Jens Mackensen has served as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the eco.business Fund since the fund was established in 2014. A member of the fund’s design team, he worked together with colleagues at KfW, the German Development Bank, as well as partners from Finance in to initially set up both the structure and objectives of the eco.business Fund. At KfW, Jens oversees the Department of Natural Resources for Latin America and the Caribbean. He has worked on development and financing issues for the last 25 years, covering sectors such as natural resources, renewable energy, and climate change in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Jens received his Ph.D. in Tropical Forestry from the University of Göttingen.

Chimwemwe de Gaay Fortman is an independent advisor in the agrifood sector and impact finance. Chimwemwe has over 20 years’ experience in corporate and investment banking, impact financing and change management. She has held positions at ABN AMRO Bank, the Dutch Development Bank FMO in Latin America and Rabobank. Chimwemwe currently holds several Committee and Board positions, including the Credit Committee of the &Greenfund, and the Investment Committee of the Good Fashion Fund. She also sits on the Supervisory Boards of Dutch Cooperative Horticoop, and BidNetwork. Chimwemwe holds a master’s degree in Financial Economics from the VU University in Amsterdam. 

Christopher Knowles is an independent advisor on climate and environmental finance. He was a long-term member of EIB until 2018, where he led the climate and environmental finance team, contributing scale and innovation to the bank’s climate change agenda. Chris has served on the supervisory boards and advisory committees of numerous clean energy, environmental, infrastructure, and carbon funds, including as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Green for Growth Fund until 2018. He is currently a Member of the Board of the eco.business Fund. Chris holds an M.Sc in Management Science from the University of Durham.

Hanns-Peter Neuhoff was Director at KfW Development Bank (Regional Department Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East)  and has dedicated his whole professional life to impact financing. From the outset, he has actively promoted the creation and development of the eco.business Fund. He has participated in developing microfinance and originating structured funds like the European Fund for South-Eastern Europe (EFSE). He now brings his breadth of experience into several boards as non-executive member. Hanns-Peter holds a PhD in economics from Cologne University.

Vitalis Ritter has served as Principal and Senior Project Manager at KfW Development Bank. With 14 years of banking experience gained mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, Vitalis has accrued substantial experience in risk management, capital markets and structuring debt and equity investments in the financial sector. Over the years, Vitalis – in cooperation with public and private sector partners - helped to establish and grow several impact entities, focusing on micro- and SME-finance, renewable energy, finance and green finance. He holds a number of Board and Investment Committee positions in regional investment funds and banks. Vitalis holds a Master’s degree in Management and Applied Financial Mathematics from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern.