About Veridicor
For more than 25 years, members of this team have led trade, energy, agribusiness, infrastructure and investment initiatives across Africa, Asia and Latin America — inside governments, development institutions, capital markets and mining companies. Veridicor exists because stakeholder alignment is a core business function, not a public-relations exercise, and because it can be financed like one.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Loren Stoddard has spent 30 years overseas, first as a food broker across the United States, Chile and Japan, then as a USAID Foreign Service Officer across Latin America, Africa and Afghanistan. He ran agriculture, trade and energy portfolios totaling roughly US$5 billion in more than 30 countries, including Power Africa and seven years in Afghanistan. He holds an MBA from Arizona State University, a Master of International Management from Thunderbird and a BA in Classics from BYU.
Board Member
Ann Rutledge is a capital markets expert with over four decades applying systems thinking to global finance. Founder and Managing Principal of her firm, she co-developed patented intellectual property modeling how credit-risk decay affects bond valuation, is published with Oxford University Press, and advises the UNDP Africa Concilium on sovereign credit ratings. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA from Wellesley College.
Board Member
Christopher Dell is a former U.S. diplomat whose 32-year Foreign Service career included ambassadorial posts in Angola, Zimbabwe and Kosovo, Deputy Ambassador in Afghanistan, and Deputy Commander of U.S. Africa Command. Since retiring he has led Bechtel’s operations in Mozambique and advised on African infrastructure. He holds a BA from Columbia University and an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford.
Board Member
Sarah-Ann Lynch is a former Career Minister with more than 34 years advancing U.S. foreign policy across South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. She served as U.S. Ambassador to Guyana and as Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Senior Foreign Policy Advisor at U.S. Southern Command, and concurrently as the Secretary of State’s Representative to CARICOM.
Board Member
Justin Stoddard is a leadership expert and executive coach with over 20 years shaped by service as an Army combat medic, infantry officer and intelligence officer. Founder of Climbing the Mountain, LLC, he holds a PhD in education focused on resilience and character development and consults across sectors on cultures of trust and accountability.
Board Member
Ken Yamashita brings over four decades of international development and public health experience, including USAID Mission Director roles in Afghanistan, Colombia and South Africa and Director for Global Operations at the Peace Corps. He was recently inducted into the American Academy of Diplomacy.
Board Member
Rob Karpati is a former corporate controller at DuPont and finance executive with over 35 years of global experience in strategic transformation and business process optimization. A Partner at The Blended Capital Group, he is focused on transforming the global artisanal mining sector to realize its financial, social and environmental potential — insight he brings directly to the design of V-Prosper and its financing ecosystem.
Board Member
Nenad Janicevic is a legal expert with over 30 years in corporate law, governance and international legal affairs. Managing Partner of a leading law firm in North Macedonia, he served as President of the Macedonian Bar Association for over a decade, counsels the President of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), and is Honorary Consul of Peru in North Macedonia.
Board Member
Scott North is the co-founder of Kamoa Capital, an advisory and capital-raising firm serving resource and junior mining companies. He specializes in commercial strategy, investor relations, and exploration economics, with expertise in copper and platinum group metals (PGMs). Previously, he served as Corporate Development Manager at Kingsrose Mining. He helps resource companies align capital allocation and growth strategies with investor expectations.
Board Member
John McNamara has over 45 years of Federal Service – between military and diplomatic careers – with extensive expertise in Latin America and the Caribbean. A West Point graduate with an MA in Latin America studies, John served in numerous leadership positions in the United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets), most notably, on the Joint Staff (Pentagon) and as a Battalion Commander in the 7th Special Forces Group. As a diplomat, he served extensively in Latin America, the Caribbean, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He led U.S. Diplomatic Missions in Peru, the Dutch Caribbean, Colombia, and Venezuela and retired in February 2026 at the grade of Minister Counselor.
Board Member
Alfred Nakatsuma has decades of experience in international development, specializing in sustainable natural resource management across forestry, marine, energy, freshwater, and minerals sectors. His work spans field implementation, policy, strategy, political economy analysis, and stakeholder engagement throughout Latin America and Asia, with a focus on Indigenous participation and benefit sharing. He retired from the U.S. Senior Foreign Service as USAID Diplomat in Residence for California and Hawaii. He has also held university teaching and lecturing positions and received numerous awards for his contributions. Since retiring, he has served as a senior advisor to government, private sector, and nonprofit organizations.
Board Member
Samir Giha has chaired the International Cocoa Organization’s (ICCO) Working Group for Generic Promotion of Cacao since 2022. He leads efforts to raise global awareness of cacao’s cultural and economic value, promote sustainable and equitable trade, and strengthen opportunities for producing countries. His work brings together farmers, industry leaders, and policymakers to connect local expertise with international markets.
Chief Business Architect
Maria Pascual is an international development specialist with over 30 years in organizational engineering, capacity building and institutional development across public, private and nonprofit sectors. At Veridicor she makes business architecture the connective tissue between strategy, operations, services, data and partnerships.
Chief Operating Officer
Slavka Stojanovska brings over 18 years across the security sector, international development and private enterprise, working with WHO, OSCE and USAID on high-impact partnerships in complex regulatory environments. She leads Veridicor’s operations and cross-regional delivery.
Vice President, Business Development
Noah Flessel is a stabilization and conflict-mitigation expert with 16 years in fragile, violence-affected and low-trust operating environments across Africa and the Middle East. He leads Veridicor’s global business development function, its directors and advisors, and its regional pipeline.
