Opportunities for Swiss Finance Professionals in Multilateral Development Banks

Ms. Maria Dimitriadou is the World Bank Special Representative to the UN and the WTO, and Head of the World Bank Geneva Office. She is a Greek National with more than twenty-five years of experience in the World Bank Group (WBG), the European Commission (EC), and the public and private sectors. She joined the WBG in 2015 as Senior International Affairs Officer in the Brussels Office, where she has worked on the WBG's strategic relationship and partnership with the EU and other Brussels-based interlocutors. Prior to that, she worked as a Policy Officer at the Directorate General of Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, where she worked on relations with European and International Financial Institutions, including on promoting the use of innovative financial instruments.

Ms. Dimitriadou has also worked as a Policy Officer and Head of Unit in a Managing Authority of European Territorial Cooperation Programmes implemented under the mandates of EU Member States, Enlargement and Neighborhood countries in the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea, and as an Economist in the Hellenic Ministry of Finance.

Ms. Dimitriadou started her career in the private sector, where she advised Greek and Western Balkan private and public entities on the design, financing and implementation of investment projects.

Chris Humphrey is a senior scientist at NADEL since January 2016. He has a PhD in Political Sciences from the London School of Economics. Chris consults for various development organisations, including the Overseas Development Institute, World Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-​​American Development Bank, New Development Bank and the Inter-​​Governmental Group of 24. Previously Chris worked in operations at the World Bank’s Latin America division (2001-​​2008) and as a journalist based in Mexico City (1994-​​2000). His work is on the evolution of development finance in the 21st century.

Natalia Toschi is Head of Funding at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Nathalie joined IFAD in 2004 and has since held a number of finance positions, including Investment Manager and Head of the Financial Planning Unit. She has also worked in the programme management department as a senior policy officer. She also serves as Finance and Budget Network Coordinator of the UN Chief Executive Board Secretariat. Before joining IFAD, Natalia worked at Banca IMI (now Intesa San Paolo) in Asset and Liability Management, risk management and on the trading desk.

Katya is a senior resourcing professional with extensive experience in financial services and energy industry. She has been with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) since 2021 as Associate Director, Talent Acqusition.

Ivan Pavletic is Head of Multilateral Cooperation at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). In this role he also serves as IDA Deputy for Switzerland. Ivan joined SECO’s Economic Cooperation and Development division in 2011. From 2014 to 2017 he served as Senior Advisor to the Swiss Executive Director at the World Bank. From 2017-2020, he was Head of Policy and Services at SECO. Ivan holds a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and a Master in Economics from the University of Fribourg.