Aftercare Forum Seville
Speakers 2025.
We are excited that so many experts will take the stage in Riga’s Aftercare Forum . We are also proud to introduce the members of this year’s Organising Committee.
Laura Štrovalde
Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) HOST CITY
Laura Štrovalde is Deputy Director General and Director of the Investment Promotion and Business Growth Department at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA). With over a decade of experience at LIAA, she leads Latvia’s foreign direct investment attraction and business growth strategy, focusing on innovation-driven and high value-added sectors.
In 2025, under her leadership, LIAA launched 31 investment projects worth €1.01 billion, primarily in bioeconomy, smart energy, advanced manufacturing, and ICT, creating 1,350 new jobs across Latvia.
Laura holds an MBA and represents Latvia internationally, promoting a competitive, innovation-based investment environment.
Carolina Arriagada Peters
Cities & Collaboration fdiCampus CONVENER
Carolina Arriagada Peters is the main convener of the Aftercare Forum.
A prior FDI practitioner attracting investment to London, she is a senior FDI consultant who advises Investment Promotion Agencies across the world on how to leverage trade and investment as drivers for economic growth, with a focus on sustainable investment. She is the Managing Director of Cities & Collaboration where she works with many international organisations such as the IADB, UNDP, IFC, World Bank and UNIDO. She is the lead co-author of the only book about Aftercare titled “Investment Aftercare Explained, A Guide for FDI Practitioners and Policymakers on How to Grow and Retain Investors;” content which she shares in courses, workshops and executive coaching via the online portal fdiCampus. She is a recognized Aftercare thought leader and a driving force when it comes to advancing the frontiers of Aftercare at a global scale. In addition, she brings over a decade of working with the impact sector, mentoring impact makers.
Jakob Hensing
Global Public Policy Institute
Jakob Hensing is Head of Political Economy at the (GPPi), an independent non-profit think tank in Berlin, Germany. His work primarily explores how technology, power politics, and security concerns are reshaping the global economy and how Europe can navigate these developments. His writing and commentary have been featured in Foreign Policy, Wirtschaftswoche, and Newsweek, among others. Before joining GPPi in 2022, Jakob worked for more than five years in management consulting with McKinsey & Company and Orphoz Public, McKinsey’s public sector branch in Germany. He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree from Jacobs University Bremen.
Danuta Palipa
nvestment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) HOST CITY
Danuta Pīlapa is Deputy Director of the Investment Attraction and Business Development Department at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA). There, she leads service development and investor aftercare initiatives, working with both foreign and domestic capital companies in Latvia to strengthen the business and investment environment, support company growth, promote export expansion, and help address development challenges and opportunities. Danuta plays a key role in developing aftercare strategies, enhancing investor services, and fostering long-term partnerships that drive reinvestment and innovation. She is actively engaged in building collaborative platforms that connect investors, institutions, and the broader business ecosystem. Danuta is also a member of this year’s Organising Committee.
Kim Leandersson
RS Group
Kim Leandersson is a technology and operations leader with over 20 years of experience transforming IT, shared services, and delivery operations across Europe. Currently GSBS Transformation & Riga Site Lead at RS Group, he has previously led large-scale nearshore centres at Tele2, Telia, and Cognizant, managing operations of up to 1,000 people spanning IT, finance, HR, and customer operations. Co-founder of ABSL Latvia, the GBS industry association in Latvia, Kim is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and brings a pragmatic, people-first perspective to enterprise transformation — believing technology only delivers value when organisations pair it with curiosity and a genuine willingness to experiment. His work sits at the intersection of GBS strategy, AI enablement, and the evolving relationship between shared services, headquarters, and local markets.
Sofia Karadima
Actum Group
Sofia Karadima is Head of Market Intelligence and Community Engagement at Actum Group, where she leads value-creation research, thought leadership, events, product launches, social media, and community building across the private equity ecosystem. She is a researcher, investment writer, and event moderator, covering institutional asset management, private markets, foreign direct investment (FDI), ESG, and AI. Sofia has chaired and moderated sessions for organisations including MIPIM, UNCTAD, UNDP, New Statesman, GlobalData, Horasis, Platform Markets Group, and Boussias. She holds an MA in Journalism, Media, and Globalisation from City St George’s, University of London and Aarhus University plus degrees in Economics and Translation.
In addition, Sofia is a member of the Aftercare Forum’s Organising Committee Riga 2026.
