Biography
Marina Niforos is Affiliate Professor at HEC Business School (Future of Work), a recognised expert on disruptive technologies and innovation policy and an experienced Board Director. An economist by training, she has advised the International Finance Corporation and was lead author of the report Blockchain: Opportunities for Private Enterprises in Emerging Markets. She serves as Jury to the European Innovation Council Accelerator. In February 2018, she was named as an expert to the EU Blockchain Observatory.
Marina's past and current board mandates include, Séché Environnement, a French publicly-listed company in waste management, the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations, the sovereign investment management fund of the Hellenic Republic, where she chairs the Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee, and the European Network of Women in Leadership. In March 2012, she was appointed Commissioner to the United States National Commission for UNESCO by the U.S. Secretary of State. Marina also sits on the Advisory Board of the impact venture capital fund Urban Impact Ventures, headquartered in the Netherlands.
Marina has more than 25 years of experience in strategy, economic development and emerging technologies in the public, private and academic domains. She was the Managing Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in France, served as Executive Director for the INSEAD Center of Gender and Leadership and was Country Officer for Colombia and Ecuador, where she led the country team that developed the first Bank country assistance strategy with full participation of civil society, now a standard process at the Bank. In 1998, she received the World Bank Award for Excellence by President Wolfensohn for assisting borrowers with sovereign debt conversion in Colombia.
Ms Niforos earned an IDP-C (Certificate in Corporate Governance) and an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a Diploma in International Relations from SAIS-The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (Johns Hopkins University). She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University, with a B.A. with highest honors in Government and International Relations. She is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Greek and proficient in Italian.
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