Technical Advisory Board

Alcides Soares

Alcides Soares is Founder and CEO of BRIDGE Studios, a media production company based in Maputo, Mozambique.  Alcides led the production of the Operation Water videos entitled “The Water Crisis in Mozambique” and “Water and Education”, and plays a key role in Operation Water media campaigns.

Bridge Studios has produced video and photography content for various companies and non-profit organizations, including Save the Children, ADRA Mozambique, POLANA ROTARY CLUB, African Millennium Foundation, and African Leadership Academy.   Alcides has also produced documentaries which have received awards at The Big Apple Film Festival, Mexico International Film Festival Documentary Competition, Lake Arrow Head Film Festival, and The Rochester International Film Festival.

Alcides attended Deerfield Academy and African Leadership Academy, where he studied entrepreneurship prior to launching Bridge Studios.

Member of the Marketing & Communications Committee

Brett Stewart

Brett Stewart has extensive private equity and investment banking experience in both emerging and developed markets. He is currently Head of US Fintech Banking at Standard Chartered Bank and lives in San Francisco.  Brett was previously based in New York and responsible for coverage of the bank’s global private equity practice.  He also spent over 6 years on the bank’s direct private equity investment team in Johannesburg, and coordinated their investment activities in Southern and West Africa.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered Private Equity, Brett was an investment banker in London and New York, initially with Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, and then with Moelis & Company. At Goldman Sachs and Moelis, Brett covered the consumer and retail sectors for both M&A and financing transactions.

Brett started his career at Deloitte’s Southern California audit and tax practice. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BBA from the University of Georgia. He was raised in South Africa and is a dual US-South African citizen.

Member of the Financial Analysis and Financing Committees

Brice Soucy

Brice Soucy serves as Vice President in the Brookfield Infrastructure Group focused on originating and executing investment opportunities in the global water infrastructure sector.

Brice had previously served as Director of Business Development at Poseidon Water, a portfolio company of Brookfield Asset Management, where was responsible for originating water infrastructure development projects and acquisitions in North America. Brice coordinated Poseidon’s joint development efforts with partners and managed the pro forma for Poseidon’s $1 billion flagship development project, the Huntington Beach Desalination Plant. Brice supported the management team of Poseidon in raising commitments for over $50 million in corporate equity investment between 2013-2018.

Brice has a degree in Economics-Finance from Bentley University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Hughey Center for Financial Services at Bentley.

Member of the Financial Analysis Committee

Christopher Fetters

Christopher Fetters has 22 years of experience as an environmental engineer and over 5 years specifically in infrastructure development of industrial facilities. Christopher has served as a project engineer, project manager and principal-in-charge on various water remediation and treatment systems throughout the United States and internationally.

Christopher has served as a field engineer, project engineer and eventually principal-in-charge for clients in the oil & gas, maritime, construction, and infrastructure sectors in the remediation of legacy industrial sites. He has utilized various treatment technologies and continues to develop advancements in the application of technologies to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness.

Christopher has also served as a researcher at the US Army Corps of Engineers – Engineering Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. During that time, his research focused on innovative technology development, specific to soil and groundwater remediation. Developing technologies such as electrokinetics, alternative filtration, waste minimization, reverse osmosis, biological waste lagoons and advanced oxidation processes, both in laboratory and field scale applications.

Christopher has served as a testifying expert in legacy oil and gas litigation in Louisiana and Texas. He served as a technical advisor on various Superfund projects and worked in cooperation with state and federal agencies to revise and update regulatory rules and code.

Member of the Project Management Committee

Claudette Lavallee

Claudette Lavallee is Founder and General Manager for PROWATER Consultores, a Mozambican consultancy that specializes in Water and Sanitation. She also serves as the embedded adviser for the National Directorate of Water and Sanitation of Mozambique and manages the Water portfolio for the SPEED+ project, which is financed by USAID.

Previously, Claudette was Team Leader for the Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Africa (SUWASA) program, which works to improve access to safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable water/sanitation services for unserved and underserved urban populations in sub-Sahara Africa. She was also Program Manager for the Inhambane Rural Water Development Programme, where she led the planning efforts for a pilot implementation of Rural Water programme, and developed the management model for Demand Responsive Approach (DRA). This role was conceptualized through Claudette’s work with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), where she was responsible for building the new investment development program for all CIDA projects in the Health, Education, and Water sectors in Mozambique.

Claudette received her undergraduate (LLL) and post-graduate (DDN) degrees from the University of Montreal, Canada, and earned an MBA from De Montfort University in Maputo, Mozambique. Claudette serves as a Board Member for the Canada-Mozambique Chamber of Commerce and for Aguashare.

Member of the Contract, Tender, & Negotiation, Project Management, and Project Sustainability Committees

Claudio Pedretti

Claudio Pedretti is an Italian entrepreneur, industry leader and expert in solar off-grid, mini-grids and DRE generation (Distributed Renewable Energy). He is the Founder & CEO of Green Climate Ventures, which provides expertise and patient capital to the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the areas of rural electrification, renewable energy, agribusiness, and cooling. Additionally, Claudio is Founder and CEO of the Club of Florence, a think tank that puts Florence at the center of the global debate on Climate Action and Climate Finance. He is also serves as a board member of the Alliance for Rural Electrification, the largest worldwide industry association representing 190 companies in the sector, where he previously served as President and Chairman.

