Ava Mitzi

Strategic Partnerships · Habitat & Biodiversity Protection · Nature Finance · Conservation Systems

Paris | French / British | am@ibt.onl

Field · Institution · Finance

From aerial surveys over savanna
to federal corridors in Washington.

Conservation systems, strategic partnerships, and nature finance — built from the ground up.

I currently lead U.S. Federal and State institutional engagement for a U.S.-based technology company, managing long-cycle public-sector partnerships across Washington D.C. and Paris, while completing a Master’s in Environmental Policy at SciencesPo Paris with a focus on nature finance and biodiversity governance. My professional foundation is unusual in combining senior-level institutional business development with direct conservation field exposure across Southern and East Africa, including operational UAV deployment and aerial monitoring inside protected national parks.

I am building toward roles at the intersection of natural capital, biodiversity finance, conservation technology, and Africa-linked sustainable development: environments where institutional credibility, operational discipline, and field-level expertise are all required and mutually reinforcing.

Expertise

Four practice areas — institutional credibility, ecosystems, finance, and technology meeting in one operator.

Institutional & Strategic Partnerships

Public-sector pipelines, executive engagement, jurisdictional intelligence.

Senior-level engagement with U.S. Federal agencies, state Economic Development Agencies, and public-sector institutional counterparts
Long-cycle public-sector pipeline management with structured CRM architecture and jurisdictional segmentation
Cross-border stakeholder coordination and executive engagement strategy
CRM discipline: Salesforce, HubSpot, LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Jurisdictional intelligence: stakeholder mapping, policy monitoring, dossier development

Conservation Systems & Habitat Protection

Field-grounded conservation policy and operational UAV deployment.

Conservation policy, biodiversity governance, and protected-area management systems
Operational UAV deployment and aviation compliance inside Southern African national parks
Conservation field operations: habitat and biodiversity monitoring, anti-poaching support, aerial surveillance, and coordination with conservation authorities
Conservation finance, nature-positive investment frameworks, biodiversity regulatory systems
Africa-focused conservation and development systems with direct field exposure across Southern and East Africa

Sustainable & Nature Finance

Conservation finance & natural capital instruments.

Conservation finance structures and biodiversity-related investment frameworks
Blended finance mechanisms, natural capital instruments, sustainability-linked structures
Environmental risk assessment, ESG frameworks, nature-related financial disclosures
Public-private financing coordination across conservation and development contexts

Technology, AI & Geospatial Systems

AI-integrated workflows, UAV operations, supply-chain transparency.

Trained in Microsoft Copilot, applying AI-assisted workflows to CRM segmentation, pipeline reporting, and stakeholder outreach across institutional partnerships
Skilled in agentic, multi-step AI collaboration through Anthropic's Claude Cowork training, covering task delegation, file and research workflows, and responsibly steering AI-led work
Apply Anthropic's 4D framework (Delegation, Description, Discernment, Diligence) to evaluate when and how to use AI in high-stakes, fast-moving institutional environments)

Work Experience

A career arc from East Africa fieldwork to Federal partnerships.

Strategic Partnerships and Business Development Manager

2023 – Present

IBT Online · Washington D.C. / Paris

Lead long-cycle partnership pipelines across U.S. multi-state government environments, combining structured CRM segmentation with targeted jurisdictional intelligence.
Design jurisdictional dossiers, policy briefings, and executive engagement strategies for Economic Development Agencies and federal stakeholders.
Lead international delegation representation across the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Europe.
Design and deliver outreach programmes including institutional events, webinars, and masterclasses.
Integrate AI-assisted systems (Microsoft Copilot) into institutional workflows across reporting and stakeholder management.

Business Development Manager

2020 – 2023

IBT Online, Canada Operations · Montreal

Built the Canadian business development function from the ground up: outreach strategy, CRM discipline, and database-nurturing workflows that improved long-cycle conversion performance.
Generated qualified institutional pipeline through international trade missions and public-sector outreach programmes.
Managed revenue forecasting and delivered executive-level presentations to institutional stakeholders.

Production Manager

2019 – 2020

UMedia · Brussels, Belgium

Managed budgets and financial oversight across multi-country European productions.
Negotiated licensing agreements and coordinated cross-border contract logistics.
Coordinated stakeholder teams across Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Partnerships Manager

2016 – 2018

TimeSlice Aerial Cinematography · Cape Town, South Africa

Coordinated UAV deployment, aviation compliance, and operational risk assessments inside Southern African national parks.
Supported habitat and biodiversity protection operations including anti-poaching surveillance and habitat monitoring through aerial remote-sensing systems.
Applied Masters-level expertise in aerial cinematography and UAV systems to conservation field operations, working directly with conservation authorities, park management teams, and field ecologists on habitat and species protection objectives.

Production Coordinator

2014 – 2016

OutOfAfrica Entertainment & BBC · Cape Town, South Africa

Managed logistics and budget coordination for conservation documentary productions.
Coordinated international production teams across field and studio environments.

