The Impetus executive team comprises individuals with many years' experience in financial services and consulting as well as the not-for-profit sector. We believe that this makes for a team that is both experienced and innovative.
Daniela Barone Soares, Chief
Executive
Daniela Barone Soares joined Impetus Trust as Chief Executive in
June 2006. Most of her seventeen-year career has been in private
equity and venture capital, with BancBoston Capital in the U.S.,
Europe and in the U.K. Daniela was instrumental in developing their
practice in Spain, Italy and Portugal. She also worked for
Citigroup in Brazil and Goldman Sachs in New York. Prior to joining
Impetus, Daniela was Head of Institutional Support at Save the
Children, where she was responsible for strategic development and
fundraising. She has a Bsc in Economics from Universidade Estadual
de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil and an MBA from Harvard Business
School. Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Daniela has long been
committed to finding innovative ways to break the cycle of poverty
and create new opportunities for the economically disadvantaged. In
2008, she was chosen for the Independent on Sunday "Happy List" as
one of the top 100 people who make Britain a better place to
live. In the same year, Impetus was winner of the grantmaker
category of the UK Charity Awards for being an example of
excellence in the sector, from which other organisations can
learn. Impetus has been the chosen charity for the British
Venture Capital Association for the past three years. View an interview with
Daniela on Telegraph TV's 'Your Money Their Hands'.
Chiku Bernardi, Consultant*
Chiku has spent more than ten years in management consulting in
Europe and North America. She began her career at the Boston
Consulting Group, were she worked for seven years on strategy and
operational improvement projects for FTSE 100 companies. Since then
she has worked for boutique consulting firms and carried out a
number of projects in the not-for-profit sector in the UK and
India, on a pro-bono basis. Chiku holds an MBA from Kellogg
Business School and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from
Oxford University.
Elly De Decker, Investment Director
Elly combines experience in both the NGO and for-profit sectors.
Most recently she worked for Save the Children UK where she led the
strategic review and resulting transformation of the organisation's
overall business model. Prior to this she spent two years with the
international humanitarian agency Medecins Sans Frontieres, with
whom she worked for a year in Bangladesh and a year in the
Democratic Republic of Congo as Financial Coordinator and Project
Coordinator respectively. She started out her career working as a
management consultant for McKinsey & Co, managing strategic
reviews, as well as process improvement projects. Elly holds an MBA
from the University of Chicago and a Business degree from the
University of Brussels, Belgium.
John Leach, Investment Director
John spent over twenty years working in the investment
banking industry in London and Paris, latterly as head of Barclays
Capital's Financial Sponsors team with responsibility for the
financing of private equity-led acquisitions. John's extensive
experience of the private equity market is relevant to the venture
philanthropy model pioneered by Impetus, given the close parallels
between the two disciplines. Before joining Impetus John carried
out a number of projects in the not-for-profit sector, on a
pro-bono basis. This included working with an Impetus portfolio
charity, Leap Confronting Conflict, to help with its business
planning and fundraising.
Meredith Niles, Investment Manager
Meredith brings to her work at Impetus a background in both
finance and the voluntary sector. She began her career in
investment banking at Goldman Sachs, where she worked for seven
years in New York, Frankfurt, and London, managing mergers and
acquisitions and corporate finance for companies in the retail and
consumer goods sector. Meredith left banking to focus on her
interests in the not-for-profit sector and has been very active as
a volunteer for the Junior League of London, of which she is
currently the incoming President-Elect. She holds an MSc in
International History from the London School of Economics and a BA
in International Studies and Philosophy from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Amy Stillman, Director of Communications and
Development
Amy Stillman has more than 30 years' experience in the private and
voluntary sectors. She was most recently Head of
Communications and Public Engagement at VSO. Prior to that she was
Marketing Director at leadership development organisation Common
Purpose. Her previous positions include strategic marketing roles
for international architecture firm WAT&G, Merrill Lynch,
advertising agency Redington, Inc and five years as General Manager
at marketing consultancy The Commonwealth Group. She has dual UK/US
citizenship.
Amelia Sussman, Investment Director
Amelia is a solicitor by training, qualifying in England and Israel
where she worked in central and local government as well as in the
private sector. Prior to joining Impetus, Amelia spent two years as
a freelance consultant, including working for the NHS Appointments
Commission as an independent assessor. From 1999-2003 she served as
Chief Operating Officer for Common Purpose, a leadership
development social enterprise, which runs educational programmes
and activities for leaders of all ages, sectors and backgrounds.
Amelia holds a BA in Law from Oxford University.
Judith Twentyman, Finance Director*
Biography to follow shortly.
Sarah Young, Manager, Pro bono Experts*
Biography to follow shortly.
* Chiku, Judith and Sarah generously volunteer their professional skills to Impetus.
The planning and strategic support from Impetus has already proved to be instrumental in helping us to identify key areas of focus for the future.
Harriet Lamb
Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation