Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Series: International Women's Day

Colm joined the team in 2010. He focuses on primary funds, co-investments and secondary transactions and over the last few years has been responsible for building up the US investment programme.

Colm brings experience of both fund and direct investments in Europe and the US to the Investment Committee. He has a broad range of relationships with both managers and investors in private equity which help provide insights on new opportunities.

Colm previously worked at Terra Firma in its finance and structuring team. At Deloitte, his clients included a number of private equity firms.

Karim Palant is Director of External Affairs at UK Private Capital, where he leads the Public Affairs, Communications and Research functions.

Karim and his colleagues tell the story of private capital through high-impact engagement with policymakers, stakeholders and the media.

Karim also oversees UK Private Capital’s agenda-setting research programme, which includes the Performance Measurement Survey - the largest primary research survey of its kind in the UK, and the annual Report on Investment Activity. 

He has two decades of experience in tech and economic policy. From 2015, he led public policy and economic impact work at major tech firms -  at LinkedIn and previously Facebook. Earlier in his career, he served as Head of Policy to the Shadow Chancellor. 

Karim studied PPE at the University of Oxford, following his education at Calderstones Comprehensive School in Liverpool.

Kinga Stanislawska is a European venture investor and ecosystem builder with over 25 years of experience across venture capital, fund governance and institutional investment. She has served as an investment committee member, fund manager and angel investor, with involvement in more than 200 technology investments through platforms including the EIC Fund, Experior and Sturgeon Capital.

Kinga spent seven years as a Board Member of the European Innovation Council and was closely involved in the establishment of the EIC Fund (€3.5bn AUM), where she also served on the Investment Committee. She is the Founder of European Women in VC, a pan-European platform working with institutional investors and policymakers on investment governance, venture ecosystems and access to capital for mixed teams in VC and growth.

Kinga is a founding architect of Bootstrap 4F, a UK-focused fund-of-funds initiative established to support the development of women-led venture capital managers. She was named among Europe’s Top 50 most influential women in venture capital and technology.

Sophie Hulm was the founder and architect of a Government-commissioned Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce. Sophie sees a clear link between the skills and labour challenges which exist in UK financial services and the need for greater socio-economic diversity at senior levels. Sophie joined Progress Together as Chief Executive in September 2022

Sophie currently sits on the SteerCo for the 30% Club and has led a number of high-profile initiatives, including the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards. Throughout her working life, Sophie has focused on the power of business to bring about change, including working for a welfare-to-work organisation, a Corporate Responsibility membership body, and as a trustee for Governors for Schools.

Her dad is a working-class East Londoner, and her mum is a retired academic with immigrant parents. She lives with her partner and two mixed-race children who are big fans of Pokemon and Octonauts.