About the blog

Isabel Berdeja

Isabel is a Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at IDB Invest, where she joined in 2019. Isabel is responsible for designing and executing advisory services for deals in the financial and corporate institutions sectors. She has led advisory engagements to support clients in their diversity and gender inclusion strategies, with an emphasis on the inclusion of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples throughout the value chain and in the workforce. Before joining the IDB Group, Isabel worked for General Electric in the energy business and at the Pan American Development Foundation in the execution of projects for the development with identity of indigenous peoples. Isabel earned a master's degree in development studies from the Elliott School at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She also has a bachelor's degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico.

Isabel Montojo

Isabel Montojo is an associate in the sustainable finance consulting firm HPL, where she works mainly developing thematic bond frameworks for LAC issuers, and advising on the development of guides and guidelines on sustainable finance for different actors in the capital markets. of ALC. Previously, Isabel worked at the United Nations Global Compact, the UN agency in charge of promoting sustainability within the private sector, and has several years of experience practicing as a US compliance and civil litigation attorney in Spain. Isabel is a lawyer with experience in Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG research and ESG risk assessment and analysis. She has a Law Degree from the Faculty of Law, Complutense University of Madrid and holds an LL.M. in Law and International Justice cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, New York, with a specialization in corporate social responsibility and human rights.

Jaime García Alba

Jaime Garcia Alba is the Director of Strategy and Amazonia Forever Coordinator at IDB Invest. Throughout his career at IDB Group, Jaime developed IDB Invest's new business model and the corresponding $3.5 billion capital raise and led the Advisory Services and Blended Finance Program. Previously, he served as head of sustainability reporting and private finance at the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, where he coordinated the private sector's participation in the negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement.

James P. Scriven

James P. Scriven is the CEO of IDB Invest, a multilateral development bank dedicated to driving sustainable growth in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector. A dual Argentine-British citizen, Mr. Scriven has over two decades of experience advancing the role of the private sector to increase development impact.

Before leading IDB Invest, he served as Vice President of Corporate Risk and Sustainability at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he held multiple leadership roles. Prior to that, he was Chief Financial Officer of Banco Hipotecario in Argentina.

Mr. Scriven holds a Master’s degree in Finance from Universidad del Centro de Estudios Macroeconómicos in Argentina, and a Business Administration degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. 

To learn more, follow James on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Jan Petter Eskildsen

Jan Petter Eskildsen, Director, Financial Sector Central America, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, BID InvestJan is the Director of Financial Services for Central America, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic at BID Invest. He joined the team in 2017 to lead the origination and structuring of impact investments for financial intermediaries in this region from the IDB Group office in Panama City. Since joining BID Invest, Jan has led and participated in financing projects, including loans, equity investments, and capital market products for various types of financial intermediaries. Prior to joining BID Invest, Jan worked in the investment banking divisions of UBS and Lazard, providing financial advisory services to corporate and financial service clients across the U.S. and Latin America for over 12 years from the New York and Panama City offices. Jan holds a degree in Law and Political Sciences from Santa María La Antigua University in Panama and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Janne Sevanto

A citizen of Finland, Mr. Sevanto holds a master’s degree in financial engineering from the University of California at Berkely, Haas School of Business and master’s and bachelor’s degrees of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tampere University of Technology. Mr. Sevanto also has over 20 years of experience in development, most recently at the IFC where he led treasury client solutions for Latin America and the Caribbean region delivering innovative local currency, derivatives, debt capital market and structured finance solutions in the region while overseeing the local currency funding and asset and liability management activities.

Javier Barsantini

Javier is a Lead Investment Officer, Equity and Mezzanine Finance Investments Team at IDB Invest, which he joined in 2002. He is responsible for developing and implementing investment structures that include venture capital in various economic sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean. He has extensive experience in credit and financial analysis, corporate finance, financial intermediaries and senior loan structuring, mezzanine debt and equity investments. Before joining the IDB Group, he worked for five years in the Audit and Consulting departments of KPMG Uruguay. Javier earned a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) in international business, with a major in accounting and finance, from the University of Birmingham (UK) and a professional degree in business administration and accounting from Universidad de la República (Uruguay).

Jimena Gomez-Merickel

Jimena Gomez-Merickel is Lead Credit Risk Officer at IDB Invest. As part of the Project Finance team, she brings credit risk expertise to the structuring and monitoring process of large and complex infrastructure, energy and hospitality projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Jimena joined the IDB Group in 2008 and previously worked in international development consulting for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Abt Associates Inc. With over 15 years of experience, Jimena has a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Jimena Serrano

Jimena Serrano is a gender, diversity and inclusion officer in the IDB Invest Advisory Services team in Washington DC. Since 2015, she has advised IDB Invest clients in promoting practices to ensure equal access to opportunities for men and women in the business world, including leadership positions, value chains, and strategies to meet the needs of underrepresented groups as a market opportunity. She has designed gender programs tied to results in the context of blended finance and was one of the leaders in the design of a business tool based on the Women's Empowerment Principles (known as the WEP tool). Before her arrival at IDB Invest, Jimena worked in the public policy consulting area of ​​The Economist Intelligence Unit; she was also part of the core team that prepared the Report on the Full Participation of Women and Girls for the Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation. She is a lawyer from the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia and has a master's degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Joan Miquel Carrillo

Joan Miquel is a Blended Finance Lead Investment Officer in the Financial Products and Services Division at IDB Invest and is based in Washington DC. Joan Miquel joined IDB Invest in 2017 and since 2018 acts as a focal point in the institution of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF). Joan Miquel participates in the design of blended finance solutions across the region with a focus on infrastructure and energy projects with a climate change mitigation or adaptation component. Prior to joining IDB Invest, Joan Miquel developed his professional career at Isolux Corsán Concesiones in the highway concession sector in Spain and Brazil and at Invall Green Energy in the development of wind farm projects in Spain and Eastern Europe. Joan Miquel has a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech (Spain) and completed the Executive MBA of the ESADE Business School in Barcelona (Spain).

Joana Pascual

Joana is a principal investment officer in infrastructure at BID Invest, where she joined in 2016. She is responsible for the origination and structuring of financing operations in the sectors of transportation, energy, water and sanitation, and social infrastructure. She has led transactions in Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Belize, Jamaica, Argentina, and Uruguay, among other countries in Latin America. Before joining the IDB Group, Joana worked for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Latin America and in French and Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. Joana holds master's degrees in economics and finance from Columbia University in New York (USA) and from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) (France). In addition, she has a bachelor's degree in economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science.

Joanne Riley

Joanne Riley is a Development Effectiveness Officer in the Development Effectiveness Division (DVF) of IDB Invest, where she works in the structuring, supervision, and evaluation of projects. Prior to joining the IDB Invest she worked in the Office of the Executive Director for the Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Barbados. With over 25 years’ experience in monitoring and evaluation of projects, she has an MSc in Project Planning and Development from University of Bradford, United Kingdom.