Executive Officers

Ali Ijaz Ahmad, 49
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Ali brings 25 years of experience in global asset management, private equity and cross-border deal structuring. He actively sits on and advises boards of leading institutions and governments on economic policy, intellectual property initiatives, financial markets and sustainable development, among others. Since 2006, Ali has served as the Managing Partner of Singapore-based Makara Capital, a financial services company founded in 2005 as a joint venture with Credit Suisse AG and later made independent by its founding partners. Makara specializes in fund management, private equity and deal-specific transactions in sectors that include innovation, infrastructure and energy. In addition to his role at Makara, Ali was appointed Special Advisor by Singapore Government to support the republic’s bid to secure the position of Director-General of the United Nations World Intellectual Property Agency (WIPO) during the 2020 UN elections. Ali also serves on the Board of Directors of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), which is the lead Government agency focused on innovation and tasked with building a vibrant and robust IP-enabled ecosystem for Singapore’s future growth. Ali is an Advisor to Government of Alaska on Energy, with a focus on LNG markets in Asia with regards to developments of the Singapore LNG Hub. Ali holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University (Kennedy School of Government), with a concentration in International Finance and Capital Markets, a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Physics from Bowdoin College, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University.

Alexander C. Booth, 61
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Booth is managing director of DSP LLC, a finance, accounting, strategy and management consultancy which he founded in 2015. In that capacity he provides CFO, governance, strategy, finance and accounting guidance to a variety of clients in financial services, private industry and private equity. Mr. Booth also held finance executive and consulting positions with a number of private and public enterprises, primarily in financial services, including M&T Bank (1985 – 2000), AIB (2000 – 2003), Webster (2003 – 2006), HSBC (2006 – 2009), MetLife (2010 – 2016) and IDB Bank (2016 – 2018). Mr. Booth holds separate MBAs in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and Canisius College, respectively.

Sara Villarreal, 39
Chief Operating Officer

Ms. Villarreal brings over 15 years of global leadership experience across multiples sectors including real estate, hospitality, luxury retail and consumer goods with a focus on Asia and the Americas. Sara’s expertise lies in operations and people management, investor relations, commercial real estate development and business strategy. Sara joined 8M Real Estate, a Singapore based real estate investment company with a portfolio of more than $900M AUM, in November 2014. Most recently, from December 2019 to July 2021, Sara served as its Chief Operating Officer. Sara received her Bachelors in Economics/Accounting from Claremont McKenna College.

Board of Directors

Dr. Amin Badr-El-Din, 62
Chairman of the Board of Directors

Since 2005, Dr. Amin Badr-El-Din has served as the Founder and Chairman of BADR Investments, a global private investment house combining world-class strategic thinking and actively investing across various sectors including financial services, sustainable and renewable energy, extractive industries, real estate, engineering, manufacturing, and professional services. BADR Investments’ global reach includes investments in North America, the Pacific Rim, Europe and the Middle East. Dr. Badr-El-Din also was an advisor to His Highness Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. Between 1990 – 2000, Dr. Badr-El-Din has been Chairman and Chief Executive to the UAE Offsets Group, also known as Mubadala, which he created in the early 1990s. The Group led the way for the Government of UAE’s privatization initiatives, including the creation of ADWEA (Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority), the energy infrastructure project (Dolphin), Industrial Development Program, Mubadala sovereign fund, in addition to several other initiatives. Dr. Badr-El-Din conceived and launched Dolphin, which is a major strategic program designed to stimulate industrial and business investment in the UAE and beyond, with an overall objective of creating long-term economic growth for the Gulf Cooperation Council. In 1990 – 1991 he served on the United Nations’ Council responsible, among other things, for the environment. Together with Eddie Rothschild, he Co-Chaired the UN Conference on Finding Creative Mechanisms for Funding the Environment. This work lead to the uptake of Carbon Offsets as a trading mechanism and for monetization of activities that contribute to reduce the global carbon footprint. Dr. Badr-El-Din obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of London and earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Dr. Badr-El-Din is a member of several boards worldwide. He has advised various governments on economic development initiatives including Ireland, France, Jordan, UAE, South Africa, Malaysia, Switzerland and Indonesia. He is a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Amlan Baijal, 47
Independent Director

