Dr. Don Proebstel
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Don's career spans 20 years, including VP Environmental and Sustainability at Gold Reserve Inc. (GRI), research in conservation biology, environmental consulting, and scientific advisor to NGOs, and academia.
Don has a special interest in biodiversity offsets and sustainability and spearheaded the development of a partnership with Conservation International (CI) to advance GRI's commitment to environmental and social responsibility for its Brisas copper and gold mining project in Venezuela . The partnership will involve preserving biodiversity in and around the Brisas Project and support the development of best practice tools for integrating biodiversity information into the business decision making processes. GRI also finalized an agreement with CI to support the development of decision making tools and methodologies and further develop its biodiversity offset strategy in conjunction with the Business and Biodiversity Offset Program (BBOP).

Don served as GRI's Vice President for Environment and Sustainability. He was previously a Senior Environmental and Biodiversity Consultant with AATA International. He was also the Director of the World Salmonid Research Institute, which includes some of the most distinguished scientists in this field, and worked closely with the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow State University and the Wild Salmon Center .
Gudars Nazari, Information Systems Expert
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Gudars has over 15 years of international experience. He is based in Germany and his certifications include Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist (Applications, Customization and Configuration) for MS CRM 4.0.

Since 2003, he has provided independent advisory and interim project management services to American Express, Frankfurt, Visionapp, Frankfurt, Microsoft Germany, Munich, Zentropypartners (member of McCann–Erikson), Frankfurt, Laptop Computer GmbH, Frankfurt. Previously, Gudars was a Senior Project Manager at Chordiant Software Int, Frankfurt, where he was responsible for the enterprise wide delivering and integration of the Chordiant CRM solution to one of the top 10 insurance companies in Germany. He was also Program Manager at Axiom Consulting Group, California, where he conducted business and technical analysis for an Internet portal for the hospitality industry. Gudars reported the findings to CEO, providing critical insight to project feasibility, timeline and profitability that resulted in corporate savings of $9 million. Other appointments included Senior Project Manager with Icon Medialab, San Francisco; Manager for Fraud Monitoring System, Pacific Gateway Exchange, California; Senior IT Consultant and Innovation Manager, Pass Consulting Corp., Germany and Fort Myers; and the Deutsche Bank, Germany. Gudars studied computer sciences and economics at technical colleges in Germany and obtained his Diplomas in Computer Sciences and business administration.
Dr. William Kennedy
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Bill's career spans over 30 years. He is an ESIA advisor to the MCC. Previously, he was the ED of the NA Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and Head of the Environmental Policy and Strategy Unit of the EBRD.
At the CEC ( Montreal , Canada ), Dr. Kennedy directed initiatives and conducted research in core program areas pertaining to the North American environment, environmental law and standards, and other environment/trade issues, in addition to processing citizen submissions on enforcement matters. As the Head of the Environmental Policy and Strategy Unit of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, he spearheaded the development of the Bank’s Environmental Policy and Strategy, was involved in appraising and monitoring of private and public sector operations, and secured new funding sources for the Bank’s environmental activities, including access to the funds of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Bill is currently an ESIA advisor to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) assisting them in carrying out due diligence and public consultation on industrial and transport projects in Africa and Latin America (Nicaragua, Burkina Faso and Mali). Bill is an Adjunct Professor, Political Science Department, Concordia University , Montreal. He also held other senior posts with the Dutch Ministries of Environment and Foreign Affairs, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Formally trained in Political Science (MA and PhD), Dr Kennedy is fluent in German, Dutch and French, has a good knowledge of Spanish and a working knowledge of Russian.
Koichiro Ishimori, BA, MA.
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Koichiro's 10 years of experience includes positions as Evaluation Officer at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Program Officer at the Foundation for Advanced Studies on Int. Development.
His past clients/projects include the World Bank, UNFPA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Japanese Government, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and JBIC. Koichiro’s experience includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Morocco, USA and Switzerland. He studied economics, and technology/science and international public policy at Rikkyo University (Japan), University of Denver (USA), and the University of Sussex (UK). He is also a Fellow of Rockefeller Foundation’s Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), and speaks Japanese, English and French. Koichiro is the President of the Value Frontier, Co., Ltd, a consulting firm based in Tokyo specializing in consultations on international development projects and climate change.
Mehrdad Nazari, MBA, MSc, LEAD Fellow
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Mehrdad is the CSR, GRI & ESIA Practice Leader and Director of Prizma. He has 20 years of international experience in environmental, social and CSR risk assessment and management, and sustainability reporting and coaching.

Mehrdad also provides advisory services and training focused on IFC Performance Standards, the Equator Principles (EP2), the European Bank's (EBRD) Performance Requirements and the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) sustainability reporting framework.

Mehrdad was previously Principal Environmental Specialist at the European Bank (EBRD), focused on an extractive portfolio based in the CIS/FSU exceeding $2 billion; CSR Research Director at CoreRatings (now DNV/Innovest/RiskMatrics), advising asset managers; and Project Manager with Dames & Moore (now URS), an engineering consultancy.

Mehrdad is a sought after trainer on IFC Performance Standards, Equator Principles and GRI Sustainability Reporting. Since, 2006, Mehrdad has delivered over 25 short courses in Canada, China, Panama, Peru, UK, USA and Venezuela. He also advised IFC’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman office (reviewing community complaints), is an ISO 14,001 Lead Auditor, a GRI-approved trainer on sustainability reporting and a member of the International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA). Please contact Mehrdad to receive a listing of his recent ESIA, CSR & GRI activities fpr projects based from the tropical forests in Venezuela to the highland plateaus of Tibet.

