Yana Watson Kakar

Yana Watson Kakar, Managing Director and Head of Americas at CDPQ, a Canadian institutional investor that manages pension plans and insurance programs for the province of Quebec, is an integral member of the Global Management team, which develops and implements CDPQ’s international strategy. She oversees CDPQ’s New York office as well as offices in Mexico and Brazil, working closely with the heads of the asset classes in developing CDPQ’s investment strategy and partnerships across the Americas region while strengthening the existing portfolio of constructive capital invested in private equity, fixed income, real estate, infrastructure, technology, and equity markets.

A seasoned executive, Watson Kakar has dedicated her career to generating economic and financial returns through the application of inclusive and sustainable business and investment strategies. Before joining CDPQ, she was the CEO of Growth for Good, a special purpose acquisition company with a strategic focus on decarbonization of the global economy.

Until 2020, Watson Kakar was Global Managing Partner of Dalberg Advisors, a mission-driven multinational consulting firm specializing in policy, strategy, and investment advisory. By the conclusion of her two terms in that role, she had led the firm to triple its revenues and grow to nearly 30 offices worldwide.

Watson Kakar sits on the Board of Directors of Oxfam America and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, the Women’s Forum of New York and 100 Women in Finance. She has been widely published, including in Bloomberg, The Economist, The Financial Times, Forbes, The Guardian, and Yahoo! Finance. She holds a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and speaks five languages.