Yana Kakar is the Global Managing Partner Emeritus of Dalberg Advisors. Elected as head of the firm in 2013, Yana sets Dalberg’s direction and oversees activities across offices worldwide. In her client work, Yana works with corporate leaders and investors to transform business models and investment portfolios through sustainable, responsible and impact-oriented strategies. She also advises governments, non-profits and philanthropists on policy, programming and charitable giving strategies that maximize positive social and environmental outcomes, with a focus on gender, youth and SMEs. 
 
Yana serves on the Board of Directors of Convergence, a platform for blended finance transactions and on the Frontier Markets Investors Council of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA). Yana is a member of the Brookings Global Leadership Council, the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the Global Impact Investing Network. In 2018, Yana was appointed to serve on the African Presidential Youth Advisory Council, advising heads of industry and state on matters of youth entrepreneurship and employment across Africa. 
 
Yana’s perspectives on Environmental and Social Governance (ESG), Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), impact investing and ‘business for good’ have been published in a number of media outlets, including the Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, DevEx, The Guardian, The Economist and Forbes. Yana holds a BA from McGill University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, speaks five languages and lives with her husband, two children and much-loved dog in New York.