Claudio sits on the board of several private companies and non-profits.

Member of the Power Committee

Dr. Colleen Fletcher  

Colleen Fletcher has 23 years of experience in education in Mozambique. Most recently she has been the Secondary School Principal of the American International School of Mozambique and, additionally, is the school’s Director of Community.

Colleen and her family have lived in Mozambique during her long tenure. Seeing the disparities in education -- in particular between private schools and the opportunities afforded children and adults in rural Mozambique -- led her to initiate various projects in the community. These included building a school and a community center.

Colleen is also the co-founder of F & H Consultants, focusing on education, teacher training, research, and community development, all through the lens of respecting and leveraging indigenous knowledge systems. Colleen believes that developing holistic community profiles is the cornerstone to leveraging growth and potential for all, facilitating transformative learning, voice and ownership of any development projects.

Colleen holds a Bachelor of Education from North-West University South Africa, a Masters in developing leadership skills in students from Buffalo State University USA and completed her Doctoral thesis on partnership development in Mozambique at the University of Liverpool, UK. She currently lives in the bush in Mozambique surrounded by a very large animal family.

Member of the Women Empowerment Committee

Daniel Lambert

Daniel Lambert is a pioneering figure deeply committed to water and energy sustainability, dedicated to fostering positive social, environmental, and economic progress in communities. Currently, he holds the role of CEO of WaterStart for Australia and New Zealand. In his previous role, he was Executive Manager for Sustainable Infrastructure Solutions at Unitywater. Daniel thrives on collaborating to devise strategic, community-centric solutions in water, environmental, and infrastructure domains. In addition to his managerial duties, he serves as an Adjunct Professor in Humanitarian Engineering at UNSW in Sydney and is a distinguished Fellow at the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering.

With a track record spanning Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Pacific Islands, South America, and Africa, Daniel has spearheaded many successful projects. He channels his passion into driving transformative change in water management, both in developed and developing regions. His motivation stems from firsthand experience witnessing the life-altering impact of improved water and sanitation on families and communities.

Daniel’s contributions have earned him acclaim, named Professional Engineer of the Year by Engineers Australia and recognized as one of Australia's 'Most Innovative Engineers'. The Australian Water Association also lauded him as the NSW Water Professional of the Year. An esteemed keynote speaker, he has graced conferences and industry events across Australia, Asia, and Europe.

Deeply involved in championing water-related causes and nurturing emerging talent, Daniel holds advisory roles at RedR Australia, Engineers Australia, Engineers Without Borders Australia, Carbon8 Fund Ltd, African Leadership Academy, UNSW Global Water Institute, Australian Water Partnership, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Alliance for Water Stewardship, Australian Water Association, and WaterAid Australia. He serves as an Executive Member at Unitywater and Chairs the Queensland Ambassadors Committee at WaterAid Australia.

Member of the Project Sustainability and Power Committees

Daniel Pinault

Daniel Pinault serves as a Project Advisor for Terra Firma. He has 10+ years of advisory and investing experience focused on companies with disruptive technologies and business models in the cleantech, agritech, energy and water sectors.

Dan had previously worked for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, where he was Director of M&A for Brookfield's district energy platform (Enwave Energy Corporation). Dan drove acquisitions that doubled the number of assets under management in under four years and was responsible for identifying and evaluating strategic partnerships with technology companies.

Prior to Brookfield, Dan worked as a management consultant, where he advised private equity, venture funds, government agencies and companies with growth mandates in the cleantech, infrastructure and natural resource sectors.

Dan has a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and completed his MBA at the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto). Dan serves as advisor to several companies in the cleantech space.

Member of the Financial Analysis Committee

David Nastro

David Nastro joined Morgan Stanley in 1992 and is Head of the Global Power & Utility Group. The Global Power & Utility Group works with the Firm’s electric, gas, water and clean energy clients on mergers and acquisitions, strategic advisory assignments and public and private capital markets transactions. He has worked in both Hong Kong and New York on a range of corporate finance and advisory assignments for domestic clients, multinational conglomerates and local governments.

David has been actively involved in many of the industry’s leading mergers and acquisitions, including the following recent transactions: Duke Energy’s minority stake sale in its renewables business to John Hancock, Aqua America’s acquisition of Peoples Gas from SteelRiver, the sale of ITC Holdings to Fortis, Teco Energy’s sale to Emera, Duke Energy’s sale of its Midwest Generation assets, Teco Energy’s acquisition of New Mexico Gas, Dominion’s sale of selected merchant generation assets, National Fuel Gas’ defense against Activist Shareholders, Duke Energy’s spin-off of Spectra Energy, RWE’s acquisition of American Water Works, UIL’s acquisition of Iberdrola’s Gas LDCs, and the formation of Pantellos Corporation (the utility industry’s B2B procurement exchange). He has also worked with several sovereign and local governments, public power and municipal utilities in evaluating privatization alternatives and other strategic assignments.

