Speakers

James is Director at Ecorys UK and mainly works in the social enterprise and social investment thematic areas. In these areas he has provided support and analysis to social enterprises, NGOs and governments, both in the UK and internationally.

James leads on Ecorys’ social impact bond work, including overseeing three SIB evaluations (Commissioning Better Outcomes Evaluation for Big Lottery Fund, Youth Engagement Fund Evaluation for DCMS and Turning the Tide Evaluation for North Somerset Council), and Ecorys’ consultancy work in helping organisations understand the evidence base and potential savings linked to SIB interventions (for example for Family Lives and Catch22).

James holds a BA and MA in Geography from the University of Cambridge. In his spare time he is a Governor at Barkston Ash Catholic Primary School.

Jemima is Advisor in the Private Sector and Capital Markets Department at FCDO. Previously she was Head of International Cyber Security Programme at FCDP and, before that, she led the Prosperity Programme, part of the Digital Access Programme, the UK Government’s flagship “digital for development” programme. Jemima has been a civil servant since 2015, in roles including civil service efficiency & reform (Cabinet Office), economic diplomacy (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), and trade policy (Department for International Trade). Before joining the civil service, Jemima achieved an MA in Natural Sciences and spend two years working in biomedical research funding at the Wellcome Trust.

As Village Enterprise’s Chief Impact Officer, Celeste Brubaker leads organizational social outcomes contracting work streams and oversees continued excellence in impact measurement programming. With 15 years in international development, she specializes in monitoring, evaluation, research, and innovation to drive transformative change.
In her previous roles at Village Enterprise, Celeste oversaw the design and roll-out of our state of the art monitoring and adaptive management systems and our robust yet streamlined multi-phase approach to innovating. She has a strong background as an International Development practitioner with monitoring, evaluation, research and learning technical expertise.
She holds an MA from American University in Development Economics and a BA from Manhattan College in Economics. Prior to joining Village Enterprise, Celeste worked at IREX providing technical M&E support across their education programs divisions. She has also held positions with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, Search for Common Ground, the Inter-American Foundation, and WorldTeach.

Milena Castellnou is Chief Programs Officer at the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), a hosted trust fund at UNICEF with the mission to significantly improve learning and employment outcomes by tying funding to measurable results. She leads EOF’s Program Team and oversees a portfolio of large-scale outcomes-based financing programs in multiple countries, including the two largest outcomes funds in education globally, in partnership with the Governments of Ghana and Sierra Leone. Milena is a former Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Government Outcomes Lab at the University of Oxford.

Ali works with the Social Outcomes team at Bridges Outcomes Partnership to support the development of an international portfolio of impact bonds, with a focus on investments in education.

Prior to joining Bridges, Ali worked with Ark’s Education Partnership Group to drive process improvements in public and private organisations in West Africa and South-East Asia.

Earlier in his career, Ali worked with the World Bank and McKinsey on improving management and financial practices in the public sector. He has also led a tech-based startup, funded by Google, specialising in using technology for increased operational efficiency. Ali holds an MBE from London School of Economics.