Amlan has been in banking and finance for over 23 years and has worked and covered clients and deals in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Amlan’s experience includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, commodities and wealth management roles in various roles and locations with major European banks. Amlan was Managing Director in Credit Suisse, Managing Director in Standard Chartered Bank and held positions in RBS and American Express. Since January 2021, Amlan has served as a Partner in Makara Capital and is responsible for investments and deal flow. Makara Capital runs the Singapore innovation fund, mainly focusing on urban solutions, advanced technologies, fintech, consumer, alternative energy and healthcare. Makara Capital is an independent asset management company whose limited partners include mostly sovereign wealth funds and governments. Prior to joining Makara Capital, Amlan founded Roha Capital PTE in February 2016, which offers strategic advisory services across Asia and Europe to Asian clients looking to expand in European and other Asian markets. While at Credit Suisse, between October 2014 to January 2016, Amlan managed the bank’s largest relationships in the region which included sovereign wealth funds, governments, large family offices as well as some of the largest shareholders of the bank. Amlan was involved in transactions that included energy, technology, financial services, infrastructure, real estate, hospitality, aviation and commodities. Amlan lead the Investment Partner Team for MENA. While at Standard Chartered between January 2010 to October 2014, Amlan was responsible for capital markets sales for MENA and Africa which included dealing with government, sovereigns and public sector institutions in the region where he dealt across debt capital markets, structured finance, and Commodities. Amlan received his MBA from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Mysore, India.

Sanjay Vatsa, 60
Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee

Sanjay has more than 25 years of experience in senior “C” level global leadership positions having served as Managing Director at firms such as Citi, BlackRock, State Street and Merrill Lynch. Sanjay was elected to the board of DeFi Devs, a block chain protocol developer, in November 2021. Concurrently and since July 2020, Sanjay has served as the Chairman of the Advisory Board and President – International at Inveniam, making private markets data trusted and actionable. Simultaneously therewith and from October 2014, Sanjay has served as the Founder and Principal of Ideas to Result, LLC, providing advisory and consulting services for bulge bracket institutions. He is also an advisor to TallyX, a deep tier supply chain financing platform on blockchain powered by AI. Sanjay has been instrumental in the modernization of financial markets and the transformation of various financial firms. He has been a key player in transforming the financial services industry and has been Chairman of multiple industry committees at Bond Market Association, Asset Management Forum, Securities Industry Association, etc., transforming financial infrastructure and reducing risk on trade date. Sanjay, as Chairman of its Advisory Board, was instrumental in building OMGEO, a transformative financial industry utility. He has played an active and leadership role in shaping the Capital Markets infrastructure in India, USA and Singapore. Sanjay is an active angel investor / advisor to firms and late-stage startups where he provides innovative and disruptive solutions in health care, fintech, cryptocurrency and blockchain. Additionally, Sanjay is a Partner and Mentor at Princeton Growth Accelerator and a member of the Executive Committee at TIE Women, fostering women entrepreneurship, globally across 90 locations. Sanjay is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and an MBA in Finance has had various roles as an auditor, financial controller and analyst for financial institutions globally. Sanjay received an MBA from the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from the University of Kolkatta, India.

Michael Bowling, 54
Independent Director

Michael is a telecom and media executive with more than 30 years of experience in a variety of strategic and operational roles both in the domestic and international arenas. Michael is currently an Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Business and is Managing Partner at Global Altitudes, LLC. Michael has served as the CEO of VRIO Corp., a digital entertainment provider in Latin America, and a division of AT&T from July 2021 through the sale of that enterprise in the fourth quarter of 2021. Previously, Michael served as President of DIRECTV LATAM, a VRIO company, since November 2016, where he was responsible for the pay TV business in the Spanish-speaking and Caribbean operations of VRIO. Prior thereto from September 2015, Michael served as Senior Vice President – Product and Emerging Business, responsible for developing strategies, products and emerging businesses for AT&T’s VRIO division. In September 2013, Michael was appointed to serve as Senior Vice President – Corporate Strategy, responsible for driving AT&T’s overall long-term planning and strategic initiatives. Previously, he served as Chief Marketing Officer – Business Solutions (2012-2013) and as President of AT&T Mexico (2009-2012) where he was a representative on the board of America Movil and served on the boards of Telmex (NYSE) and Telmex International (NYSE). Mr. Bowling joined AT&T from BellSouth Corporation and prior to the merger of AT&T and BellSouth Corporation, he served as Vice President of Converged Services and Platform Development as well as Vice President of Marketing and Product Management for Broadband from 2003 to 2005. In addition, Michael has served as the Chairman of the Board of Torneos and Competencias SA in Argentina and a member of the board of WIN Sports in Colombia from 2016 until 2021. He joined BellSouth in 1990. Michael holds an electrical engineering degree from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in business administration from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Business.