International Finance Corporation
Nathalie Akon Gabala joined IFC as Director of Gender & Economic Inclusion Department in September 2023. Nathalie, an American and Ivorian national, was earlier the Executive Director at Mastercard Foundation. She was responsible for the Pan-Africa platform, leading enterprise-wide the four programmatic thematic areas of Gender, Entrepreneurship Development, Digital Economy and Agrifood Systems and Climate.
World Bank
Jennifer Sara is the Global Director for the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Global Practice from July 1, 2022. Ms. Sara is responsible for overseeing the key strategic priorities and implementation of the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan and lead five Practice groups on: Climate Operationalization and Impact, Climate Economics and Finance, Climate Funds Management, Climate Investment Funds Secretariat, and Strategy, Knowledge and Outreach.
Inter-American Development Bank
Ferdinando Regalía, an Italian citizen, is the Manager of the Social Sector (SCL) since October 16th, 2021.
Prior to his appointment, Ferdinando served as the Chief of the IDB Social Protection and Health (SPH) Division. In this capacity, Ferdinando oversaw IDB support to its borrowing member countries’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of social protection and health.
During his tenure as SPH Chief, from 2010 to 2021, Ferdinando and his team led the implementation of innovative public–private partnerships and results-based financing mechanisms to tackle health inequities, such as the Mesoamerica Health Initiative. Ferdinando promoted research activities and projects that fostered quality- and sustainability-enhancing strategies in health, early childhood development and social protection and inclusion services, working on a range of enabling factors, including a more robust adoption of digital tools.
From 2008 to 2009, Ferdinando served as advisor to the Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge of the IDBG, providing quality oversight of operations as well as of the economic and sector research agenda of the Vice Presidency.
In 2007, he served as Chief of Social Policy and Economics at United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in South Africa providing technical assistance on design, financing, and implementation of social protection programs to governments and non-governmental organizations in Southern Africa.
Previously, Ferdinando worked as Social Development Specialist in the former Social Division of the Regional Operations Department 2 of the IDB, which he joined in 2000 as part of the Young Professionals Program.
Ferdinando holds a PhD in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain.
Climate Investment Funds
Nina Kolybashkina, is Senior Social Development Specialist with Climate Investment Funds. Nina’s role involves actively driving the gender mainstreaming agenda, ensuring that considerations of gender are integrated across initiatives. With over two decades of experience in developmental work, Nina’s expertise spans areas such as social inclusion, gender, rural development, water management, and resilience. Nina started her career with UNDP Ukraine, developing and coordinating a portfolio of community-based projects. She also worked with UN countries as an M&E consultant and as lecturer on social policy at Brunel University in the UK. Nina holds a PhD and MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford, and a Specialist Degree in Economics and Finance from Tavrida National University in Ukraine.
World Bank
Charlotte V. McClain-Nhlapo is Global Disability Advisor of the World Bank Group. As Disability Advisor, she focuses on working with and supporting operational teams across the institution to ensure that Bank policies, programs and projects take people with disabilities into consideration. Before joining the World Bank, she served as USAID’s coordinator for disability and inclusive development, appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011 to lead the government’s efforts in disability inclusive development, from developing policies and country strategies to technical assistance for program implementation
World Blind Union
Benjamin Dard is a senior advisor at the WBU and an urban planner. He has been a development and humanitarian practitioner for over a decade, with a particular focus on bringing about disability inclusion through accessibility. He collaborates extensively with stakeholders from government, local authorities and communities worldwide to advance accessibility and universal design in alignment with the CRPD. Engaging actively with OPDs, global agencies and networks, including UN-HABITAT and United Cities and Local Governments, Benjamin works across all sectors, including urban climate resilience, to advocate and advise on inclusive urban development initiatives. His key contributions include co-authoring Accessibility GO! A Guide to Action, and supporting the development and review of guidelines (All Under One Roof) as well as research and evidenced-based practices on inclusive public spaces (Journal of Public Spaces: Universally Accessible Public Spaces for All).
United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Dr. Ola Abualghaib was appointed Manager of the Technical Secretariat of the UN Partnership of Persons with Disabilities in August 2019. Ola has over twenty years of experience working on gender and disability in development including in fragile and crisis affected settings in the Arab States, Africa and Asia. Previous to her appointment in UNPRPD she has been the Director for Global Influencing and Research at Leonard Cheshire Disability in London, UK. During the last 15 years she has worked with the UN system at global, regional and country level to support disability inclusive policies and programmes. She also served as the Vice Chair of the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and a board member of the Disability Rights Funds. Ola was recently featured in the Gender Equality Top 100 list of most influential people in global policy. She has a PhD on Social Protection from the University of East Anglia, UK.
Global Disability Innovation Hub
Mikaela leads research and delivery under the thematic areas of inclusive design and climate resilience at GDI Hub. This includes the UK Aid funded AT2030 Inclusive Infrastructure sub-programme which is building an evidence base for implementing inclusive design in cities to create more inclusive and resilient cities for all. Mikaela leads on various consultancies, lectures on inclusive and sustainable urban development at University College London and regularly contributes to reports, policy, toolkits, academic papers and events, including events on inclusive infrastructure and assistive technology at COP26 and COP28. Prior to joining GDI Hub, Mikaela worked as a Research Associate and Designer with the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Stema Health and as an architectural designer in Spain and China. Mikaela also has experience in global health, working on participatory and people-centred research and design for inclusive health systems and environments
Global Disability Innovation Hub
Since January 2023, Pollyanna has worked for Global Disability Innovation Hub as a researcher and consultant on disability inclusion and private sector practice, financial inclusion and employment inclusion for people with disabilities. Polly is the project lead for a consultancy with the Asian Development Bank on Disability Inclusion for Financial Institutions.
Prior to joining GDI Hub, Pollyanna was a Senior Analyst at Financial Services Culture Board (FSBC); responsible for delivering research, reporting and recommendations to Board level financial services stakeholders on firm and sector level organisational culture and conduct. Pollyanna was also Chair of FSCB’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Pollyanna is a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) and member and secretary of RAI’s Anthropology of Policy and Practice Committee which provides a forum for discussion of ethnographic and anthropological research on policymaking and practices in health, development, humanitarian, public sector, Parliament, corporate and civil society organisations. Pollyanna is a certified Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner, and has a achieved a PRINCE2, Project Management, Foundation certification.
CBM Global
Ursula Grant is CBM Global (UK) Evidence and Advocacy Manager. She has an MPhil in Development Studies, from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, and 20 years professional experience across the development sector (INGO, research institutes, consultancy). She was a Research Fellow at ODI, London, and at the University of Birmingham, focused on poverty data, disaggregation and inclusive governance. She engaged mixed methods and participatory research, including Participatory Poverty Assessment, and has led and contributed to the development of toolkits, policy notes and guidance for different agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, ILO, OECD DAC, World Bank, DFID/FCDO and other bilateral agencies, and INGOs). She has recently written on the interlinkages between disability rights and climate action, with work presented at the Bonn Intersessional in 2023.