Tanya Lobel joined Actis in 2010 to lead Actis’ philanthropic and community outreach division which focuses on social entrepreneurship, education and leadership. Actis uses its financial capital through a grant-giving programme and its human capital through a mentoring programme to work with partners throughout the emerging markets.  Tanya is also responsible for working with Actis’s portfolio investments on issues related to social impact and community development.

Tanya started her career as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers. She spent 4 years in Equity Capital Markets focusing on UK and Iberian clients. Post-MBA, she joined the Portland Trust, a foundation focused on private sector development in Palestine and Israel. She worked on strengthening the Palestinian microfinance sector and SME development in the Galilee and the Negev. She was then with DFID, where she designed and launched the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund in Kenya. The fund provides grants and loans to private sector businesses implementing innovative, high impact projects in the agricultural, financial services and technology sectors. Tanya was then an Investment Manager with the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm founded by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. She focused on making investments in the areas of microfinance, entrepreneurship and government transparency.

Tanya holds an MBA from NYU, Stern School of Business and a BSc in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.