David has worked on several high-profile equity and debt financing transactions. He was recently involved in equity and equity-linked offerings for: Duke Energy, Dominion Resources, Consolidated Edison, Southern Company, Xcel Energy, Entergy Corporation, UIL Corporation, Teco Energy, CMS Energy, Hawaiian Electric, PG&E Corp., and American Water. In addition, he also worked on multiple public and private investment grade debt, high yield, securitization and project finance transactions.

David received a B.A. in Political Science (with honors) from Amherst College and a Masters degree in International Relations (with distinction) from Cambridge University. David has also been a Board member at Water For People and Freedom House, serving as Treasurer and chairing the Finance Committee at both organizations.

Member of the Financing Committee

Denise Cortês-Keyser

Denise Cortês-Keyser is an award winning Entrepreneur, Motivational Speaker, Finance and Investments Adviser, former TV Macroeconomic Analyst and Philanthropist. She founded DCK GLOBAL (DCK Africa), an online platform that empowers women and African entrepreneurs, by promoting intra-Africa trade and investments and created DCK GLOBAL Master Class, a series of interviews on different topics related to “Doing Business”. Several African personalities, including politicians, investors, entrepreneurs and philanthropists have participated and shared their knowledge through the platform. Denise is also a non-executive Board Member of New Faces New Voices in Mozambique, an organization chaired by Mrs. Graça Machel, aiming to empower women working in the Financial Sector and promote Financial Inclusion.

Previously, Denise served as the Former Vice-President for Studies, Projects and Marketing Board of the Mozambique Football Federation. From 2013-2015, Denise was the Executive Director of ACIS – Association of Commerce, Industry and Services of Mozambique. ACIS is the biggest Business Association in Mozambique, comprising 400 companies with a combined investment of USD 70 Billion and a workforce of more than 75,000 employees. Under her leadership, ACIS was awarded as the Best Business Association in Mozambique in 2014. While she was ACIS Executive Director, Denise was also one of the key people taking part in the Public-Private Dialogue in Mozambique.

Denise is currently an Advisory Board Member of the African Council of Trade, Tourism and Investments (AfCOTTI). She is a Certified Accountant, with an honors degree in Management from Instituto Superior de Ciências e Tecnologia de Moçambique and a post-graduate qualification in Corporate Finance from ISCTE Business School in Portugal.

Denise is a member of the Women Empowerment Committee

Efe Ukala

Efe Ukala is a Nigerian US based investment lawyer, philanthropist, and Founder of ImpactHER; an organization that works to bridge the $42 billion entrepreneurship funding gap experienced by African female entrepreneurs. She connects African female entrepreneurs to sources of funding for their businesses, and has provided free entrepreneurship training to over 4,500 African women entrepreneurs across 28 African countries.

Efe also serves as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at JP Morgan where she advises institutional investors. She has extensive experience in private and public investments arising out of frontier markets, inclusive of Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda.

Previously, Efe served as a Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Kuramo Capital Management, an independent investment management firm focused on alternative assets in emerging and frontier markets, where she advised on numerous cross-border investments deals across Africa and managed the firm’s fund formation processes. At Kuramo, she participated in the firm’s Investment Committee meetings, advised on structuring cross-border private equity transactions, negotiated transactions, and drafted agreements. She managed the legal transaction processes from inception to close and worked on diverse deals ranging from consumer goods to financial services. In addition, Efe also advised the firm and its portfolio companies on compliance and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters.

Efe received her A.B. from the University of Chicago where she was a Jeff Metcalf Fellow and her J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law. Efe is a member of the New York State and New Jersey State Bars. She was an elected member of board of the University of Chicago Black Alumni Association and Vice President of the Association of Black Women Attorneys NYC.

Member of the Financing and Women Empowerment Committees

George Andreozzi 

George Andreozzi serves as Senior Vice President, Department Head of the Government, Education and Non-Profit Lending with TD Bank in New York City. As a result of the financial crisis, George was a founding team member of the Lending division with the aim of helping NYC and its Non Profit Institutions meet their liquidity needs. Since 2008, George and his team have provided $3 billion+ in credit facilities for social impact projects and missions.

George joined TD Bank in 2002 and started several new lines of business, also including Regional Commercial Lending, Middle Market Commercial Lending, and Retail Stores (17 locations). Prior to his tenure at TD Bank, George worked in commercial banking with Fleet Bank and Republic National Bank of New York.

George received a BA from East Stroudsburg University and currently serves as a on the Advisory Boards for Brooklyn Arts Council, Incarnation Children's Center, The Shield Institute, and Friends of Urban Resource Institute.

Member of the Financing Committee

Gordon Frost

Gordon Frost is the leader of Mercer's Career business in Canada and is a member of Mercer’s Canadian leadership team. He is responsible for a broad team of professionals that provide services across the spectrum of Mercer’s Career business. Gordon first joined Mercer in 2000 and has been based in both Canada and the US. He then spent over 2 years as the Vice President of Global Compensation for a Canadian multi-national organization before re-joining Mercer in his present leadership role in 2013.

