Carla Chizmar is the Head of the ESG department at CIFI, in charge of developing and implementing an ESG strategy in line with the company’s business plan. She holds a BS degree in Biology, specialized in botany from the University of Panama, a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences from Yale University and is Certified in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy from a joint program of Yale School of the Environment and the School of Management.

She has 18 years of experience in scientific research, applied sciences for global problems, sustainable development, clean energy, climate change, green lending, and impact investment. Prior to CIFI, Carla worked extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean with scientific research organizations (Smithsonian), the academia (Yale University), and multilateral organizations (United Nations).

At CIFI, oversees managing E&S risks and impacts prior to investments, supervises ESG performance of the portfolio, compliance with CIFI’s policy framework, stakeholder engagement, identification of green business opportunities and funding, development of tools, and reporting with transparency. Carla is currently developing a Decarbonization Strategy to align CIFI’s investment portfolio to a 1.5°C economy, is responsible for the Gender Equality Strategy of the company, and commitments towards Human Rights in all our investments.

She was part of the team that issued the first Green Bond Programme in Panama for $200MM, designed of an ESG Software, a Key Risk Indicator, and a Scoring System to manage ESG risks. Carla is an Equator Principles Association Steering Committee member, and Lead of the Regional Network for Latin America.

She has strong technical expertise, is results oriented, has great networking skills, creative-analytical thinking, outstanding organizational and communication skills, is proactive, and an excellent researcher with knowledge management. She is fluent in Spanish, English and proficient in Portuguese.

She has been with CIFI since 2016, joined the management team of the company in 2018, and became a shareholder in Valora in 2019.

Maria is a Senior ESG specialist at CIFI, in charge of conducting and evaluating environmental & social impact due diligence assessments of prospective projects. She holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, from the Simon Bolivar University, and a master’s business administration degree from Metropolitana University.

She has 20 years of experience in Environmental, Social Management, Climate Change, IFC’s Performance Standards implementation, leading the development and implementation of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and Environmental and Social Action Plans of several infrastructure projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to CIFI, Maria worked extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean with an International inspection, verification, and certification company, and a global building materials company.

At CIFI, she conducts and evaluates environmental & social due diligence assessments of prospective projects, oversights and manages client’s E&S consultants, establishes E&S management frameworks for new projects, and contributes to the ESG impact measurement, policies development and ESG organizational knowledge. She was part of the team that designed an ESG Software and a Scoring System to manage ESG risks.
She has excellent analytical skills, strong technical expertise, is results oriented, outstanding organizational and communication skills, is proactive, and excellent understanding of strategic ESG matters. She is fluent in Spanish and English.