Find Your Mentor

Here's the honest version of my background — which I think is more useful to you than a polished summary.  I didn't come from finance. I built businesses from scratch — a restaurant group, a coffee franchise across CEE, and later a POS payments startup I advised through an M&A process. I learned deal structuring, due diligence, and investor relations by doing them under real pressure: a bioenergy asset restructuring in Southeast Europe, solar station acquisitions, and now building a climate infrastructure company and an insurtech startup preparing for pre-seed.  What that means for you as a mentee: I can help you understand what PE and M&A advisory actually look like in practice — not just in theory. I can help you structure your thinking around deals, build a credible narrative for career transitions, prepare for interviews at PE firms or advisory boutiques, and understand how to work with founder-led businesses at board level.   I'm particularly useful if you are: — Transitioning from operations, consulting, or entrepreneurship into PE or M&A — Building a career in climate tech, energy, or insurtech investing — A founder or early-stage operator trying to understand the institutional capital world — Working in CEE, DACH, or emerging European markets   I work best with people who come prepared with specific questions and real situations — not generic career advice. Sessions are direct and practical.  I'm based in Bratislava and work across European time zones. Available for video calls.

18 years building and running risk functions inside systemically important banks — now advising investors, reviewing venture deals and teaching finance at graduate level. I mentor people who are getting into risk, credit, ALM/treasury, FIG, emerging markets and fintech, and people who have to compete from outside the US target-school system.

• Track record. Built three bank risk functions from zero: Chief Risk Officer of a commercial bank (2002–2008), then eight years leading market, operational, ALM and consolidated risk at VTB Group, then four years heading digital-ecosystem risk assessment at Sberbank. Automated 80% of a banking group’s risk processes, cut decision time ~40% and data errors 30–40%; delivered Basel II/III, ICAAP, IRRBB and stress-testing programmes (SAS eGRC, Oracle OFSA). Also served as fractional CRO for an international payments group rebuilding its risk system for central-bank compliance.
• What I do now. Investment Advisor / Agente Productor at Balanz Capital in Buenos Aires (CNV Idoneidad): portfolio construction, fixed income, FX and cross-border structuring for private and institutional clients across Argentina and LatAm. Venture Partner at Yellow Rocks! (pre-seed/seed fintech, edtech, AI), where I own risk assessment and financial-model review on deals.
• I teach this for a living, not just do it. Graduate finance faculty — Financial Risk Management (MSc in Finance) and Private Equity Funds (MBA Investment Management); previously Visiting Professor at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires. 35+ courses designed and taught, plus executive programmes for a Big Four firm and for a central bank. Explaining a hard trade-off in plain language is the actual skill I sell.
• Where I add the most value in a session. Breaking into risk management, credit, ALM/treasury, FIG, wealth management and emerging-markets roles; technical interview prep on VaR, Basel, ICAAP, IRRBB, liquidity and credit modelling; financial-model and case review; VC/PE due-diligence work on fintech and lending; and the pivot from PhD, academia or engineering into finance.
• International and non-target candidates. I built and led teams, hired across borders, and relocated my own career from Moscow to Buenos Aires. I work with candidates outside the US — LatAm, EMEA, CIS and Russian-speaking diaspora — on visa realities, how to translate a non-Western CV into what a risk or credit committee actually reads, and how to compete without a target-school brand. Sessions in English, Russian or Spanish.
• Credentials. PhD Economics and PhD Computer Science. Passed CFA Level I. CNV Idoneidad (Argentina). IPMA Level D. Published on price discovery in MOEX–CME derivative pairs and on fintech policy for Argentina’s digital finance sector; author of a monograph on commercial bank risk assessment.

Book me if you want the view from the other side of the committee — the person who decides whether the risk gets taken, told to you straight, with the interview answer you can actually reuse. Blunt feedback, concrete next steps, and a written follow-up after every session.

An experienced professional with over 16+ years of cross-functional

experience in Investment Banking, Debt Syndication, Debt capital

markets(DCM), Corporate debt advisory, management consulting, key

banking products and Strategic Key Account management.

Currently engaged with Blend International Limited (a boutique investment

banking company in DIFC) as Deputy Vice President – Large Corporates in

Africa, UAE and Singapore. With Competence in increasing the market share,

and generating sustainable revenue gains across products with both assigned

and new portfolio, I bring in experience of handling large corporate clients,

with deep insights in the financial consultancy domain and International

financial products and services.

Expert with 10+ years experience in Accounting, Financial analysis, valuation, Financial Investigations and Due diligence

I am a computational neuroscientist with graduate level training in engineer. I combine the two fields to design algorithms that can predict how time-series data will evolve. In my field, I use it to predict seizures and disease outcome but in my spare time, I use the same methods to create tools to import stock data, extract information from it, then predict how a stock will perform over a range of time-horizons. I have studied economic evaluation, particularly focused on oil and gas asset acquisition, and have created a company in the past for this purpose. In addition to being a PhD level researched, I am an instructor delivering engineering topics to new naval recruits. In doing so, I have obtained extensive mentorship and teaching experience.

• Senior Manager of Portfolio Management at a major Saudi petrochemical company, managing a multi-billion SAR capital investment portfolio through 2041 — spanning M&A, JV structuring, and strategic business development.

• 12+ years across energy, infrastructure, and industrial sectors in Saudi Arabia, including roles in telecoms (5G tower deployment), water utilities, and government commissions.