Gordon consults across many aspects of the Career business, advising clients on how to strengthen the relationship between business strategy and talent strategy. He has extensive experience advising Boards of Directors and senior management on the design of executive compensation programs that align decision-making with shareholder value creation and are consistent with sound governance practices. He has deep knowledge of the strategy, design, and financial impact of incentive programs, including equity-based incentive plans and sales incentive plans. He has also led broader projects related to talent management and leadership development with a specific focus on the needs of a globally mobile workforce.

Gordon holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, and a Bachelors degree in Commerce with great distinction from McGill University.

Jasmine Howell

Jasmine Howell is one of two co-founders of Fletcher and Howell Consulting. F&H Consulting specializes in providing workshops, company consulting, volunteer experiences and research and development opportunities focused in social responsibility and responsible learning. 

As an educator, Jasmine started teaching at both private and public schools in North America and Southern Africa. Seeing the stark contrast in conditions, teaching pedagogy, and ways of knowing, Jasmine became interested in forming partnerships both locally and globally to further learn and collaborate within the field of education.

Respect of Indigenous Knowledge Systems is the foundation of Jasmine’s ethos. Her educational and consulting work is centered in compassion and approached through collaborative, action-based experiences. 

Jasmine holds a Bachelor of Education, from the University of Victoria, a Certificate in Performing Arts from the Canadian College of Performing Arts and is currently pursuing a Masters in Adult Education and Global Change.

Member of the Women Empowerment Committee

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson is an experienced Communications & Media executive with a focus on planning and operational excellence.  She has worked across various industries in the UK and South Africa with regional sub-Sahara Africa experience. 

Jennifer currently serves as an Independent Consultant for media clients in Johannesburg.  Previously, she was the Business Unit Director for MediaCom SA in Gauteng, South Africa.  Before that, she was a Director at Mindshare with a focus on channel strategies and management.

Jennifer started her marketing career as a Consultant with Blue Plain and SPC Communications.  She received a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Natal Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.

Member of the Marketing & Communications Committee

Johan Oelofse 

Johan Oelofse co-founded Operation Water, and is Founder and Managing Director of Capital Lite Finance (Pty) Limited, a company that advises and arranges finance for infrastructure projects across the African continent. Johan specializes in innovative structuring techniques, which is often required to mitigate risks in order to secure finance for projects in Africa. Representative completed projects include a bulk water treatment plant in Sudan, water and sanitation projects in Seychelles, and rural electrification projects in Ghana. The financing structure he created for the bulk water treatment plant in Sudan won Euromoney’s Trade Finance Deal of the Year award in 2008, and is the structure used by Operation Water.

Johan has over 30 years of experience in assessing and executing infrastructure projects on the African continent. He has worked for ABSA Bank, Nedbank Africa, Nedcor Investment Bank, and Societe Generale in South Africa as well as Credit Guarantee Insurance Corporation of Africa Limited where he was responsible for their projects division.

Member of the Financing Committee

Joshua Papernick

Joshua Papernick currently works for an energy development company facilitating the adoption of renewable options in emerging markets. After recognizing the large disconnect between engineers and city builders in the implementation of resilient water infrastructure, he has expanded his focus to the realm of urban planning, promoting solutions to the intensified stress being placed on our water systems due to climate change.

Josh began his career at the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s Safe Drinking Water Branch looking at regulatory challenges surrounding municipal drinking water systems, as well as engaging in water quality issues relating to agricultural runoff and heavy metal contamination. During his MSc, Josh was inspired by the importance of fostering innovative water governance arrangements and practices to build adaptive management capacity. Following his studies, he conducted research at Ben-Gurion University’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research in Israel, where he explored the adverse impacts of the unregulated electronic waste industry on sources of water and local food production.

Josh holds a BSc (Honours) from Queen’s University in Earth System Science, a MSc from McGill University in Integrated Water Resource Management and is currently a MPl candidate at Ryerson University in Urban Development.

Member of the Project Scoping, Screening, & Feasibility Study Committee

Kyle Chew

Kyle Chew serves as Vice President at Magris Resources, a private equity firm focused on pursuing acquisitions in the mining space. At Magris, Kyle has worked on a number of large M&A transactions including the successful purchase of a niobium mine, Niobec. Kyle oversees operations at Niobec, including the management of major capital projects, financial budgets and forecasts, and other strategic initiatives.

Prior to joining Magris, Kyle worked as an analyst in HSBC’s diversified global banking team and previously worked for several years as an engineer for Hydro One.

Kyle holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Queen’s University and completed his MBA at Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto).

Member of the Financial Analysis Committee

Lebogang Chaka

Madam Lebogang Chaka has advised various companies such as Zanele Mbeki Development Trust, Aspen Institute, Sasol, Xstrata Coal, Exxaro, Volkswagen, Imperial, WesBank, Standard Bank, Mondelez, Kellogg’s, Discovery, Southern African Trust; Telkom MMI Holdings, Government Employees Medical Scheme, Mpumalanga Provincial Government, Government Pension Administration Agency, Department of Defence and South African Postal Services.