Bhaskar Reddy
Growth Box Consulting LLP,
Bhaskar Reddy is a senior FDI specialist and practitioner with extensive experience working at the intersection of governments, global investors, and industrial ecosystems. He advises Indian and international companies on investment strategy, location selection, expansion planning, and post-investment execution, with a strong focus on manufacturing-led growth. He is the founder of Growth Box Consulting LLP, a firm that works closely with state governments and large investors to design and operationalise industrial clusters across sectors such as electronics, electric mobility, renewables, semiconductors, agro-processing, and advanced manufacturing. His work spans the full investment lifecycle—from pre-investment planning to aftercare, reinvestment, and ecosystem development. Bhaskar has been closely involved in large-scale industrial projects in Andhra Pradesh, India, and other regions, supporting expansion decisions, supplier localisation, and policy alignment. His perspective combines ground-level execution experience with strategic insight, making his work particularly relevant to the evolving role of technology-driven aftercare.
Cindy Vargas
PROCOMER
Cindy Vargas is Director of Business Environment at PROCOMER, with over 15 years of experience in strategic management and investment climate strengthening within foreign direct investment (FDI) ecosystems. Her work focuses on advancing structural improvements in investment-related processes through performance measurement, evidence-based approaches, and disciplined execution. Cindy brings experience in cross-institutional coordination and in translating investor needs into concrete policy and operational adjustments aimed at delivering measurable outcomes.
Thomas Fanning
FDI Consultant
Thomas Fanning is a senior FDI executive with experience in business development, corporate strategy, and public policy. Formerly the Head of Strategy at IDA Ireland, he has worked with major multinational companies across diverse sectors and represented the Irish government in initiatives such as Ireland’s proposal for the European Medicines Agency and the National Planning Advisory Forum, which reviewed significant proposed changes to Ireland’s planning legislation. Thomas also serves as a board director at NIBRT (Ireland’s National Institute for Bioprocessing Research & Training) and previously helped develop a new strategy for the Shannon Development Agency. Prior to FDI, Thomas worked in the private sector as Head of Business Development for Europe for Deutsche Bank and State Street Fund Services.
Giselle Gonzales
Equal Reach
Giselle Gonzales is the Founder and CEO of EqualReach, an award-winning social enterprise connecting vetted teams of refugee and local tech talent with dignified digital work. Having previously worked for global companies including Amazon.com, AWS, the Walt Disney Company, and National Geographic, Giselle leverages technology, storytelling, and impact sourcing to empower displaced communities and build bridges between the public and private sectors.
Starting as a freelancer herself back in 2015, Giselle has been working with displaced communities for the last 10+ years, spending the last six researching and advising on the rise of digital work among refugees. She built Amazon’s first team-based impact sourcing solution to send digital work to refugee talent and her experience overcoming the most common hurdles that both businesses and refugees face, led her to start EqualReach to address these challenges arm-in-arm with industry leaders.
Craig Turp-Balazs
Reinvantage
Craig Turp-Balazs is Head of Insight and Analysis at Reinvantage, a consultancy focused on strategic transformation, investment competitiveness, and economic development across the Baltics, Caucasus, Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, and Central Asia. His expertise centres on three areas where he has led and conducted extensive research: investment promotion effectiveness, IT sector competitiveness, and business process outsourcing capabilities across the region. His work focussses on translating complex policy environments and market dynamics into actionable insights for governments, development agencies, and businesses. Craig was previously a travel writer and consultant, authoring several guidebooks and helping countries, regions, and cities develop their tourism promotion strategies.
Anne Andersone
StartSchool Co-founder & CEO, Chair of the Board at Riga TechGirls
Anne Andersone loves building social movements, currently actively leading two:
1. StartSchool – a new type of education to create next generation of tech leaders and technical co-founders in Latvia;
2. Riga TechGirls – women empowerment and community to support more women joining the tech field;
Her Background spanns entrepreneurship, project management, product development, marketing strategy and planning, pitching and investor relations, startups.
She is also co-founder of Uzņēmēji Mieram initiative supporting Ukraine, startups berta.me and froont.com, on the advisory board of Madara Cosmetics and actively promoting digital skills development and equality.
