Felipe Mendes

Director, Finance and Digital Solutions at CGIAR: the largest publicly funded agricultural research and innovation organisation targeting the SDGs.

Montpellier, Occitanie, France

About

For more than 20 years across five continents, I have implemented innovative financial mechanisms and led financial, operational, and technology transformations in complex environments. My work has focused on stabilising organisations, modernising systems, introducing AI responsibly, and delivering restructuring where strong execution and credibility are essential. What I bring to board and senior executive discussions: - I currently serve as Chair of a real estate investment fund in Brazil. - Currently co-leading the inception and structuring of an agricultural impact investment initiative. - Co-authored of one of the first and most successful public-private, multi-million-dollar water fund in the State of São Paulo, Brazil (MApSP). - Developed payment for ecosystem services mechanisms and broader impact investment programmes. - Reduced operational costs by 50%+ at CGIAR, the world's largest research partnerships ($1B/year, 80+ countries). I work with boards, executive teams, and institutional donors who need an expert who can see the whole system, speak the language of governance and operations, and deliver lasting change. Available for independent board and finance committee mandates internationally. Open to connect at [email protected]

Experience

  • CGIAR (7 yrs 3 mos)
    • Director, Finance and Digital Solutions
      Oct 2025 - Present · 10 mos

      • Serve as the trusted financial liaison to CGIAR's highest governance bodies, translating a $1B, portfolio's complexity into clear, decision-ready insight for System Council and audit committees. • Co-led a financial restructuring that cut operating costs by over 50%, unlocking resources redirected to frontline food security research across 80+ countries. • Architecting CGIAR's SO transformation into an AI-ready organisation, redesigning ERP infrastructure, deploying agentic AI, and establishing governance frameworks that protect a $300M Trust Fund.

    • Director, Business Operations and Finance
      Jun 2024 - Oct 2025 · 1 yr 5 mos

    • Senior Director, Financial Planning & Analysis
      Sep 2022 - Jun 2024 · 1 yr 10 mos

  • Director of Finance (ad interim) at ICARDA; International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
    Jun 2021 - Oct 2025 · 4 yrs 5 mos

    • Brought in as a trusted external resource to stabilise ICARDA's finances during a period of institutional stress. Restored funder confidence, strengthened financial controls, and introduced real-time governance dashboards. • Supported the organisation through one of its transition periods while maintaining continuity for ongoing agricultural research in the Middle East and North Africa.

  • Chief Financial Officer at International Potato Center (CIP)
    Jun 2014 - Apr 2019 · 4 yrs 11 mos

    • Joined CIP at a moment requiring both financial rigour and global expansion. Built the ERM framework from scratch, achieving a step-change in audit readiness that strengthened donor trust. • Expanded CIP's operational footprint into India, opening a new frontier for the organisation's global potato research mission, and the food security of millions of smallholder farmers.

  • The Nature Conservancy (9 yrs 8 mos)
    • Deputy Director and Brazil Country Representative
      Oct 2004 - May 2014 · 9 yrs 8 mos

      • Over nearly a decade, built TNC's Latin American finance function from the ground up, and co-created one of Brazil's most cited environmental finance innovations: the Movimento Água para São Paulo (MaSP), a $50M public-private water security partnership that brought together the State Government of São Paulo and major private sector players to protect the water supply for 22 million people. • Structured new environmental finance mechanisms that have since become a reference for conservation finance globally. • Supported TNC's expansion from the Americas into Africa.

    • Director of Finance
      Oct 2009 - Aug 2012 · 2 yrs 11 mos

    • Regional Finance Manager
      Jan 2007 - Sep 2009 · 2 yrs 9 mos

  • Controller at Sigma-Aldrich
    Nov 2003 - Sep 2004 · 11 mos