from healthcare, education, real estate, and tourism for more than six years. Now she is enabling women to achieve their goals through Wander Woman.

Victoria Slivkoff

Executive Managing Director, Extreme Tech Challenge

Victoria Slivkoff is the Executive Managing Director of Extreme Tech Challenge, the world’s largest startup competition and ecosystem for founders building tech innovations to improve the world, as inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She also serves as the Head of Ecosystem at Walden Catalyst Ventures, a VC firm helping early-stage companies in the U.S., Europe, and Israel build the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep tech based on scientific/technology breakthroughs, with a focus on AI and data.

Victoria comes from a multidisciplinary background in corporate development, investment, investor relations, business strategy and operations, and management consulting.