Kisa Mfalila is Lead Climate and Environment Specialist for Asia and the Pacific Region (APR) with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She oversees the climate and environment work program in the region. Under this capacity, she is responsible for delivering sustainability outcomes in IFAD investments through the application of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Standards and build climate resilience of smallholder farmers by integrating climate adaptation in operations.

Name: Isaac Kofi Bimpong
Designation: Plant Breeder / Geneticist
Organization: Plant Breeding and Genetics Section | Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture| Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications | Vienna, Austria |

He obtained both his MSc and PhD at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in collaboration with International Rice Research Institutes (IRRI) in the Philippines.

Joost has been co-CEO of Cardano Development since January 2015 where his role is to oversee the growth of the group which now includes the management of 8 funds including TCX, GuarantCo, Frontclear, BIX Capital, ILX, AGRI3 Fund, Nyala Venture and IMFact. Joost is also involved in the development of a number of incubations and start-ups.

As Vice-President, Global Technical Services and Chief Technical Advisor at Nutrition International, Mandana oversees the technical quality of Nutrition International’s programming in 10 countries and leads a team of experts to address the most challenging gaps in evidence and practice in order to improve nutrition, especially for vulnerable populations and those most in need, including adolescents’ girls, women, and young children.

Dr. Hoang Anh Le earned his master degree in VNU University of Science (Hanoi, Vietnam) in 2002 and another one in Asian Institute of Technology (AIT, Bangkok, Thailand) in 2007 on Environmental Engineering Management. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Environmental System Engineering from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, Seoul, Korea) in 2012.

Romina Cavatassi is in charge leading a number of Impact Assessments (IA) and in setting up a systematic approach for sound IA. This involves defining the theory of change and related indicators, developing the tools for data collection, leading the training and the data collection as well as data analysis and dissemination of results. She is also collaborating in mainstreaming climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Omer serves as a Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist of the Asian Development Bank, covering Southeast Asia. He is currently based at the ADB resident mission in Lao PDR.

Before joining ADB, he worked for IFAD and UNOPS, where he covered about 35 countries of Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Caribbean. Most recently, Omer served as IFAD Country Director for Bangladesh and the Maldives.

Dr. Sudarshan Dutta has more than 15 years of working as agriculture scientist in smallholder farming system.

Presently Dr. Dutta is working as Lead Agronomist (India) at Agoro Carbon Alliance, a Norway based Carbon Farming organization. Dr. Dutta promotes sustainable management practices in Indian farming systems and provides leadership in planning and execution of carbon farming in India.

Jean Balié has over two decades of experience in leadership and expertise developing policies for agriculture, food, and rural development.

Dr. Balié is currently the Director General of the International Rice Research Institute, and the Regional Director for South East Asia and the Pacific of the CGIAR. As Director General of IRRI, he sets the global strategic direction of the institute and manages its affairs in accordance with the policies and decisions of the IRRI Board of Trustees.