Lebo was the inaugural chair of the Former President Thabo Mbeki’s Alumni Forum. She formed part of the advisory team to Former President Mbeki to Nigeria to launch the Afro Champions initiative alongside the world’s richest black man Aliko Dangote, Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo and Former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo. Lebo serves on the advisory board of the African Women in Energy and Power. Lebo led a successful mission to President George Weah of Liberia, the “only footballer to become a president” where he endorsed Football for Peace, a UK based charity. She represented the Africa region during the Football for Peace event with HRH Prince of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. She is the Patron for Commonwealth Business Women across 16 African countries.

Lebo founded a company called Afro Visionary Legacy, a strategic advisory and public speaking firm with a focus on Africa and its diaspora. Madam Chaka has experience from top – tier consulting firms having worked within the advisory divisions of the likes of Accenture, Deloitte and KPMG. Her career has seen her on platforms in Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Liberia, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Namibia, Uganda, Togo, United Kingdom, Dubai & U.S.A

As a Pan African speaker, Lebo has shared stages with H.E Vice President, Jewel Taylor of Liberia and H.E Former Vice President of Zimbabwe Joice Mujuru, Former President H.E. Mbeki of South Africa, Former President H.E. Mkapa of Tanzania, Former President H.E. Marzouki of Tunisia, and Former President H.E Mohamud of Somalia and Former Minister of Public Services, Labour and Social Welfare, H.E. Patrick Zhuwao of Zimbabwe. As a speaker, she has addressed children in underprivileged schools in Ghana, DRC and Zimbabwe. She has also spoken at prisons including addressing over 900 high maximum male prisons in Leeuwkop Prison.

Member of the Women Empowerment Committee

Dr. Luka Powanga

Dr. Luka Powanga is a distinguished professor and seasoned economist, globally recognized as a creative problem solver, a visionary, and a thought leader. He is a Professor of Economics and Finance at Regis University, and has developed and taught courses in international logistics, economics, finance, international business, strategy development, implementation, capstone, and commercialization, including incubating student businesses and entrepreneurship. Dr Powanga was also part of the team that pioneered the Online MBA Program, which grew from zero to over 4,000 students worldwide. He also implemented the Physicians MBA program and the MBA degree in the Business of Government, and was the founding board member of the Sullivan Center of Entrepreneurship at Regis University.

Dr. Powanga has chaired, keynoted, and organized numerous academic and business conferences, and is a regular contributor to the Renewables Global Status Report and the Renewables in Cities Global Status Reports. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Energy Africa Conference, the premier energy conference on Africa. He leverages the conference's vast network of investors, EPCs, project developers, and other professionals to form partnerships that actualize energy, agricultural, and healthcare projects in Africa.

Dr Powanga is also the Executive Director for MALK Management Consulting, an advisory firm that provides project development, finance, management, corporate and business strategy, technology and marketing services. His business experience encompasses international transportation and logistics, mining, energy, health, agriculture, and entrepreneurship. Dr Powanga is also a founding member of the Denver Chapter of the Angel Capital Group, which organizes angel funds to invest in innovative business models.

Dr. Powanga earned a BSc with distinction in Mineral Sciences, Metallurgy and Mineral Processing from the University of Zambia, an MSc/PhD in Mineral Economics from the School of Mines, and an MScIT in Network Technologies and Database Administration from Regis University in Colorado.

Dr. Powanga is a member of the Power Committee

Mara Chiu

Mara Chiu serves as Head of Brands Marketing and Innovation for Anhauser-Busch InBev (ABI), where she is responsible for the innovation process for their Southern Africa Business Unit (Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana), and drives brand management for their leading brands in Mozambique.

Mara started her career at Ogilvy Public Relations as Communications and Digital Strategy Consultant in Portugal.  She left Ogilvy to explore the world of film and events production with Production Services Portugal, where she organized events across Portugal, and promoted foreign market filming.  Mara then returned to the Ogilvy Group and moved to Mozambique to launch a Public Relations business unit, and managed local relationships with Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Sasol, CDM (SABmiller), BP, Barclays, and other key clients.

After working with Ogilvy, Mara joined CDM/SAB Miller as Marketing Manager.  When SAB Miller was acquired by AB-InBev, she became Head of Brands Marketing for ABI in Mozambique.

Mara hold degrees from Escola Superior de Comunicação Social, ISG Lisbon School of Economics and Management and Gordon Institute of Business Science.

Member of the Marketing & Communications Committee

Marco Di Girolamo 

Marco Di Girolamo is Co-Founder of Operation Water, and Founder and CEO of Terra Firma, a registered Canadian charity, which has partnered with Operation Water to build water infrastructure projects in developing communities in emerging economies. He also serves as a Senior Vice President at Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over $650 billion AUM, focused on investing in real assets across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power and private equity. Marco manages institutional, financial service, and family office partner (LPs) relationships across Canada for Brookfield.

Before joining Brookfield, Marco advised family offices as a Director/Portfolio Manager for UBS's Private Bank. In this role, he managed discretionary client portfolios on an absolute return basis and ran business development activities. Prior to this role, Marco consulted technology companies in Silicon Valley with Gartner.

Marco completed his MBA with distinction at the Ivey School of Business at Western University in Ontario, Canada, and received a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance at the University of Ottawa.

