Development Ratings

Helen Knight - Lead Research Analyst

Helen has over ten years of experience in project evaluation, research and analysis. Before joining Development Ratings, she worked as a consultant at the Office of Evaluation & Oversight of the Inter-American Development Bank and at the Operations Evaluations Group of the International Finance Corporation, both in Washington DC. She started her career as an investment analyst at Lloyds Investment Managers in London. Helen holds an MSc from Imperial College. Helen was born in Malaysia, lived in Trinidad and Barbados as a child and in Spain, the UK and the US as an adult.

Ben Cattaneo – Research Advisory Committee Member

Ben is a Principal Consultant with ERM, the world’s largest sustainable development consultancy. He was previously a Senior Consultant and Mining and Metals Sector Practice Leader at Control Risks, a specialist risk consultancy. He has substantial experience of assessing political, environmental and other risks for a variety of companies and organisations. He has published and presented widely on political risk and corporate social responsibility.

Denise Garcia – Research Advisory Committee Member

Denise is an academic at Harvard University and Assistant Professor at Northeastern University. She has worked and studied in a number of countries including Mozambique and Sierra Leone and currently lives in the United States. Her research areas include analysing the impact of the proliferation of small arms in developing countries and she has co-authored a book on Small Arms and Security. Denise has worked for a number of NGOs and international organisations including the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNESCO.

Fiona Curtin – Research Advisory Committee Member

Fiona is the Editor of the ‘Optimist’, the quarterly development magazine of Green Cross International, a leading environmental NGO. She is also a Director of Green Cross International’s London arm, a coordinator of the Earth Dialogues Fora and has extensive experience of charity management. She was previously Water Programme Manager at the Green Cross and has worked at several international development organizations including the UNHCR.

Peter is the founder of Development Ratings. Peter is a partner at Novator, an alternative investment company and has extensive experience in emerging markets investing and in advising corporate clients in both developed and developing markets on mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings, strategy and business development. He has previously worked at Deutsche Bank, at FPK and at Capital Group. Peter has Masters degrees from the University of Copenhagen and from the University of Geneva.

Natalie manages the client relationships and daily activities of Development Ratings. Natalie is a project manager at Novator, where she oversees and implements all the philanthropic ventures supported by Thor Bjorgolfsson. She has worked for the United Nations Director General’s office in Geneva and other international organisations like the OSCE and has substantial experience in NGO management and funding. She has Masters Degree from the London School of Economics and l’Institut des Sciences Politiques Paris.