Speakers

Vanina Farber is a macroeconomist and political scientist specializing in social innovation, impact

Vanina Farber is a macroeconomist and political scientist specializing in humanitarian finance, impact investment, and social innovation, with more than twenty years of experience in research, teaching, and consultancy. She works with academic institutions, multinational corporations, and international organizations.

At IMD, Vanina designs and directs the Driving Innovative Finance for Impact (DIFI) program, equipping leaders with tools to drive sustainable financial solutions. She recently co-authored “Navigating Humanitarian Impact Finance” (IMD, 2024) report, and her forthcoming book further develops this work to advance the field and support practiotioners. Her case study on the ICRC’s Humanitarian Impact Bond highlights the role of innovative finance in humanitarian contexts.

In November 2020, she co-authored “The elea Way: A Learning Journey towards Sustainable Impact” with Peter Wuffli, summarizing insights from elea’s 15-year pioneering journey. Some of her academic contributions include the 2022 paper “Defining and Conceptualising Impact Investing: Attractive Nuisance or Catalyst?” in the Journal of Business.

A multiple award-winning case writer, Vanina was recognized as Outstanding Case Writer for compact cases in 2025 and Outstanding Case Writer in The Case Centre’s 2022 Awards for her study on Angaza. She also won the EFMD Case Writing Competition in 2024, 2022 for two categories—African Business (Angaza) and Responsible Leadership (Nia Impact Capital)—as well as the 2019 Responsible Leadership award for her work on Philip Morris International’s smoke-free vision.

Before joining IMD, she was Professor and Chair of Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Inclusion at Universidad del Pacífico, Peru, where she also served as Dean of the Graduate School of Business.