Member of the Project Steering and Financial Analysis Committees

Mikael Jansen

Mikael Jansen has over 20 years of business development and project management experience across Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.  Currently, Mikael serves as Sales Director at Babcock & Wilcox Vølund, which manufactures, constructs, maintains, and operates renewable energy plants, with a focus on waste-to-energy.

Before joining B&W Vølund, Mikael was the Business Development Manager for Haldor Topsoe for over 10 years, contracting large-scale fertilizer projects from corporate headquarters in Denmark and overseas offices in Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa. In this capacity, he met with political and business leaders to develop strategic projects that aimed to alleviate food shortages in developing nations.

Prior to Haldor Topsoe, Mikael served as a Sales Project Manager at Burmeister & Waine Scandanavian Contractors, structuring turnkey power plant projects in undeveloped regions. He also previously worked with environmental technology firms, Oreco and FLS Airtech, overseeing the financing of air pollution control and oil spill control projects in close cooperation with export credit agencies and other funders.

Mikael began his career as a Sales Manager at Maersk Industry. He graduated with a BS in Production Engineering from the Technical College of Odense.

Member of the Steering, Project Management, Project Scoping, Screening, & Feasibility Study, and Contract, Tender, & Negotiation Committees

Mohamad Ghosn

Mohamad Ghosn has over 23 years of experience as a microbiologist and 20 years as an engineering coordinator, designer, water and wastewater project manager for various municipalities, leachate, industries and communities throughout Canada and internationally.

A trilingual senior engineer, Mr. Ghosn has developed technical expertise in the design, management, start-up, operation and troubleshooting of biological process and mechanical problems for water and wastewater treatment systems for municipal and industrial installations. He has mastered multiple treatment technologies related to his field such as: conventional treatment system, Reverse Osmosis, activated sludge, aerated lagoons, sequencing batch reactor (SBR), membrane bioreactor (MBR), moving bed bioreactor (MBBR), disinfection, Aeration and mixing systems. Mr. Ghosn has also served as an expert witness on warranty, liability/litigation, energy and water audits. He has acted as a process engineer and product manager for suppliers of wastewater treatment equipment.

Mr. Ghosn participated on designing most of the leachate facilities existing in Quebec. Over the years, he has developed a new conceptual approach to treat the leachate from either domestic or composting sites. Mr. Ghosn has developed a new process narrative adapted to the age and the hydraulic flow fluctuation of the leachate.

Member of the Financial Analysis Committee

Dr. Nathan Basara Wangusi

Dr. Nathan Basara Wangusi is a Water Resources Scientist, Environmental Sustainability Professional and Digital Government Expert who has focused his career on using technology to solve water challenges - particularly as it relates to risks to undeserved communities, and has published and patented extensively in this area. He currently serves as the Water Sustainability Program Manager at Amazon Web Services where he leads global water stewardship initiatives in the watersheds and communities where the firm operates data centers. Nathan also sits on the Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Technology for Development International Conference, the Urban Water Working Group of the 2030 Water Resources Group, and the Digital Water Program Steering Committee of the International Water Association.

Prior to joining Amazon, Nathan served as a Senior Water Resources Scientist with the Balmoral Group, an engineering consulting group focused on delivery of engineering solutions which includes highway drainage design, complex hydraulic analysis and flood studies for water management districts, FDOT, and road agencies in Florida. Before the Balmoral Group, Nathan worked at IBM and consulted considerably with bilateral partners in the water sector such as the World Bank, USAID, and Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, as well as the governments of Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, and the United States. He led the Ease of Doing Business Transformation work in Kenya between 2014-2018 that saw Kenya improve in rank from 137 to 61 and the creation of online government services portals such as the Business Registration Services on eCitizen, the Movable Property Collateral Registry, the Land Information Management System, the Integrated Court Management System, iTax with the Kenya Revenue Authority, and the Kenya Single Window System for port clearance. In digital water, he led a team that created the Water Management as a Service Platform that is used to monitor water supply and assets in Northern Kenya.

Nathan earned his PhD from the University of Florida in Agricultural and Biological Engineering with a focus in Water Resources Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He also earned his Masters in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Water and Wastewater Resources Engineering and Information Systems, and his BS in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, and International Studies in Agricultural & Life Sciences from the University of Florida. He has also been the recipient of prestigious awards such as the Rotary Ambassadorial Fellowship, the National Research Foundation Award of South Africa, and IBM’s Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.

Member of the Project Sustainability Committee

Nyananso Gabriel Ekanem

Nyananso Gabriel Ekanem is Founder and Managing Consultant at Weircapacity Ltd, an infrastructure and management consultancy that provides advisory services for the Water, Environment, and Infrastructure sectors.

Prior to founding Weircapacity, Nyananso was responsible for PPP contract management for the Federal Government of Nigeria Regulatory Agency for Public Private Partnerships. As an independent consultant, he worked on a number of Government and Civil Society partnership projects, including a European Union supported Water and Sanitation sector reform programme; this comprised Policy and Legal Reform, Institutional Reform, Financial Sustainability, Technical Capacity Assessment, Community Water Management, and Monitoring and Evaluation.

