Secretariat

The day to day business of the Berne Union is managed by a professional Secretariat, based in London, under the leadership of the Secretary General.

Secretary General
Paul Heaney
BERNE UNION | Secretary General

Paul has over a decade of experience in strategic communications, external relations and stakeholder engagement within international finance.

He is currently leading the day to day operations of the Secretariat, and prior to this was head of communications, with responsibility for research and publications, outreach and external affairs, PR and media strategy.

Prior to joining the BU, Paul managed a portfolio of conferences on international finance and institutional investment at Informa, one of the world’s largest media, events and publications companies.

He holds an MA from King’s College London and a BA from Trinity College Dublin.

Deputy Secretary General
Carla Senatore
BERNE UNION | Deputy Secretary General

Carla joined the Berne Union in January 2024 bringing with her over a decade of experience in stakeholder engagement and business origination within the financial services industry. Before joining the BU, she worked as a senior business developer at UK Export Finance - the UK’s Export Credit Agency - identifying and promoting MLT trade and investment opportunities for UK businesses and their partners in Africa and China.

Previous experiences also include sales and account management roles at independent financial research and data analytics providers.

Carla majored in International Relations in Italy and holds a Master Degree in International Business awarded from the Grenoble École de Management (GEM).

In her role as Deputy Secretary General, Carla’s responsibilities range from overseeing and undertaking research projects to communications management, strategic budgeting and resource planning.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Arturs Karlsons
BERNE UNION | Associate Director

Arturs has over 10 years of experience in the field of export credit insurance, with a focus on the ECAs short-term business.

Originally from Latvia, he previously led the export credit insurance/guarantee division of the Latvian ECA. Prior to this he worked at the Ministry of Economics of Latvia with the WTO and export promotion matters and was a project lead for the launch of the export guarantee programme provided by the Latvian ECA.

He holds degrees in Finance and Political Science from the BA School of Business and Finance and the University of Latvia respectively. Currently, Arturs studies for a degree in Data Science and Computing from the University of London.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Eve Hall
BERNE UNION | Associate Director

Eve joined the Secretariat in 2017. She leads the Climate Working Group activities, manages the Prague Club Committee and several specialist groups.

She has nearly 20 years of experience in corporate finance, business development and investor relations. Eve held several positions at various GE media businesses in New York, Hong Kong and London; and more recently, delivered management consulting projects for both young and mature organisations.

Eve holds an MBA in Finance from Bentley Graduate School of Business in Massachusetts, US.

Associate Director
Joshua Koehler
BERNE UNION | Associate Director - Economic Research

Joshua joined the Secretariat in December 2022 to produce industry research on behalf of members.

He previously worked at UKGI, advising on credit guarantee schemes for the UK Government, and at UK Export Finance, establishing the ECA-private reinsurance function. He has worked in a variety of roles throughout the export credit transaction lifecycle, from sovereign risk to underwriting.

SENIOR MANAGER
Didem Bayseferogullari
BERNE UNION | Senior Manager ECA Committee

Didem joined the Berne Union Secretariat in March 2021 with the primary responsibility for managing the ECA Committee. She has four years of experience, mainly in Buyer Credits under both sovereign and bank guarantees, having previously worked as a Specialist in Turk Eximbank.

Didem holds a BA in Economics from Istanbul University and an MSc in Information Technologies from Sabanci University. She attended a one-year Erasmus Exchange program in the Department of Economics at the Universidad de Valencia in Spain, and she also won first place in the Emerging Leaders 2020 competition organised by ITFA.

Committee Manager
Emily Kate Gray
BERNE UNION | Committee Manager

Emily Kate Gray joined the Berne Union Secretariat team in early 2023 assuming role of MLT Committee Manager. Previously, she worked at Export Development Canada. In her tenure at EDC, she worked within various business functions, specifically within the Technology Group, Corporate Secretariat and the International and ECA Relations team. In this capacity she built relationships with ECAs and managed EDC commitments with the Berne Union. She supported EDC business teams via OECD consultations and ECA intel to drive strategic priorities. She has a passion for trade and business and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, honed from past startup ventures. She holds a Bachelor of International Business (BIB. 2019) from Carleton University and is a Certified International Trade Professional (CITP®|FIBP®).

EVENT LOGISTICS
Nicole Cherry
BERNE UNION | Event Logistics & Office Manager

Nicole joined the Berne Union Secretariat in July 2016. Her main role within the Berne Union is Member Relations. She also manages the logistics for all Berne Union meetings and chairs the Young Professionals Initiative.

JUNIOR ANALYST
Lewis Evans
BERNE UNION | Junior Economic Research Analyst

Lewis joined the Berne Union Secretariat in November 2022. His main responsibility within the Berne Union is to assist with the research, analysis, and publications relating to the business activity of the export credit industry.

He has previously worked as a Research Analyst for a trade finance fintech and holds a BSc in Economics from Cardiff University and an MSc in Development Economics from The University of Birmingham.

SECONDEE
Yerim Lee
BERNE UNION | Project Coordinator

Yerim joined the Berne Union Secretariat through a Secondment Program from the Korean ECA(K-sure) in January 2024. Her primary role involves coordinating elements of research, analysis, and project management. With more than a decade of experience in the export credit industry, she has expertise in both short-term and medium/long-term products, as well as country risk analysis. She holds a degree in Economics from Yonsei University, Korea.