Our Team

Carolina has more than seven years of experience in operational and financial consulting and more than five years of experience in country risk analysis for Latin America. As the Director of External Relations at eStandardsForum, she is responsible for building and managing research partnerships and alliances around the world as well as establishing communications with local think-tanks, universities, and government officials. Ms. Azar joined eStandardsForum in late 2002 as a Research Associate with a focus on Latin America. Prior to joining eStandards Forum, she was involved with American International Group (AIG) and ING Barings, doing country risk analysis on projects associated with increasing business exposure and assessing financial and political risks in Latin America. She previously served as a Senior Financial Consultant for HLB International in Argentina, advising public and private sector organizations on financial, strategic, and business matters. Ms. Azar started her professional career as a CPA in the Ministry of Economy of Argentina. She holds a Master's degree in International Finance and Business with a focus on Latin America from Columbia University and a Master's degree in Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ms. Azar became a licensed CPA in Argentina in 1997. She is a Spanish native speaker and is fluent in English, French, and Portuguese.

Maria joined eStandardsForum in 2003 and currently holds the position of Director of Research. In this capacity, she is responsible for managing the activities of the eStandardsForum research team and supervising associates in their assessments of countries' compliance with international standards for insurance regulation, insolvency framework, accounting, and auditing. Maria's primary research interests lie in the area of the worldwide convergence of national accounting standards with International Financial Reporting Standards. Maria brings to eStandards six years of experience gained while working in the developing Russian securities market as an Investor Relations Associate for the Inficom and Vesta investment companies. Maria holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, with a concentration in International Finance and Energy Management. She has also earned a Master of Arts in Germanic philology and a Master of Economics and Business Administration, both from Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia.

Prior to her appointment as Senior Administrative Officer for the Financial Standards Foundation, Mona worked as the Director's Assistant for the Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting Group of New York, in their Actuarial Consulting Division. Prior to this, Mona worked as an Assistant for Financial Security Assurance, Inc., in both the Compliance and Internal Audit Departments. She has more than seven years experience working for financial firms, and worked specifically in the field of Risk Management for more than two years. She received a Master of Sciences degree from Long Island University, Brooklyn, in 1997, and a B.A. from Buffalo State College in 1995.

Cheng joined eStandardsForum in 2009 and currently does primary research for country-assessments against international standards on Corporate Governance and Payment System, as well as Accounting and Auditing. Prior to joining eStandardsForum, Cheng interned at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, where she researched corporate governance laws and regulations in 25 emerging markets. Her research was published by the United Nations in a 2008 UNCTAD report. Her subsequent Master’s Project focused on the framework for and enforcement of corporate governance in China. She also worked as a marketing professional for Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York and L’Oreal in Shanghai, China. Cheng holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy; she has a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Peking University, China. Cheng is a native speaker of Mandarin and is fluent in English.

As Director of Communication, Andreas is developing and managing all aspects of eStandards' presentation of information, in particular its website. In his secondary function as Co-Head of Research at eStandardsForum, Andreas leads the country teams in their assessments of the standards on Monetary as well as Fiscal Policy Transparency, Corporate Governance, and Securities Regulation. . Before joining eStandards, he worked at the German Parliament, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, where he co-authored a study on the reform of the international financial system. He also taught International Relations at the University of Regensburg. Andreas holds a Masters' degree in Political Science from the University of Munich and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. While at Columbia, he concentrated on International Economic Policy and was a Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Economic Development in Bogota, Colombia. He is a Level III candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst Program, a German native speaker, fluent in English and Spanish, and conversational in French.

Prior to joining eStandards Forum, Anuja was the principal correspondent at the New Indian Express, a leading Indian news daily. She previously covered Indian politics and business as a correspondent for Sunday, a popular newsweekly of its time. A Shastri-Indo Canadian fellow at the University of Toronto, she worked briefly on issues of gender equality and empowerment within the South Asian community. She holds a Masters' degree in Linguistics from the University of Delhi and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. While in graduate school, she interned with Corporate Research and Development, American International Group (New York) and was a research assistant for the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, an institute founded by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz. Anuja is fluent in Hindi and English and has a working knowledge of Spanish.