Nyananso earned a Masters Degree in Water and Environmental Management from the Water, Engineering, and Development Centre at Loughborough University in England.

Member of the Project Sustainability and Project Scoping, Screening, & Feasibility Study Committees

Peter Macy

Peter Macy has 40 years of experience in all aspects of water supply, sanitation, and wastewater engineering, and is Founder, President, and CEO of ROCKBlue. ROCKBlue is a social enterprise that partners with public utilities to collaboratively solve the management and institutional challenges of providing reliable and high-quality potable water and sewerage to urban customers.

Prior to founding ROCKBlue, Peter served in multiple capacities with CDM Smith, and oversaw their management of over $2 billion in infrastructure operations across Africa. He has also worked within and for numerous public utilities, including utilities in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

Peter has lived most of his life in Africa and started his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo and the Central African Republic. He earned a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) from Syracuse University.

Member of the Steering, Project Management, Project Scoping, Screening, & Feasibility Study Committees

René LeBlanc

René LeBlanc has a BSc in Chemistry and a MSc in Environmental Health. He became certified Safety Professional (CRSP) in 2006 and Industrial Hygienist (ROH) in 2008.

Previously, René managed the Industrial Hygiene Department and the Air Group (GreenHouse Gas, Noise, Modeling, Permitting) at GHD Consulting Ltd. He also provided consulting services and training for Industrial, Commercial, and Governmental Clients.

René is President-elect of the International Occupational Hygiene Association and was 2017-2018 President of the Canadian Registration Board of Occupational Hygiene (CRBOH). He is also actively involved with Workplace Health Without Borders. René serves as a volunteer for Commonwealth Games Canada and at various sports events.

Member of the Project Management Committee

Robert Sinclair

Robert Sinclair has spent over 20 years co-creating executive level strategic relationships and solutions with corporations (private & public), pension funds, private equity, development firms, hedge funds, family offices, NGO’s and business partners. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer with the mandate to create a Private Firm/Single Family office, Senior Advisor to the CEO of Louisiana 23 Development Company (LA23), and an Advisor to CrowdSmart - a pioneer in the application of prediction science for a Startup investing, combining world-class artificial intelligence (AI) and a global community of Member Evaluators to democratize the seed-investing ecosystem and deliver better outcomes for investors and entrepreneurs alike.

Robert began his career providing risk management consultancy at a boutique firm in Australia. After moving to Canada, Robert headed up the creation of the risk management division at RiskCheck Inc, a leading Canadian advisory firm. After leaving the firm, he created his own advisory firm which eventually merged with GHD, which is one of the world's leading professional services companies operating in the global market sectors of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation.

Robert received a Bachelor of Applied Science from Western Sydney University.

Member of the Financial Analysis Committee

Roger Jantio

Roger Jantio is an investment banker specializing in transactions within emerging economies, and serves as the Senior Managing Director of Sterling Merchant Finance Ltd. His expertise includes structuring financial packages as well restructuring and privatizing corporate enterprises in Africa. Over the last 30 years, he has structured the financing of dozens of projects, ranging from telecommunications, to airport, airlines, power plants, mining, agriculture, private universities, roads and bridges, water and sanitation, energy (including renewables), and healthcare, to name a few. Roger also acted as investment adviser for the launch of the Sterling Africa Growth Fund and Condona Private Equity unit investment trusts, which invest in matured and maturing business opportunities across Africa. 

Previously, Roger was a Senior Consultant at J.E. Austin Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an investment officer at C.S.E. Finance Corporation in San Francisco, and an Assistant Vice-President at Meridien International Bank in New York. 

Roger holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Masters Degree in Economics and Political Studies from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Paris, as well as a Masters Degree in Insurance and Applicable Laws from the Institut des Assurances of the University of Paris/Sorbonne.

Sajji Lazarus

Sajji Lazarus is the Founder and CEO of Panthera Collective, a social impact brand management consultancy. Her company creates and implements creative strategies, social campaigns, and brand voice across digital and print mediums (including websites, general branding, and original content). Panthera Collective is entirely women-owned and staffed. Panthera’s clients address disparate social ills across the globe, including organizations that free children sex-trafficked in Indian brothels; teach self-defense to rescued trafficking victims and at-risk girls internationally; creative direction for a black-owned activist social media platform; installation of a local city’s first black female councilmember; and a social media campaign that combats Myanmar’s Rohingya genocide, among others. She is the Deputy Director for the Green Tara Project, and teaches self-defense to sex-trafficking victims and high-risk youth both throughout the US and in India.

Sajji received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Member of the Marketing and Communications Committee

Satish Menon

Satish Menon is the Founding Partner of Atethemis Inc, an international development consultancy that provides program planning, design, implementation, and management support for global development projects. Atethemis has a track record of successfully executing development projects that deliver sustainable water & sanitation service, with a focus on environmental integration, and social and gender inclusion. Satish also serves as a board member for ROCKBlue, and is a director and film producer.

Satish has extensive experience in leading projects in water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and storm water collection and detention. He also has experience in master planning and feasibility studies, and conducting risk assessment and mitigation exercises.

Satish earned a BA in Civil Engineering as well as a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Michigan State University.