• Certified PfMP, PMP, PMI-RMP holder; Oxford Saïd Business School and INSEAD alumnus; currently pursuing a Doctorate in Engineering Management.

• Certified Career Development Facilitator (NCDA-FCD, USA) — professionally trained to guide professionals through career transitions, goal-setting, and strategic development planning in the Gulf market.

Hi! I’m Barb — a current Analyst at JPMorgan Chase in their Corporate & Investment Bank, Payments division, and a recent graduate from the University of Scranton where I earned both my MBA and B.S. in Finance.

Throughout my time in undergrad and grad school, I wore a lot of hats: student-athlete, tutor, study abroad advocate, case competition captain, and club president for financial literacy. I also studied internationally in both London and at Cambridge University, which helped me develop a global view of finance.

I know firsthand how overwhelming it can feel trying to break into finance — especially coming from a smaller school or non-traditional background. My goal is to make that journey easier for you. Whether you're prepping for interviews, wondering how to make your resume stand out, or just want someone to talk to who’s been through it all, I’m here to help.

If you’re interested in corporate banking, fintech, JPMorgan, or want advice on navigating internships, recruiting, or life in the working world — reach out. I’m passionate about paying it forward.

Let’s get you where you want to be.

• She spent the past decade building quantitative models for Family Offices and Private Equity Funds for M&A, litigation, financial reporting, compensation and tax purposes in New York City and in Miami.
• She sits on the Board of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and is a Valuation Manager at Valora Partners with offices in Miami, Florida and the Cayman Islands servicing large family businesses, institutional investors, trusts, multinationals, operating companies and private individuals.
• Prior to joining Valora, she was a Valuation specialist in the Transactions Services and Portfolio Valuation Specialist Groups at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manhattan, New York, where she serviced a broad range of clients including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bain Capital and Prudential, valuing traditional alternative investments as well as then VC-stage investments such as Airbnb, Uber or Palantir Technologies.
• Areas of expertise include model building of legally challenging deal structures / complex capital structures across various industries including, but not limited to, technology, life sciences, real estate and energy.
• Received her M.B.A. in Investment Management and obtained her Master’s in international Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, as well as her Bachelor’s in Economics and Social Sciences

I build efficiency from the ground up.

At XP Inc., I created the Efficiency & Value Creation agenda from scratch — defining governance, levers, and execution cadence across contracts, technology spend, processes, and resource allocation. My work sits at the intersection of strategy and execution: turning ambiguous cost challenges into structured plans, business cases, and measurable KPIs that drive real impact.

Before XP, I spent nearly three years at Deloitte as a Senior Consultant in Technology & Transformation, where I led strategic initiatives for financial services clients — from process mapping and target operating model design to competitor benchmarking for international firms entering the Brazilian market. I also bring hands-on experience in FP&A, data analysis (Python, Power BI, Excel), and regulatory reporting from roles at Diel Energia, Davos Financial Partnership, and Citibank.

My background in International Affairs and an MBA in Finance & Controlling from Universidade de São Paulo give me a unique lens: I combine analytical rigor with cross-cultural fluency (Portuguese, English, Spanish) to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

What drives me: translating complexity into clarity, influencing without authority, and building a culture where every resource decision is intentional.

Open to connecting with professionals in efficiency strategy, transformation, and financial services.

Comecei minha carreira no mercado financeiro há quase 20 anos e, desde então, não saí mais. Passei por instituições financeiras ligadas a grandes varejistas nacionais, ocupei cargos que foram crescendo em responsabilidade, de analista a gerente executiva, e aprendi, na prática, o que realmente sustenta uma instituição financeira saudável: controle, governança e gestão de riscos bem estruturada. Ao longo dessa trajetória, construí uma expertise que poucos profissionais conseguem combinar: domínio técnico em finanças e planejamento, com profundo conhecimento em Riscos e Compliance, duas áreas que, quando bem integradas, protegem o negócio e criam base para crescer com segurança. Na área de Riscos e Compliance, estruturei do zero áreas inteiras em instituições financeiras reguladas pelo Banco Central. Desenvolvi políticas, processos de governança e programas de integridade, implementei rotinas de PLD, gerenciei riscos de mercado, crédito, liquidez e operacional, e conduzi planos de ação junto ao BACEN. Sei o que os reguladores esperam, e como preparar uma empresa para responder com consistência. Na área financeira, liderei tesouraria, captação de recursos, planejamento orçamentário e gestão de fluxo de caixa em ambientes de alta complexidade. Participei de projetos de valuation e fui coautora de planos de negócios para abertura de instituições financeiras, um processo que exige visão estratégica, rigor técnico e diálogo direto com o regulador. Em 2025, depois de mais de uma década e meia acumulando essa experiência, decidi dar o próximo passo: fundei a minha consultoria para levar tudo isso diretamente a empresas e instituições que precisam de uma gestão financeira e de riscos de verdade, não de relatório, mas de execução. Trabalho com: 🛡️ Riscos e Compliance: PLD, controles internos, matriz de riscos, governança, atendimento ao BACEN 💰 Gestão Financeira: fluxo de caixa, captação, reestruturação de dívidas, redução de custos 📊 Planejamento e Controle: orçamento matricial, indicadores estratégicos, viabilidade de investimentos 🤝 Apoio à Gestão: valuation, estratégia de crédito e cobrança