Mehrdad studied geosciences and business administration in Germany, US and the UK. He was a Fulbright grantee (Germany to US) and is a Fellow of Rockefeller Foundation's Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) program. He has also developed and implemented grant-funded initiatives dealing with biodiversity offsets, stakeholder dialogue, conflict resolution, transboundary oil spill response and sustainability reporting.
Dr. Denes Bulkai
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Denes is a Chemical Engineer with a career spanning over 30 years. Previously, Denes was a Senior Environmental Advisor at the EBRD, focused on industrial energy efficiency projects, metallurgical & chemical industries, and vehicle manufacturing.

While at the EBRD, his main responsibility included management of environmental and social due diligence on investment projects, including environmental and social audits, impact assessments, development of corrective action plans and monitoring their implementation. His project experience includes iron, steel and other metallurgical industries, inorganic and petrochemical industries, vehicle manufacturing, including shipbuilding, railway wagon, locomotive, truck and passenger car manufacturing. In the area of infrastructure development he conducted due diligence on motorway, railway, airport and seaport re/construction, public transport, district heating, waste disposal, water supply and sewage treatment system modernization projects. He also managed industrial energy efficiency projects, energy audits, technical assistant projects and training programs for junior bankers and financial intermediary partners and their consultants.

Prior to joining the EBRD, Denes worked in industrial research centers, government agencies, international consultancy and at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). His project experience includes Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

In addition to his training as a Chemical Engineer (MSc, PhD), Denes also holds postgraduate degrees in Economics and History. Denes is fluent in English, Hungarian and German, has a good knowledge of French and a working knowledge of Russian. Denes is currently residing in Hungary.
Timothy Murphy, BA, MPhil
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Tim's professional career spans over 35 years. Previoulsy, he was the Director of the Environmental Appraisal Unit of the EBRD, and headed the Environmental Consultancy arm at WS Atkins.
Among the environmentally significant EBRD projects on which Tim worked were metallurgical processing plants in the Russian Federation and Slovakia, mining projects in Uzbekistan and the far east of Russia, oil projects off the Pacific Coast of Russia and in the Caspian Sea region, nuclear power projects in Slovakia and Ukraine, and thermal power projects in Ukraine and Bulgaria. Tim also worked closely with other international funding institutions, including the IFC, the World Bank (IBRD), and the Asian Development Bank. He contributed to an external review of IFC/MIGA's Compliance Advisor Ombudsman Office, reviewed EBRD's draft Safeguard Policies and proposed Independent Recourse Mechanism, and conducted an in-depth review of the African Development Bank's approach to Sustainability. Tim's previous clients and projects included the World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, UK Department of Energy, British Rail (Channel Tunnel Rail Link Project), UK Department of Transport (Second Severn Crossing), Sultanate of Oman (Controller of Environmental Planning), Ministry of Defense, Eurotunnel, the National Rivers Authority, and a variety of industrial and commercial organizations. Non-UK projects included the environmental impact assessment of hydro-electric projects in Uganda, Sri Lanka, Botswana and Malaysia, reservoirs in Morocco and Algeria, steelworks in Algeria and Brazil, land reclamation in Bahrain, a refinery and smelter in Oman, several industrial plants in Hong Kong, and mining developments in India and Malawi. Tim pursued his academic training in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (BA Hons, Oxford), and Town and Regional Planning (MPhil, London).
Wayne Forman, BS, MS
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Wayne has over 35 years of professional experience, including 25 years with Freeport McMoRan Inc., where he also served as Director of Corporate Environmental, Health & Safety Affairs.
His expertise includes environmental site assessments, due diligence investigations, environmental audits, environmental impact evaluations, ecological baseline studies and environmental regulatory/permitting matters, and related policy development, strategy planning, and public affairs for mining, oil & gas and chemical processing industries around the world. Wayne's numerous certifications include Lead Auditor for ISO 14000 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Audits. His project experience covers Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming; and, in Canada, Panama, Indonesia, Spain, Trinidad/Tobago and the former Soviet Union (Russia, the Ukraine), Australia, Chile, China, Egypt, Italy, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Martin Birley, MS, PhD, DIC
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Martin has 23 years experience of Health Impact Assessment globally. His previous appointments include Senior Health Adviser on HIA at Shell and Senior Lecturer at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Martin has advised development banks, development agencies, governments and multinationals companies. He also authored many books, papers, reports and guidelines, co-founded the health section of International Association on Impact Assessment (IAIA) and the International HIA Consortium. Martin is the Founding Director of Birley HIA.
Carolina Benavides
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Ms. Benavides is a Peruvian-based psychologist. Her international experience includes improving poverty conditions in regions affected by violence, applying the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI), and sustainability reporting.
Ms. Benavides is currently executive director of NeVo Consultores -sister company of the NGO Nexos Voluntarios- which conducts a wide variety of projects related to managing and measuring social, environmental and economic impact, with organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), FMO, Technoserve, JP Morgan, United Nations Population Fund, Mibanco, and the Peru Opportunity Fund. Ms. Benavides has also worked with the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma providing technical assistance for the implementation of mental health services in Peru. Ms. Benavides' training includes the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reporting guidelines, and the IFC Performance Standards and Equator Principles.

Dr. Don Proebstel

Gudars Nazari, Information Systems Expert

Dr. William Kennedy

Koichiro Ishimori, BA, MA.

Mehrdad Nazari, MBA, MSc, LEAD Fellow

Dr. Denes Bulkai

Timothy Murphy, BA, MPhil

Wayne Forman, BS, MS

Martin Birley, MS, PhD, DIC

Carolina Benavides