Regional Director, Latin America
Oscar Lancho is a strategic finance and corporate structuring expert with more than 20 years leading financial operations, valuation and governance across Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, including over two decades supporting USAID programs. He is Founder and Financial Director of Metta Finance.
Regional Director, Africa
Kristina Kempkey advises governments, investors and private-sector clients on political risk, stakeholder dynamics, governance frameworks and license-to-operate strategy across Africa’s extractive sector. She previously spent more than two decades in senior roles at USAID, the U.S. Department of Defense and the United Nations, managing governance and conflict-mitigation portfolios across more than 20 countries. She holds a Master’s in International Security Studies from Columbia University (SIPA) and a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley.
Senior Director, Peru
John Youle is a senior international advisor with more than four decades across diplomacy, mining-sector leadership and strategic advisory in Latin America, including as Vice President of Southern Peru Copper and Vice President of ConsultAndes. At Veridicor he strengthens strategic partnerships and guides stakeholder engagement across Peru.
Senior Advisor, Bolivia
Peter Natiello is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Career Minister and more than 35 years in development, stabilization and civilian-military coordination, including USAID Mission Director roles in Afghanistan, El Salvador, Colombia and Bolivia.
Sustainable Agriculture & Land Use
Luis Flores designs and implements sustainable agriculture projects from site selection through market linkage, with 25 years of international development experience at the intersection of land and water use, stakeholder participation, and the evolving needs of the mining and energy sectors.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
Nasrullah Ahmadzai is a monitoring, evaluation and learning specialist with over 18 years across South and Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, leading large-scale evaluations for USAID, the World Bank and Oxfam. At Veridicor he combines field-tested stakeholder analysis with NLP and sentiment-analysis tooling to power diagnostics and verification.
Director, VSPARR & Veridicor University
Donato Peña is an international development expert with nearly three decades of experience across Latin America and South Asia. At Veridicor, Donato directs VSPARR and Veridicor University, leads the monitoring and evaluation practice, and curates the News of the Week platform on global license-to-operate trends. He holds advanced degrees in economics and social management.
Economic Growth & Inclusion
Liliana Gil is a development specialist in economic growth, social inclusion and entrepreneurial ecosystems, designing high-impact programs that empower women and youth and building alliances with governments, multilaterals and private-sector leaders including Starbucks, Walmart, Cisco and Microsoft.
Mining Engineer & Gemologist
Clever Sithole is a mining engineer, gemologist, and mineral evaluator specializing in gemstone formalization, ethical sourcing, and value chain development. He chairs the African Gemstones and Jewellery Committee under the African Union’s African Minerals Development Centre. His experience includes serving as Head Gemologist for the USAID/DAI Invest project in Afghanistan and as a Mineral Evaluator in Zimbabwe, advancing sustainable mineral governance across Africa.
Director, Donor & Grant Programs
Business Development Advisor
Jared Batzel is an international development and humanitarian specialist with extensive experience leading strategy and operations in complex crisis environments. A former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with USAID and Major in the United States Marine Corps, he has managed large-scale humanitarian programs, advised governments and multilateral partners, and supported disaster response and resilience initiatives across Africa, the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East. Jared combines expertise in humanitarian assistance, strategic planning, risk analysis and international partnerships to help organizations navigate complex challenges and deliver sustainable impact. At Veridicor, he provides strategic advisory support on international development and business growth.
Executive and Outreach Coordinator
Madlina Elbahar is an experienced executive support and operations professional with over 15 years of expertise in administration, coordination and stakeholder engagement across international development, diplomacy and humanitarian organizations. She has held key roles with USAID, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.S. Embassy in Sudan, supporting senior leadership, managing complex logistics and coordinating high-level events and travel. At Veridicor, Madlina serves as Executive and Outreach Coordinator, bringing exceptional organizational skills, discretion and a commitment to operational excellence that enables teams and partnerships to thrive.
IT & Program Support Coordinator — VSPARR & V-University
Mónica Tuesta is a project management, monitoring and evaluation, and geographic information systems (GIS) specialist with more than 20 years of experience supporting international development programs. Having spent over two decades in international development in Peru, she has led monitoring and evaluation for multimillion-dollar initiatives, developed geospatial analyses to inform strategic decision-making, and strengthened collaboration between government, donor and implementing partners. At Veridicor, Mónica brings deep expertise in data analysis, GIS, project oversight and performance management, helping organizations turn complex information into practical insights that improve program delivery and impact.
Gender Advisor
Mahmuda Rahman Khan received the 2022 Laura W. Bush Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Global Women’s Equality. A development professional and gender integration expert, she has worked with BRAC, UNFPA, DFID, and USAID. She holds graduate degrees in Economics and Gender and Development and has taught gender-focused courses at KIT Royal Tropical Institute. Her expertise spans gender equality, leadership, training, and organizational capacity building. A skilled facilitator and team leader, Mahmuda brings diverse stakeholders together and builds strategic partnerships with governments, donors, and development organizations to design and deliver impactful programs across sectors and emerging markets.
Business Development
Saurabh has 20 years of experience working on private sector development, governance and institutional strengthening. He has served in various lead and technical roles for the World Bank Group and UN agencies in low-capacity, post-conflict environments including Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and Rwanda. He most recently served as the Private Sector Engagement Advisor at USAID Egypt between 2021 to 2025, establishing partnerships that mobilize private investments for community and development solutions. Saurabh is based in Cairo, Egypt, and covers the Middle East and North Africa region for business development.
