EU Finance Day 2026 - Berlin

Head of Office in Germany, EIB Group

Christine Garburg brings over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. She began her career at Deutsche Bank in Germany before moving to London, where she worked in Corporate and Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank Bankers Trust and Merrill Lynch, and later as a Rating Specialist at Moody’s Investors Service. Over the past 16 years at the EIB, Christine has managed lending to corporate clients in the EU, as well as working in risk management and advisory services. She was also seconded to the European Stability Mechanism, where she contributed to developing the capital structure during the Eurozone crisis.

Head of Representation in Germany, European Commission

Barbara Gessler has been Head of the European Commission’s Representation in Berlin since March 2024. Prior to that, she worked at the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg, and, starting in 1994, at the European Commission, where she focused on cultural and media policy and, at times, environmental policy. After a year at the German Cultural Council, she became the Head of the EU Regional Representation in Bonn in 2004. In 2009, she returned to Brussels and headed the Culture Department of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency from 2011 to 2016. Starting in 2017, she was responsible for the Culture sub-program within the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture and played a key role in shaping the EU’s cultural funding programs. Most recently, she was responsible for capacity building in higher education at the EACEA.

Senior Policy Fellow for European climate and economic policy at the Jacques Delors Centre of the Hertie School

Philipp Jäger is Senior Policy Fellow for European climate and economic policy at the Jacques Delors Centre of the Hertie School. His analyses are focused on the EU’s clean industrial policy, as well as on the interplay between the EU’s climate policy and macroeconomic development. Previously, he worked as Economic and Policy Analyst for the EU Commission. Philipp studied philosophy and economics in Bayreuth, Harvard and Berkeley and received a Masters degree in economics from LSE.

CEO and Co-Founder of Climate & Company and Datura.io – Climate & Company Data Services

Ingmar is a pioneer in carbon finance and a leading expert in climate economics and sustainable finance, with a career spanning more than two decades. He has held senior positions at the OECD, the United Nations, and the European Commission, contributing to key climate policy and finance initiatives across adaptation, mitigation, and economic modelling.

Ingmar is a member of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance and the EU CBAM Expert Group. He has also served in advisory roles for Germany’s Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee and EFRAG’s sustainability reporting standards.

He is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Climate & Company and Datura.io. When he is not trying to save the planet, he can usually be found hiking (in the Swedish countryside).

Deputy Head of Unit for Access to Finance, DG GROW, European Commission

Eike Klapper is Deputy Head of Unit for Access to Finance at the European Commission’s DG GROW. He works to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness by improving access to finance and mobilising investment in the green and digital transitions. He particularly seeks solutions to the geopolitical and economic challenges facing the EU’s competitiveness, including investment, innovation, and job creation. From 2021 to 2025, he served as Counsellor for Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs at the EU Delegation to the United States. Prior to that, he held various roles within the European Commission in Brussels, including Assistant to the Director-General and Deputy Director-General of DG GROW. He studied Economics at the University of Göttingen and speaks German, English, Spanish, and some French.

Head of Sustainable Finance & Transition, Corporate and Institutional Banking, HSBC Deutschland

Anja Link is Head of Sustainable Finance & Transition at HSBC Germany. She focuses on supporting large corporate clients in their sustainable transition, providing financing solutions as well as sharing expertise and market insights. She also helps ClimateTech innovators scale through venture debt and by connecting them with corporates via HSBC’s global banking platform. Anja has more than 25 years of experience in banking and management consulting. Before joining HSBC in mid-2023, she worked at UniCredit Group, where she held senior roles across sustainability, loan origination for multinational corporates, risk management and in-house consulting, driving large-scale digital transformation programs. Outside work, she enjoys running, cycling and hiking.

Head of Sustainable Finance Unit · European Investment Fund

With over 17 years of experience in the financial services sector, Diana currently leads the Sustainable Finance Team at the European Investment Fund (EIF). She is responsible for the development of sustainable finance products and advisory initiatives, supporting the EU’s green transition objectives.

Previously, she served as Senior Mandate Manager at EIF, where she played a key role in designing and launching the InvestEU guarantee products.

