Irina Markina is the Managing Director and Chief Decarbonization Officer at Ara Partners. Irina leads the firm’s decarbonization strategy, investment diligence, portfolio impact performance measurement and management, and value creation. Prior to joining Ara Partners, Irina was a global Corporate Sustainability Manager at Baker Hughes, a $35 billion energy technology company, where she was instrumental in operationalizing the company’s net zero strategy and sustainability operating model across its global business. Prior to this, Irina served as the Senior Energy Advisor at the European Union Delegation to the United States, where she provided technical guidance and directed the European Commission’s cooperation on energy, climate change, and GHG emissions reduction strategies with U.S. government agencies. Irina is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.
Ara Partners is a global private equity firm specializing in buyout, growth equity, and infrastructure investments in industrial decarbonization across four core sectors: industrials and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture. With c.$ 5.6 billion in assets under management, Ara Partners pursues private equity and infrastructure investments in North America and Europe and has offices in Boston, Houston, Dublin, and Washington DC.