Layla El-Wafi is a senior in-house lawyer with an international bank based in Dubai. Since 2014  she has advised on a range of finance transactions, regulatory and commercial matters mainly in the UAE and other Middle East North Africa countries as well as cross border with Europe, US, Asia and Africa on sustainable finance and ESG matters. Her clients apart from various banking teams  includes Climate Risk, Responsible AI and Data Ethics, Procurement and Environmental & Social Risk Management.  

Layla is an English qualified lawyer and prior to the bank trained and qualified with a London based law firm.  Prior to her legal career, Layla worked with a few international development and human rights NGOs in London and MENA region.  She is a board member of the Association of Corporate Counsels MENA Chapter and has a personal passion in sustainability and ESG where she has published a few papers over the last years- see links below.  Layla's participation in the  event is in her personal capacity and as a member of the ACC MENA in the spirit of learning and collaborating with other legal and compliance professionals to promote responsible business.

Kristina joins Persefoni from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she served as Senior Counsel for Climate and ESG to the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. While at the SEC, Kristina oversaw the assessment of climate-related disclosures and helped to lead the rulemaking team through drafting proposed climate disclosure rules. She also worked closely with the Commission's Office of International Affairs, engaging with regulators and standards-setters in jurisdictions around the world. She also supported the U.S. Department of Treasury and other Federal agencies on a variety of matters, including a report in response to an Executive Order that addressed the impact of climate change on the nation's financial stability.

Kristina's first-hand experience in assessing and shaping the climate reporting landscape, combined with her deep expertise in ESG policy and regulation, will be indispensable in supporting customers to identify climate-related risks and opportunities while maintaining confidence in their compliance with rapidly evolving regulation.

Prior to the SEC, Kristina served as Senior Counsel and Director of Sustainability at Latham & Watkins, where she established and led the firm's internal sustainability program and co-chaired the firm's ESG taskforce in the commercial practice. There, she experienced first-hand the challenge of calculating Latham's own emissions and establishing reduction goals, and saw clients struggle to understand and manage their greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints – the exact obstacles Persefoni solves.

Kristina holds a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado, and an MBA in sustainability from Yale University.

Karyn Polak founded Shift the Prism Advisory to support changes in mindsets, systems, and approaches to capital and development. Throughout her career, Karyn has consistently sought to reduce inequities and increase inclusion through concrete contributions as a business executive, board member, mentor, and community convener and connector.
 
She previously served as a senior counsel, trusted advisor, and C-suite executive in her various roles at Citigroup, PNC Bank, and Transamerica — from her first senior position as General Counsel for Citi Private Bank to her most recent as Chief Legal Officer for Transamerica. She also has over a decade of experience advising global financial institutions, multinational corporations, and family businesses in corporate finance, securities, and mergers and acquisitions at three top-100 U.S. law firms.
 
Karyn's prior roles as a senior executive and legal counsel across the spectrum of traditional finance -- from consumer banking, to brokerage and wealth management, investment banking and institutional asset management, and insurance and retirement -- highlighted the gaps in capital tools and access that she works today to close.  She consults on a portfolio of projects that stretch mindsets and opportunities from philanthropy to the public markets, driving innovation in place-based, local investments and for individuals, businesses, and communities without existing wealth on which to build.

Patrick Miller is an international lawyer concentrating on cross-border commercial issues, with an emphasis on arbitration, mediation and litigation. He concentrates on working with Social Impact companies that incorporate a social mission into their business models, particularly smaller, more entrepreneurial companies.

He has worked in the US, Europe and Asia — spending nearly a decade in South-East Asia focusing on commercial disputes with a large international law firm.

He is a strong advocate for social businesses and passionate about assisting these companies when they encounter commercial disputes. He has also advised several social impact startups doing business internationally, providing advice on both legal and business issues.

He is involved in the business & human rights legal community primarily through his work with the ABA Business Law Section Working Group that has a developed a comprehensive set of contractual provisions to address potential human rights violations in international supply chains. He can advise companies on establishing responsible supply chain frameworks in compliance with emerging regulatory challenges.

He’s also active in the Environmental, Social and Governance space, particularly through his work hosting a YouTube show called ESG-in-Law for the California Lawyers Association ESG Committee where he interviews professionals who work on issues involving the convergence of ESG and law.

Given his experience abroad, his involvement in the social business movement and his commercial background, he is able to provide strategic guidance that addresses his clients’ legal and business objectives—while also focusing on their responsible business commitments.