Implementing Partners
Representative
John Safrance
Founding Partner
Bio
John is a Founding Partner at EMIF Group Inc. With EMIF, John oversees all matters related to corporate development and strategy.
EMIF Group’s mission is to catalyze and accelerate the preparation, financing, construction, and operations of sustainable infrastructure throughout the Global South while achieving the furtherance of the UN’s SDG Goals. The business is comprised of our asset management platform and advisory group offering a suite of project preparation services spanning feasibility through to financial close.
John’s 25-year career in investment banking and non-OECD utility scale renewable energy development arms him with a unique perspective into what makes projects financeable within the international private investment community – including all matters related to ESG, risk mitigation, and financial viability.
Representative
Oliver Schaper,
Principal and Global Cities + Urban Design Resilience Leader
Bio
As a Principal and the Global Practice Area Resilience Leader for Cities & Urban Design at the global planning and design firm Gensler, Oliver spearheads and oversees planning and urban design projects, strategies, and communication tools at every scale. His work includes master plans, city-wide sustainability frameworks, and advisory on urban resilience challenges, circular city strategies, and targeted innovations to improve health, wellness, and human experience within urban environments. Oliver’s recent work includes a comprehensive resilience framework with strategic recommendations for affordable housing, gentrification, city-wide carbon accounting, urban density, and vertical public realm for one of the world’s largest new urban developments. Oliver leads Gensler’s partnership with UN Habitat’s Cities Investment Facility, to help advance sustainable development and impart positive impact on communities around the world through investment, consultation, and implementation advisory. He is a Fellow at the Urban Design Forum, a LEED accredited professional, a former expert advisor to INDICATE, an EU-sponsored Smart City Initiative, and a former advisor to the NYC Mayor’s Carbon Challenge.
Representative
Kok Chin (KC) TAY
Chairman
Bio
Kok-Chin (KC) Tay is the Founding Chairman of Smart Cities Network (SCN) since August 2018. SCN is a network of innovative solution and services providers for smart cities, based in Singapore with a focus in Southeast Asia and youth development. Its members now stretch across the US, Canada, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
With SCN as an implementation partner of the UN Habitat Cities Investment Facility, he leads the partnership with Iskandar Malaysia for their Smart Integrated Mobility Management System (SIMMS).
KC is concurrently Executive Director (ASEAN) for Smart Cities Council, one of the largest ecosystems of stakeholders for smart cities globally. He had participated in the Smart Cities Week in Sydney in 2018 and 2019.
He has been involved with Smart Cities when he was with IBM Leader for Smarter Planet and Smarter Buildings for ASEAN from 2011 till 2013. He was the project manager for the Smarter Cities Challenge in collaboration with the Singapore government in 2012, which in part, led to the launch of the Smart Nation Initiative by the Singapore government in 2014.
Widely acknowledged as a thought leader for smart and sustainable cities, he now provides consultancy services at the city and national level in a few countries in South East Asia, as well as for start-ups for smart cities.
Visiting Professor for Smart City courses at the National University of Management (NUM) based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and UN ESCAP Smart City Consultant to help develop the National Smart City Policy Guidelines for Cambodia.
He was awarded the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Ambassador as a “prime mover” by the Philippines Department of Science Technology (DOST) for region 2 in Dec 2021, which became a catalyst for the national movement for Smart & Sustainable Cities in March 2023.
Representative
Mehul Patwari
Director, Sustainable Infrastructure
Bio
Mehul Patwari, leads South Pole’s Sustainable Infrastructure Finance unit. He is an infrastructure and investment professional with more than 24 years of experience in urban infrastructure design and financing. His expertise includes the conceptualization of complex infrastructure projects, project development, economic and financial assessment, and structuring projects to ensure that they are bankable and attractive to private financing across the sectors. Over years Mehul has worked with several cities across India in urban investment capital investment planning and mobilizing finance based on the fiscal health assessment of the cities. Mehul has excellent knowledge of the Asian climate change policy landscape, market-based instruments, incentive mechanisms, and environmental conservation sector. His experience also includes assisting policy makers in the choice of appropriate regulatory policies, laws and instruments to support low carbon strategies and disaster resilience including scenario-based risks and opportunity assessments. Mehul, as a part of the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Group India, has led the conceptualization and implementation of India’s first International Financial Services Centre – Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) city. Mehul spearheaded conceptualization and implementation of various economic ecosystem enablers for establishing GIFT as an international financial center. Mehul holds MBA with specialization in finance for Sardar Patel University and several certifications in infrastructure financing form premier Institutes.
Representative
Matt Benson,
Senior Director
Bio
Matt Benson, a trained geographer, is a Senior Director at Think City is based in the George Town World Heritage Site, Penang, Malaysia. He is an experienced analyst, strategic planner and project manager. Matt has led complex local economic development, mapping, data collection, master planning, and public realm improvements in inner city, suburban and remote environments. In his current role at Think City, he leads a team of urban analysts, designers and researchers developing and piloting innovative solutions to improve the sustainability and liveability of cities.
Matt served as a member of the UN-Habitat’s International Advisory Board for the World Cities Report in 2020, 2022 and 2024 and has been a participant in several UN-Habitat Expert Group Meetings including those dedicated to creating the Global Urban Monitoring Framework.
Representative
Garima Prasai,
Director, Program Development and Strategic Initiative
Bio
Since RCC’s inception, Garima Prasai has been directly responsible for building and overseeing all of RCC’s key operations, fiduciary and governance structures. Additionally, Garima supports RCC’s Project Preparation Program and Advisory projects, helping cities, communities and partners build capacity to accelerate equitable, inclusive and resilience-building projects towards implementation globally. Garima also plays a key role in further advancing RCC’s impact and growth goals leaning into long-term and emerging strategic initiatives across operations, development, thought leadership and programs.
Prior to joining Resilient Cities Catalyst, Garima worked with Fortune 100 companies, startups, and third-party developers to understand the value of cognitive analytics and emerging technology. While at Bloomberg LP, Garima managed key strategic accounts globally as a Senior Relationship Manager, overseeing a team, and responsible for the direct growth of the organization. She was formerly the Chief Evangelist of the IBM Watson Group, serving on the core team that first commercialized and scaled IBM’s transformative Watson technology. Garima’s expertise spans from business development, market strategy, creating go-to-market solutions, building organizations and service lines, project management, and client service delivery. Garima began her career at Deloitte & Touche where she organized and led a high visibility Program Office whose purpose was to coordinate cross-functional business pursuits and assist colleagues and clients in recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Sandy. For the Audit and Enterprise Risk Service group, she helped lead Alternative Assets Management and Corporate teams in financial statement & internal control audits on a premier $3.4B engagement on a range of accounting issues in accordance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404, US GAAP and PCAOB guidance.
Garima holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University.