Humanitarian and International Development

Pre-2014

Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi · East Africa

IDP refugee camp operations in Kenya: community coordination and logistical support within displacement and emergency response settings.
Community development and child welfare structures in Rwanda: coordination within civil society-led environments.
Hospice and community care coordination in Burundi: support delivery within resource-constrained humanitarian settings.
Collaboration with local civil society organisations and international NGO structures across East Africa.

Download: Letter of Recommendation · TimeSlice Aerial Cinematography

Recommendation letter from the founder of TimeSlice Aerial Cinematography, where I spent two years coordinating drone operations in Southern African national parks. Including managing licensing, risk assessments, and multi-stakeholder partnerships between international and local teams.

AI Capabilities

AI-Integrated Workflows

Trained in Microsoft Copilot, applying AI-assisted workflows to CRM segmentation, pipeline reporting, and stakeholder outreach across institutional partnerships
Skilled in agentic, multi-step AI collaboration through Anthropic's Claude Cowork training, covering task delegation, file and research workflows, and responsibly steering AI-led work
Apply Anthropic's 4D framework (Delegation, Description, Discernment, Diligence) to evaluate when and how to use AI in high-stakes, fast-moving institutional environments

Geospatial & Remote Sensing

Two years leading UAV-enabled aerial monitoring inside Southern African national parks, supporting anti-poaching and biodiversity surveillance
Master's thesis (AFDA, Cape Town) examined aerial and remote-sensing technologies for habitat protection in Sub-Saharan Africa
Understand how AI-driven geospatial analysis, including satellite imagery and predictive habitat modelling, is transforming conservation monitoring at scale
Undertaking GEO-related training in applied geospatial tools for environmental monitoring

Data & Digital Systems

Manage structured CRM systems across Salesforce, HubSpot, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, supporting pipeline visibility across institutional portfolios
Apply data-driven account management to convert long-cycle relationships into structured, revenue-generating outcomes
Contribute to the UN ITU's Digital Product Passport initiative, supporting digital traceability standards for product lifecycle and supply chain transparency in the EU

Certifications

Sustainable Finance

Over $44 trillion of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on ecosystem services, yet natural capital has never appeared on a corporate balance sheet. National accounts measure GDP while omitting the depreciation of natural capital. Corporate balance sheets carry biodiversity as a zero. 75% of all corporate loans in the euro area are extended to companies with critical nature dependencies, an exposure that is neither disclosed nor priced, and the annual biodiversity financing gap stands at $700 billion. The instruments to address this are not theoretical: Costa Rica recovered forest cover from 21% to over 52% of national territory through direct payments for ecosystem services; Ecuador's 2023 debt-for-nature swap generated $323 million in ring-fenced conservation funding for the Galápagos Marine Reserve; and the World Bank's Rhino Bond mobilised private capital directly tied to black rhino population growth in South Africa. Moving that capital toward nature protection, at the scale and speed the evidence demands, is the work I want to be part of.

Download: Cambridge Sustainable Finance Certificate

University of Cambridge, Institute for Sustainability Leadership I completed the Cambridge Sustainable Finance programme, covering ESG integration, natural capital valuation, sustainable financial instruments, and the regulatory frameworks shaping how capital is governed and redirected toward nature and climate outcomes.

Download: The Role of Multilateral Banks and DFIs in Mobilising Capital for Nature

At Sciences Po Paris, I presented on how blended finance structures are used to de-risk nature-based solutions and mobilise private capital against an annual biodiversity financing gap of $700 billion, examining where instruments including biodiversity credits and debt-for-nature swaps are beginning to close it.

Education & Languages

SciencesPo Paris

Master’s, Environmental Policy

Specialisation: nature finance, biodiversity governance, environmental risk, Africa-focused conservation systems

AFDA Cape Town

Master’s, Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Specialisation: aerial cinematography for habitat and species protection

University of Bristol

BA, History / International Development / Documentary Filmmaking

International School of Paris

Bilingual International Baccalaureate, English / French

English Native

Français Native

Español Elementary

Lived, studied, or worked in: France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, United States, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi. Professional engagement spans Europe, North America, Southern and East Africa, and Latin America.

Research

Download

Download

Principles

Six operating commitments.

Long-term thinking.

Drawn to work that compounds rather than performs. Resilient systems and partnerships designed to operate across long implementation timelines.

Operational credibility.

Trust grounded in implementation rather than abstraction. Respect for execution realities, logistics, and disciplined delivery under complex conditions.

Institutional intelligence.

Patience, structure, and disciplined stakeholder management within governance and policy environments.

Systems thinking.

Working at intersections: finance and conservation, technology and field operations, policy and implementation, rather than in isolated silos.

Cross-cultural adaptability.

Operational fluency across African, European, and North American institutional environments and cultural contexts.

Pragmatic idealism.

Ambition matched with operational realism. Sceptical of rhetorical positioning disconnected from execution.