Kerstin Lopatta

Persefoni U.K.

Kerstin Lopatta

Strategic Advisor

Since 2022, Kerstin Lopatta has served as Vice Chair of the Sustainability Reporting Board of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and Special Liaison to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). While at EFRAG, Professor Lopatta has been responsible for the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

Professor Lopatta is professor of Financial Accounting, Auditing and Sustainability at the University of Hamburg and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance at the University of Luxembourg. She is also affiliated with City University of Hong Kong as a visiting professor. She received her doctoral degree from Goethe University Frankfurt.

Professor Lopatta has extensive experience in sustainability reporting and financial accounting in practice and research. She is a member of the Sustainability Reporting Technical Committee of the Accounting Standards Committee of Germany (ASCG) and has chaired the ASCG working group on Climate Reporting. She also serves as a member of the Sustainable Finance Council of the German Ministry of Finance and as an academic observer of the Platform on Sustainable Finance. She has been involved in developing, improving and implementing a variety of disclosure standards in different areas of sustainability reporting, including co-reviewing the adaptation of the German Sustainability Code to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Taxonomy.

During her career, Professor Lopatta completed several international research stays including at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Copenhagen Business School. In her research, she investigates empirically the effects of environmental, social, and governance factors on business and society. She also covers corporate governance topics such as board structure and diversity. Professor Lopatta is a member of the supervisory board and of the audit committee at Freenet AG and a member of the supervisory board and chairwomen of the audit committee at EQS Group AG. Before embarking on her academic career, Professor Lopatta worked as an audit assistant for Deloitte.

Meet More of the Team

Allison Binns

Persefoni U.S.

Allison Binns

Strategic Advisor

Allison is the Managing Director for ESG & Sustainable Investing Strategy at Angelo Gordon, based out of NY. She began her current role after her position as the Executive Director for Global Sustainability Research at Morgan Stanley. From 2011-2018, Allison worked for Chevron in a number of senior corporate advisory roles that focused on environmental, social, governance (ESG), and geopolitical issues.

Kerstin Lopatta

Persefoni U.K.

Kerstin Lopatta

Strategic Advisor

Since 2022, Kerstin Lopatta has served as Vice Chair of the Sustainability Reporting Board of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and Special Liaison to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). While at EFRAG, Professor Lopatta has been responsible for the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

Douglas Sabo

Persefoni U.S.

Douglas Sabo

Strategic Advisor

Sabo is a recognized global leader in corporate sustainability, ESG and sustainable commerce. From 2008-2024, he served as a corporate sustainability and responsibility executive at Visa Inc., the global payments leader, including as the company’s inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer. In his role, Sabo led Visa’s ESG strategy, framework, reporting and stakeholder engagement, driving the company to regular recognition as a top industry leader for ESG performance. Sabo also led the company’s environmental sustainability, human rights and responsible business initiatives, including Visa’s initiatives in the company’s operations as well as in empowering sustainable living and commerce.

Paul Dickinson

Persefoni U.S.

Paul Dickinson

Senior Advisor

Paul Dickinson is the Founder Chair of CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). He has served as a member of the Environmental Research Group of the UK Faculty and Institute of Actuaries. In addition, Paul is also the Chair of the Trustees of the NGO ShareAction, Trustee of the Findhorn Foundation, advisor to the NGO Influence Map, trustee of the grant making Friends Provident Foundation, and author of Beautiful Corporations.