Member of the Steering, Contract, Tender, & Negotiation, Project Sustainability, and Project Scoping, Screening, & Feasibility Study Committees

Simiso Velempini

Simiso Velempini is Founder and Managing Director of Vele Africa Advisory, an Africa-focused strategic advisory firm that provides exclusive support to corporates, development finance institutions, donors, family offices and individual investors throughout the investment lifecycle. The company’s services include market entry assessments; political and policy risk analysis; pre-transactional integrity due diligence; ESG advisory; government and public affairs advisory; stakeholder mapping and engagement; reputation and crisis management guidance; and non-litigious dispute resolution support.

Prior to starting her own firm, Simiso was CEO of Africa Matters, where she led the company’s strategic direction and advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, stakeholder engagement, reputational risk management and non-litigious dispute resolution. Previously, she led the Africa practice at K2 Integrity, where she served as Managing Director, and led the Africa team’s investigations, intelligence gathering and dispute resolution work. 

Before joining K2 Integrity, Simiso was based in Johannesburg where, as Vice President of Reputation Management at Barclays Africa, she advised the business on reputation management for specific issues related to transactions and relationships across 12 African markets. Prior to joining the bank, Simiso worked as the Southern Africa analyst at Control Risks, where she provided bespoke political and policy analysis as well as risk consultancy for a range of clients across multiple sectors in Africa.

Simiso holds a BA (Languages), a BA (International Relations) and a BA (Honors) in International Relations from the University of Pretoria. She also holds a MA in International Security from Sciences Po, Paris and an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Member of the Women Empowerment Committee

Sonia Rute Chembeze

Sonia Rute Chembeze is Founder and Executive Director of JR Business Development. With over 20 years of private sector, banking, trade development and partnership development experience, Sonia serves as the Mozambique Country Representative for Operation Water, managing project affairs on behalf of Operation Water in Mozambique.

Before founding JR Business Development, Sonia served as Head of Public Sector & International Portfolio for the International Development Group at Standard Bank Mozambique. Prior to working for Standard Bank, she spent 17 years with the Royal Danish Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique as Resident Advisor for the Danida private sector development programme. In this capacity, she collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark, the Danish Confederation of Industries in Denmark, and various Royal Danish Embassies around the world.

Sonia’s other previous work experience includes serving as Administrative Office Manager for International Federation of Red Cross, Administrative Officer for World Food Programme, Procurement Officer at the Mozal Aluminum Smelter, and Medical Aid Support Officer for Southern Healthcare in South Africa.

Sonia earned an MBA from De Montfort University in the United Kingdom, and a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from the Institute of Bchom in Swaziland. She is also a Founder and Board Member for the FAN Foundation, which works to improve the business environment in Mozambique.

Sundus Cordelia Ramli

Sundus Cordelia Ramli has over a decade of experience ranging from specialist engineering, project development, commercial management, business development and leadership experience across EMEA and APAC.  Sundus currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Power-to-X at Topsoe, a global leader in developing green energy solutions, and developing solutions for decarbonizing the hard-to-abate sectors, including steel, cement, chemicals, shipping, and aviation.  She also serves as a board member for Liquid Wind, which develops, finances, builds and manages facilities to convert carbon dioxide emissions and green hydrogen into eMethanol, and for the Ammonia Energy Association, whose member companies span the full value chain of clean ammonia energy companies, from decarbonized hydrogen and ammonia production, through safety, distribution, and trading, to power generation and energy storage.

Prior to joining Topsoe, Sundus served as Vice President of Business Development for Worley, a leading global provider of professional project and asset services in the energy, chemicals and resources sectors. Her role focused on the Renewable Energy and Water Sectors across Europe, Middle East and Africa.  Before working at Worley, Sundus had several roles at Ørsted, the largest energy company in Denmark which produces 90% of their energy from renewable sources.

Sundus graduated with a BSc in Astrophyiscs from Edinburgh University and an MSc in Renewable Energy from Oldenburg University.

Member of the Contract, Tender, & Negotiation and Power Committees

Taco Di Nies

Taco Di Nies has more than 30 years of experience as a seasoned executive and entrepreneur across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He is the founded and leads BZRD, an innovation and venture development organization for non-profit-ventures to drive positive business results and impact in developed, emerging and developing markets, demonstrating innovative business models, building on the possibilities of digital technologies.

Taco has also led the Work Package for innovative models in the AIAS (Water Infrastructure and Sanitation Administration) POxx projects in partnership with VEI and SNV in Mozambique. In 2019 he founded the non-for-profit initiative Walifi, to develop a digital platform and network to provide a standardized protocol and digital services essential to scaling (decentralized) water services. Walifi’s payment & settlement, resource monitoring and performance layer are under implementation in Mozambique in 2020.

Taco received a Computer Sciences degree from Eindhoven University and earned an executive MBA from London Business School in addition to studying Strategy & Entrepreneurship at Maastricht School of Management. Taco also holds APICS supply chain and logistics certifications. He started his career in strategy & transformation consultancy with James Martin Associates, working with international airlines, banks, insurance companies, governments and industries.

Member of the Project Sustainability Committee