Mimi Alemayehou—an investment, development finance, and policy leader in emerging markets—has worked in the public and private sectors for more than 25 years. Mimi is the Founder and Managing partner of Semai Ventures and a Senior advisor to Three Cairns Group, a mission driven investment and philanthropic firm focused on the climate crisis.
Previously she served as Senior Vice President for Public-Private Partnerships at Mastercard. Prior to joining Mastercard, Ms. Alemayehou was the Managing Director of BlackRhino Group, a portfolio company of Blackstone, where she focused on the development and acquisition of energy and infrastructure assets across Africa. Ms. Alemayehou was previously appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). During Ms. Alemayehou's tenure from 2010 to 2014, OPIC's portfolio grew by more than 24% to $18 billion and the corporation's Africa portfolio tripled. Prior to OPIC, Ms. Alemayehou was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the United States Executive Director on the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Her board roles have included: Chair of Blackstone Africa Infrastructure LP and the publicly traded special purpose acquisition company Climate Change Crisis Real Impact. She has also served on the Board of Fin Dev Canada, the US African Development Foundation, and Twitter Inc. She is currently on the board of the ONE Campaign where she chairs the Audit committee and a Trustee of the Packard Foundation. Ms. Alemayehou is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.