Kumar Jeev, Chair (Class of 2022)
Kumar Jeev is a seasoned investor and executive at Squarepoint Capital, a global quantitative hedge fund, stationed at the firm's Paris office. He plays a pivotal role within the global commodities leadership team, with a primary focus on expanding the investment business in power derivatives. Kumar brings a wealth of experience to the table, having driven profit growth across diverse sectors including energy, e-commerce, and financial markets through his adept formulation and implementation of investment and commercial strategies. Recognized for his cross-functional leadership acumen, Kumar excels in building and leading diverse teams. These teams harness the power of vast datasets to extract deep analytical insights, driving substantial value creation in competitive markets.
In addition to his investment endeavors, Kumar is deeply engaged in regulatory matters within the power sector. He actively contributes to shaping policy through drafting influential white papers and participant comments, which have left a tangible impact on decisions made by regulatory bodies such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and US power grid system operators. He holds a dual-MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School and an LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law from London School of Economics.
Julia Sullivan, Vice Chair (Class of 2021)
Julia E. Sullivan is an attorney in the United States, a solicitor in England and Wales, and an international arbitrator. She has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. She has served as an independent arbitrator in more than 100 cases. Prior to founding her own firm, Ms. Sullivan chaired the Energy Regulation, Markets and Enforcement practice at a global law firm, where she also served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Energy & Transactions practice. Ms. Sullivan is a fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London, England), a Member of the Board of CIArb’s North American Branch, a Senior Lawyer at the Center for International Legal Studies (Salzburg, Austria), and a member of the roster of arbitrators of various arbitral institutions, including the American Arbitration Association (International and Commercial Panels), the AAA’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution, the International Centre for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, the International Commercial Arbitration Court of Ukraine, and the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. She has taught college and graduate-level courses on international arbitration, international energy policy, and project finance. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland.
Inese Lazdovska, General Secretary (Class of 2023)
Inese is a Latvian qualified lawyer admitted to the Latvian Bar in 2011 and an experienced executive and head of legal in banking and finance. She is based in Riga, Latvia. Both in private practice and in-house her work is focused around regulatory and financial matters in a cross-border setting, in particular around strategic business development and restructuring, corporate and commercial matters, as well as on matters directly related to offering of products and services - secured finance transactions, manufacturing of asset-backed securities, banking and investment services licensing and provision of cross-border services. Since 2015 Inese is a head of legal, chief compliance officer and a member of the leadership team in a fintech company Mintos. Since 2015 Inese holds an MBA in Finance from Riga Business School and received an LLM degree from the London School in Economics and Political Science in 2023.
Carmen Martorano, Treasurer (Class of 2021)
Carmen is an Italian qualified lawyer admitted to the Italian Bar in 2016, a Registered European Lawyer in England and Wales since 2018 and a Registered Foreign Lawyer since 2021. She is experienced in commercial and regulatory laws related to Life Sciences industries (among others, pharmaceutical, medical devices, cosmetics, chemicals, food & beverage laws and regulations, e-health). Before moving into the Life sciences industry, she has worked for lending companies as CEO, member of the board and legal counsel and for investment funds as legal counsel. In 2018, she attended courses in Private Equity and Project Finance at London Business School. She held lectures at Luiss Guido Carly University and published articles related to digital innovation and regulations.
Nino Gogoladze, Member (Class of 2020)
Nino is currently representing the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in Georgia. Based in Tbilisi, she focuses on the national minority rights from the conflict prevention perspective in the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Ukraine and Moldova. Nino’s particular interest is political participation of women and national minorities. She has been observing elections in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Ukraine for many years now, and has published several articles on these issues. She is a fellow of the Aspen Institute-Romania and the Atlantic Council.
Nino has BA in International Relations from Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia), MA in International Relations and European Studies from Central European University (Budapest, Hungary), and LL.M from London School of Economics and Political Science with specialism in Human Rights and Constitutional Law.
Julian Iragorri, Member (Class of 2023)
Julian is a private banker and Managing Director at UBS in New York, managing wealth for some of the biggest families in the World. His emphasis is not only on managing wealth but also on Wealth Planning and protection of assets. Previously, he had senior positions in the European Equities desks of Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley. He ran the International Equities Desk at Lehman Brothers for seven years before moving into Wealth Management and was one of Lehman's youngest Managing Directors ever. He began his career as a mergers and acquisitions banker at Lazard Freres & Co in New York and London.
Julian has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, an LLM in USA Law from Fordham University, and an LLM in Human Rights and Constitutional Law from the London School of Economics.
Olga Bezhentseva, Membership Secretary (Class of 2022)
Rachel Weston Eschenbacher, Member (Class of 2024)
Advisory Board
Josh Newton (Class of 2021)
Josh is a lawyer and partner at Best & Krieger LLP in Bend, Oregon, United States. Josh’s practice concentrates on complex dispute resolution with an emphasis on natural resource and environmental disputes and indigenous rights. He focuses on issues affecting the lands, waters, and culture of the western United States. Josh received his LLM degree from London School of Economics and Political Science in 2021.
Michelle Montero Lemoine (Class of 2019)
Michelle is an experienced lawyer in financing operations, capital markets, investment funds, derivative instruments and alternative investments. She has completed Level 1 of the international certification for alternative investments analyst, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and holds an Executive LL.M of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is currently senior structuring professional in the London office of a Swiss private markets asset manager. Before, she was senior associate in Lazo & De Romaña Abogados (2017-2019) and legal advisor of the investment process in several private pension funds in Peru (2012-2017). She was also co-director of the diversity committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Peru and member of the mentoring committee of Women in the Profession (WIP).
Dr Marizah Minhat (Class of 2018)
Marizah is an Associate Professor in Finance and Economics at the University of Bradford, UK. She graduated with LL.M (Financial Law and Regulation) from the LSE. She holds an MSc in Banking and Finance and a PhD from the University of Stirling, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Lincoln University, New Zealand. As a professionally qualified accountant, she is a Fellow of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), member of Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ), and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). She is also a committee member of ICAEW Scotland and Tech Sub-Group Lead. Marizah has served in various roles within higher education institutions in the UK with stints in Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to her academic career, she gained corporate experience in the energy industry during her years with a Malaysian publicly listed government-linked company, as well as a stint in the retail financial industry. She has published in Finance, Economics and Human Rights journals, and wider media.
Pietro Del Bufalo,(Class of 2019)
Pietro is an Italian qualified lawyer, admitted to the bar of Rome in 2005. He has worked for the Italian association of fund managers (Assogestioni) from 2001 to 2005 and for the law firm Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) from 2005 to 2010. His professional practice focused on financial regulation and compliance matters, specifically for investment and pension funds, and asset managers. In 2010 he moved to the Principality of Monaco to work as legal counsel for a single family office.
Pinar Basdan Cetinel (Class of 2017)
Pınar is a qualified lawyer in Turkey and currently the Chief Legal Officer at one of the country's investment banks, Nurolbank. Prior to Nurolbank, Pınar worked as a partner in one of the leading law firms active in banking & finance and corporate matters. She is a graduate of Master of Laws from the LSE, 2017 and she holds a Bachelor of Laws from Galatasaray University, 2005. Pınar's broad legal practice includes corporate law, contract law, banking law and capital markets matters. She has been involved in important structured finance transactions (including first local covered-bonds and asset-guaranteed bonds programs in Turkey in 2011). Pınar's past work experience also includes foreign associate role at Mayer Brown LLP, in 2008. She is a member of Istanbul Bar and she volunteers for Spina Bifida Association in Turkey and animal rights.
Giuseppe Pinelli
Dimos Adamos