Chiara has been heading business development and professional services for Z/Yen’s office in Switzerland since January 2012.Chiara first joined Z/Yen as a consultant in July 2010 and has worked on a number of management projects and research assignments for public and not-for-profit organisations. Her research has focused on topics relating to finance, sustainable development, climate change and natural capital, macroeconomics and innovation. Publications include:

• Professor Francisco Szekely and Chiara von Gunten, “Climate Change and Business Innovation”, IMD, (to be published, 2012);
• Michael Mainelli, Stephanie Rochford, Chiara von Gunten and subject experts, “Capacity, Trade and Credit – Emerging Architectures for Commerce and Money” commissioned by the City of London Corporation, the Economic and Social Research Council and Recipco (December 2011);
• Chiara von Gunten and Dr. Malcolm Cooper, “Finance, Biodiversity and Managed Ecosystems: Where’s the Data?” commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (March 2011).

Chiara manages the London Accord, a programme within the Long Finance initiative that encourages long-term thinking on finance and environmental, social & governance issues. The programme makes available relevant research from over 50 contributing organisations mostly within financial services but also from academia and the not-for-profit sector. Chiara is involved with the strategic development of Long Finance and the promotion of the Global Financial Centres Index and other Long Finance publications.Chiara holds an MSc in Environment and Development (Distinction) from the London School of Economics and an MA in International Relations (Distinction) from the Graduate Institute of International Studies.Before joining Z/Yen, Chiara worked in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in both the UK and Switzerland. Most notably she has worked within the Sustainable Development unit of the City of London Corporation, where among other assignments she conducted their first sustainability performance assessment.Other professional experience includes working with the Sponsoring and Philanthropy team of Lombard Odier & Cie, Private Bankers, in Switzerland from 2007 to 2008; and with a French NGO in Madagascar in 2006, where she coordinated rebuilding works in the city of Farafangana.