Unreasonable Mentors
Tanja Gihr
Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Banking Group EMEA
Tanja is an Unreasonable Mentor. Tanja has participated in 4 programs, including Unreasonable Impact UK & Europe 2024, and has advised over 54 Unreasonable companies.
A personable leader I enjoy collaborating and empowering those around me to strive for a fairer and more sustainable world. I champion and advise companies and people that are transitioning, with a clear pathway and ability to make impact.
With a drive for change and transition, I have moved to the ESG market backed by my wealth of experience as a senior financial industry executive. Having focused on raising funding and capital for large financials in the debt capital markets for over 16 years, I spent the last three years establishing Barclays ESG Advisory Team. Since January 2024, I’m heading our Sustainable Banking Group EMEA. This team supports the sustainability needs of our clients across all industries through a tailored approach to coverage, advice and execution across M&A, risk management, equity, and debt.
Action-orientated, I aim to drive change from within, applying my breadth of skills to organisations striving for a better financial system for communities and the planet.
Being a mentor in programmes such as Unreasonable, Rise and Pilotlight, I have encouraged and supported women in Fintech, social entrepreneurs and also employees in charities. I’m have fundraised for various charities, notably sponsoring the education of a schoolgirl in Kenya. As a keen sportswoman, I am passionate about all kinds of skiing, be it ski touring, off-piste skiing as well as cross-country and have run several marathons before. I practice yoga and meditation, am interested in continuous self-development and being out in nature really energises me as does exploring and learning from new cultures.
I've earned a double MBA Degree in International Marketing / International Business at the European School of Business (ESB) and the Eastern Michigan University and have more recently finished the CFE in ESG as well as a Sustainable Finance Course at Cambridge.