Yana Watson Kakar

Biography

Yana Kakar is the Global Managing Partner Emeritus of Dalberg Advisors. Yana concluded her second and final term as head of the firm in 2020.

In her client work, Yana works with corporate leaders and investors to transform business models and investment portfolios through sustainable, responsible and impact-oriented strategies. She also advises governments, non-profits and philanthropists on policy, programming and charitable giving strategies that maximize positive social and environmental outcomes, with a focus on gender, youth and SMEs.

Yana serves on the Board of Directors of Oxfam America, the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, Convergence Finance, and she is a member of the Brookings Global Leadership Council and the Young Presidents’ Organization. In 2018, Yana was appointed to serve on the African Presidential Youth Advisory Council, advising heads of industry and state on matters of youth entrepreneurship and employment across Africa.

Yana’s perspectives on Environmental and Social Governance (ESG), Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), impact investing and ‘business for good’ have been published in a number of media outlets, including the Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, DevEx, The Guardian, The Economist and Forbes.

Yana holds a BA from McGill University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, speaks five languages and lives with her husband, two children and much-loved dog in New York.