Juan Pablo Alcantar
City of Veracruz, Mexico
Juan Pablo Alcantar is Director of the Economic Development Department for the City of Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico. He holds the Certified Economic Development Professional (CEcD) designation and bring experience in both the public and private sectors. Juan Pablo served on the Board of Directors of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Washington D.C., and works as an economic development consultant with projects, IPAs, and EDOs worldwide. For the past 13 years, he has managed business and economic development projects across multiple countries, focussing on economic diversification, innovation, job creation, investment and talent attraction, and investment and revenues growth. He has also published multiple economic development research reports.
Christine Graham
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Christine Graham is a Partner in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s global Antitrust and International Trade Team. Apart from advising on the broad spectrum of competition issues, a core part of her practice involves advising clients on foreign direct investment (FDI) screening reviews in the context of corporate transactions. Christine is widely recognised in the field of FDI: she is Vice-Chair of the ABA Antitrust Foreign Investment and National Security Committee, co-founder of the EU FDI Association, and a member of the UK government’s Expert Panel on the UK national security and investment regime. Her insights on FDI screening processes are regularly featured in leading publications and speaking engagements.
Vinod Goel
Jumia East Africa
Vinod Goel is Regional CEO for East Africa at Jumia, a leading pan-African e-commerce platform operating in 11 countries. Having joined Jumia in 2020 as Head of Fulfilment overseeing operations across all markets, he played a pivotal role in making Jumia Express faster and cheaper, doubling its size in 1.5 years, and established Dark Stores fulfilment operations. Earlier in his professional carreer, he worked as a software engineer in India and prior to Jumia worked in Strategy, Finance and Supply Chain at Lafarge Group, a French conglomerate, based in Europe, Asia, and Africa. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and a dual MBA degree from MDI Gurgaon, India and ESCP Europe, London.
Margarita González
ICEX
Margarita González is responsible for Aftercare services at ICEX-Invest in Spain, the Spanish Investment Promotion Agency. She holds a degree in International Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid and completed PhD courses at the same university.
Among other additional studies, she has a Master’s Degree in Marketing from ESADE Business School. In 2016, she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Civil Merit, which recognizes the merits acquired by public administration personnel. She has over 25 years of experience collaborating with different industries and companies in their international expansion
Lars Lin Villebæk
Copenhagen Capacity
Lars Lin Villebæk is a transformative leader specialisng in organisational innovation at the intersection of technology, business, and societal impact. With over 30 years of experience spanning Fortune 500 corporations and with six tech startups across five continents under his belt, Lars thrives when helping organisations navigate exponential change through human-centric approaches. As a certified transformation consultant and adaptability coach with a background in microelectronics and software algorithms, he designs, implements, and manages AI powered aftercare services at Copenhagen Capacity, in addition to his role as Senior Investment Manager.
In addition, Lars is a member of the Aftercare Forum’s Organising Committee Riga 2026.
Vanessa Gibson
CINDE
Vanessa Gibson has worked at CINDE Costa Rica for over 20 years; she started out as an economics researcher, three years later she assumed the position of manager for the Services Sector. Since 2009, she has led l the Aftercare area and is now the Investment Climate Director managing the strategy of competitiveness of Costa Rica for the attraction of foreign direct investment.
Vanessa is an Economist and holds her licentiate degree in Economics and a Master’s in Development Program and Project Evaluation from the University of Costa Rica, where she graduated in 2006.
Prior to her time at CINDE, she worked at the Central Bank of Costa Rica as an economic assistant to the Agricultural Economics Department.
Vanessa Gibson is also a member of the Aftercare Forum’s Organising Committee Riga 2026.
Lars Lin Villebæk
Copenhagen Capacity
Edin Erkocevic is an international business development and investment promotion professional with over 15 years of experience working across Europe, the Nordics, the Western Balkans, and Türkiye. Having lived and worked in Sweden, Spain, China, Austria, Germany, and Türkiye, he brings a strong cross-cultural perspective to public-private collaboration, market entry strategy, and stakeholder engagement. Edin has led complex projects at the intersection of government, business, and investment, supporting companies in international expansion and advising institutions on strategic partnerships and growth. He speaks fluent English, Swedish, German, Spanish and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. At the Forum, he is responsible for shaping a world-class programme that connects IPAs, policymakers, and technology leaders.
In addition, Edin is a member of the Aftercare Forum’s Organising Committe Rig 2026.
We are thankful for everybody who contributes to making the Road to Riga an unparallel gathering centered in growing FDI Aftercare.