Before joining EIF, Diana spent 12 years in the private banking sector, where she led the funding and capital management team of a top-tier commercial bank in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Co-Head of Investment Management, KfW Capital

Christian has worked for KfW Capital since its foundation in 2018, helping build the team and product portfolio, among them the investment mandate for Wachstumsfonds Deutschland as one of the largest European VC-focused fund-of-funds. Since 2021 he has led the investment team and now is Co-Head of Investment Management focusing on the Life Sciences, Deep Tech and Impact sector, with KfW Capital's investment portfolio standing at 2.9bn EUR. Prior to KfW Capital, he was the personal advisor to the CEO of KfW. In 2012, he completed his M.Sc. Finance studies at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, after which he was responsible for project financing in renewable energy at KfW.

Head of Impact and Private Equity

Alex Seddon is Head of Impact and Private Equity at M&G, the London based savings and investment business. He has been investing in public and private markets since 2003 and held a number of private market investment leadership roles at Prudential and M&G since 2011. 

  He established M&G Catalyst in 2021, which is a $6Bn global investment mandate focused on helping purpose driven businesses succeed and scale. The strategy is focused on the application of innovation and technology to solve problems across Climate, Healthcare and Inequality.

  Alex is a member of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Carbon Management at UCLA,  the Advisory Council for the Impact Investing Institute, and the UK Government’s Invest in Women Taskforce.

Venture investor and Founder of European Women in VC

Kinga Stanisławska is a venture investor and founder of European Women in VC, with over 25 years of experience across venture capital, institutional investment and public-private innovation finance.

She served for 7 years on the European Innovation Council Board and was Investment Committee member of the EIC Fund, Europe’s €3.5bn deep-tech investment platform. She is also co-founder of Experior VC. She has been involved in over 200 technology investments across Europe. In the UK, Kinga led the original development of a women-led fund-of-funds proposition designed to mobilise institutional capital into female and diverse venture fund managers.

She has been recognised by Forbes as one of Europe’s 50 Women in Tech and has been included multiple times in Europe’s Women in Tech Top 100 list.

Head of the central MFF and EIB division, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Dr Storost currently heads the central MFF and EIB division within the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Drawing on a legal degree and many years of professional experience, he brings to the table practical insights into both the financing of large-scale projects and the shaping of European policy. Throughout the past decades, Dr Storost was responsible for the ministry’s International hydrogen strategy and attraction of foreign investment.  Dr Storost also worked as head of the German delegation to the Paris Club, coordinated the ministry’s position as to international development banks, and was chief negotiator for EU internal market dossiers. Dr Storost also worked for some time at the government’s EU Permanent Representation, at the European Parliament and with law firms both in Berlin and San Francisco.

Policy Assistant, Sustainable Finance Unit, DG FISMA, European Commission

Martina Vaselli is a Policy Assistant in the Sustainable Finance Unit of DG FISMA. In this role, she contributes to the development of the EU Taxonomy and the wider EU sustainable finance framework, in coordination with other Commission services.  Prior to joining the European Commission, she worked in the private sector as a consultant and policy adviser in financial services legislation, with a focus on EU and international sustainable finance policy.

Head of Unit for European Policy and Fundamental European Affairs, Baden-Württemberg State Ministry

Born in 1977; studied, among other places, in Tübingen and Strasbourg; holds a Master of European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. Professional experience includes positions at the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg in Brussels, the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg, various ministries, and the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg. Since 2021, has worked in the European Policy Department of the Baden-Württemberg State Ministry (State Chancellery), and since 2024 has headed the Unit for European Policy and Fundamental European Affairs.

In 2002, was a member of the European Youth Convention. Since 1999, has been a member of the Europa-Union; from 2002 to 2004 served as State Chair of the Young European Federalists (JEF) Baden-Württemberg; from 2004 to 2006 served as Deputy Federal Chair of the Young European Federalists; since 2013 has been Deputy State Chair of Europa-Union Baden-Württemberg; and since 2019 has been a member of the Presidium of Europa-Union Germany. Since 2021, has also been a lecturer at the Kehl University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration.