Program speakers

Zarmeen Pavri 

Co-Founder, Partner & Chief Impact Officer – SDGx

Zarmeen is a values-based leader with over 28 years’ experience, having a multi-dimensional background covering ethical, ESG and impact investing within the funds management industry and VC industry and has had extensive experience in product development, innovation, commercialisation and governance. 

She is the Co-Founder, Partner and Chief Impact Officer of SDGx – a VC investment management and Impact Advisory firm, where she manages their climate technology VC fund and is actively mentoring, advising and assessing start-ups specifically within the climate tech ecosystem. She also holds the current role as Senior Adviser for the Oceania region for the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), where she has regional responsibility in a market building capacity to engage and educate institutional asset owners and foundations on impact investing practices. She leads industry conversations relating to the global impact investing frameworks, standards and metrics and was recently has been involved with the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative’s (ASFI) Technical Advisory Group to provide input, comments and advice relating to Australia’s Taxonomy Project.

Further to her executive management role, Zarmeen serves on a variety of fiduciary and non-fiduciary boards, including being a Non-Executive Board Director; Chair of the Audit Risk and Compliance committee, member of the investment committee of U Ethical Investors Ltd; sits on the sits on Jana Investment Adviser’s Sustainability Advisory Board which has FUA of $1.3Trillion FUA, is the Chair of the Ethical and Impact Committee for Apostle Funds Management’s Diversified People and Planet Fund, and is an advisor to the Black Excellence Fund. 

Prior to her career transition into the impact investing arena, she held several senior executive leadership positions at Pengana Capital, MIR Investment Management and JPMorgan and is a qualified Australian Chartered Accountant and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.