Advisory Board
PHILIP C. BOWERS
Philip has spent close to 40 years working as an investment banker with extended time spent at each of Merrill Lynch, Nomura and since 2008, Bentley Associates, a New York based boutique. He works with a broad cross section clients including industrial, technology and alternative energy companies primarily on fund raising and M&A transactions. At various times earlier in his career, Philip focused exclusively on high yield, restructuring and M&A transactions. At Merrill Lynch, in 1994, he joined the firm’s Asia Pacific Investment Banking Group in Hong Kong and spent the next eight years running various country groups. Mr. Bowers moved to Tokyo in 1998, to head Japanese corporate finance and in 1999, Merrill was voted “Best Foreign Investment Bank”. Returning to New York in 2002, he worked exclusively in M&A. In 2004, Mr. Bowers became Head of US M&A for Nomura Securities before starting his own investment banking boutique, Linkwell Capital. Mr. Bowers earned his B.S. from University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce and his MBA from Columbia Business School.
MICHAEL RAUENHORST
Michael is currently Managing Partner at Social Investment Managers and Advisors, LLC. Previously, he served as Vice President of the Social Performance Group of Moody’s Corporation, where he developed social performance assessment products for microfinance and other social investments. He previously worked with Deutsche Bank where he co-developed the microfinance industry’s first investment vehicles and managed microfinance investments in over 30 countries. He serves on the board of the DB Microfinance Development Fund, the Global Commercial Microfinance Consortium, and is founder of MicroCredit Ltd., Jamaica’s largest independent microfinance institution. He is co-founder of the Microfinance Club of New York, and a member of the Social Performance Task Force. He serves as Chair of the Opus Prize Foundation. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, a JD from William Mitchell Law School, and an BA from the University of Notre Dame.
SHIRIN JAMSHIDI
Shirin Jamshidi is a Director of Investments on the Asia/Middle East North Africa team in the Mission Transaction Unit of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Shirin has over 14 years of experience across various fields, including finance, strategic planning, and management consulting. Previously, she was a Senior Investment Officer for the Development Credit Authority Office at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Before joining the U.S. government, Shirin was a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. In 2016, Shirin co-authored the article "Financial Hedges in Merchant Power Project Finance” for the winter issue of the Journal of Structured Finance. Shirin has a Master of International Affairs in Global Energy Policy and Finance from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of California, San Diego.