As Director of Strategy/Policy Planning at eStandardsForum, Tija is responsible for promoting the CEO's overall vision for the company by creating liaisons with global thought leaders and experts in finance and development. She develops new strategic initiatives (projects) that enhance and promote eStandardsForum's work within the global financial community. In a secondary capacity, as Co-Director of Research, she supervises the research team's work relating to country-assessments against international standards on Banking Supervision Practices, Systemically Important Payment Systems, Anti-Money Laundering Regimes, and Data Dissemination Practices. During the course of a ten-year professional career, she has worked on various projects that advocated the importance of the private sector in promoting economic growth and development. As an economist at the Boston based Beacon Hill Institute, she specialized in Computable General Equilibrium Tax Models, and U.S. state and local policy issues. While at the Beacon Hill Institute, she co-authored several policy publications on the effects of federal, state and local taxes on economic growth. She also worked at various public sector agencies such as the Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies, where she coordinated the institute's publications on the financial sector in the Middle East, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Tija holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Master's degree in Economics from Mahatma Gandhi University, India.

Alex joined eStandardsForum in 2009 and is responsible for assessing country compliance with transparency standards on Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy, Payment Systems, and Data Dissemination. Prior to joining eStandardsForum, he worked at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a government agency that facilitates the participation of US private capital in developing countries. While there, he performed political risk analysis as part of the underwriting process for insurance policies between OPIC and US investors. Alex obtained a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University with a concentration in International Economic Policy and a regional focus on Latin America. Prior to graduate school, he worked in Brazil as an English teacher, serving as an instructor primarily to executives at IBM. Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a dual US/UK citizen, and speaks fluent Portuguese and conversational Spanish.

Ranita comes to eStandardsForum directly after earning a Masters in Economics from the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University (NYU). While at NYU, she held the position of Junior Professional Fellow at the United Nations University (UNU), a think-tank to the United Nations (UN) and its’ member states. At UNU, she had the opportunity to spearhead research projects pertaining to the economic, legal and political aspects of financial crises. Ranita also pursued an internship in the Economic Affairs Unit of the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, where she focused on development research and capacity building efforts related to the African region. Ranita obtained her Bachelor of Science in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a financial data analyst in Singapore, specializing in currencies and derivatives. She speaks English, Malay and Cantonese fluently, and is currently working on improving her French.

Prior to joining eStandardsForum, Reshma worked as Financial Consultant with First Investors Corporation and as Project Manager in an alternative energy research project for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Reshma also interned with the Global Compact Office at the United Nations, formulating and developing an electronic resource kit for global corporations to incorporate good corporate governance practices in their organizations. Reshma holds a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) Degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi, India, from where she also got her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Political Science. Her M.Phil dissertation was entitled "Secularism: Recent Debates." Reshma went on to earn a Master's degree in Public Administration from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, with a concentration in International Finance and Policy. Reshma is fluent in Hindi and English, and conversational in Urdu and Bengali.

Matt has been involved in all aspects of the start-up and ongoing operation of eStandardsForum since it's founding in 2000. He has responsibility for the oversight of the research process, human resource management, outreach to governments, and development of the eStandards website. He has also been responsible for the publication of the eStandards Weekly Report and the project assessing low-income countries. Prior to joining eStandardsForum, he worked as a Program Officer for the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, a consultancy and advisory firm addressing issues related to reform of the global financial system. From 1995 to 1997, he worked in Ukraine as a Business Development volunteer with the United States Peace Corps. Mr. Zimmer has a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, a Master of Business Administration from Pace University, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Florida. He is a native English speaker and speaks conversational Russian.