Inatai Investment Management Co.

Sylvia joins Inatai Foundation as a summer analyst on the investment team under an internship program. She assists the investment team with ongoing due diligence, researching market trends, and supporting special assignments. Sylvia has a proven record of successful project management and has gained vital experience in global finance through previous internships. Sylvia was a David Projects for Peace Fellow and founded a program to provide training workshops on the dangers of child trafficking and offer peer counselling to survivors and their families.

Sylvia moved to the United States from Nairobi, Kenya, to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla. She recently graduated with a BA in economics and theater. As an engaged student leader, Sylvia served as president of the Whitman Drama Club and broke history as the first Black playwright to debut an original play at the school. She’s an avid movie fan who enjoys watching films with friends and family.

Habtamu Bekele joins Inatai Foundation with a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

He’s worked previously at BlackRock as a vice president of investment operations and Carta Equity Management Solutions as a manager on the fund administration team. With 17 years of experience in traditional and alternative investment operations, Habtamu brings a wealth of knowledge to his role. Habtamu will lead and supervise key vendors and manage the execution of investments, investment accounting, investment administration, cash management/rebalancing and investment performance reporting.

Habtamu is an active member of the Ethiopian Community in Seattle, an organization committed to helping Ethiopian immigrants find jobs, housing, health care and legal support. He also loves to travel with his wife and son. He makes a point of visiting Ethiopia as often as he can and enjoys quick getaways to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. When he’s not working, serving his community, or booking his next travel adventure, Habtamu spends his leisure time running and hiking in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.

Angie is an administrative associate supporting the investment team at the foundation. She’s responsible for providing overall administrative and database support while coordinating with external partners. Angie brings with her years of operations and administrative support at Seattle-area technology start-ups like Redfin. A big believer in the power of volunteering and being in the community, she’s served at organizations like Legal Voice since 2013. 

Angie loves to bake—particularly French desserts. And when she’s not taking her beloved dog Maddie on a hike, she’s likely playing the accordion. 

As part of the three-year rotational analyst program, Bowei conducts manager screening and research, builds relationships with institutional investors, and analyzes portfolio-level data. Previously, Bowei served as a private asset analyst for LP Analyst, where he analyzed private markets and advised university endowments and foundations. Bowei has a master of finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in finance, with a minor in economics, from Georgetown University.

In his free time, Bowei enjoys exploring nature, playing basketball and golf, and trying out new restaurants.

As associate director of investments, Julia Reilly is helping build Inatai Foundation’s investment portfolio and operational infrastructure from the ground up. She is responsible for supporting the sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring of the foundation’s investments in both public and private markets. Most recently, Julia worked on the investment team at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., helping manage a $1.8 billion endowment for the world’s largest network of museums, education, and research institutions, which include 19 museums and the National Zoo.

After graduating from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Julia worked as an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Julia grew up in Renton, went to high school in Covington, and is grateful to be back in Washington and closer to family. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, reading nonfiction, and travelling internationally.

Peng is responsible for manager selection, asset allocation, portfolio construction, and risk management of the foundation’s assets. He previously was the head of portfolio research for TIAA Endowments, a risk manager at the $7.5 billion University of Virginia Investment Management Company, and an analyst at Georgetown University’s $1.2 billion investment office. Peng has extensive expertise in asset allocation and risk management with several publications in top-tier journals, including the Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Private Equity, Journal of Wealth Management, and Financial Analyst Journal, where he was awarded the Graham & Dodd Award of Excellence – Reader’s Choice for one of his publications. He was also listed as one of Chief Investment Officer’s “Forty Under Forty” in 2015 and “Top Institutional Rising Stars” by Trusted Insight in 2020.

Peng earned an MS in physics with a concentration in computer modeling and simulations from Georgetown University, and a BS in physics and economics from Peking University (Beijing University) in Beijing, China. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. In his free time, Peng likes hiking, fishing, and hunting. He is an avid photographer, with his pictures published in Lonely Planet travel guides. Peng also enjoys spending time with his spouse and young daughter.

Dawn oversees a range of compliance, monitoring, analysis, and reporting functions for Inatai Foundation’s investment portfolio.  She holds extensive knowledge of investment operations and alternative investments.

Dawn spent two decades working for university endowments.  She was at the University of Virginia (UVA) as an accountant on the investment team and then later served as manager of investment operations and then director of investment operations. Dawn supervised all aspects of investment accounting, shareholder accounting, operations of investment pools, investment performance and compliance reporting, and safeguarding of assets. UVA formed a separate foundation, the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO), to manage the long-term assets of the university and university-related foundations.  Dawn was part of the team during the transition.  During her 17-year tenure at the university and UVIMCO, assets under management grew from $1.7 billion to more than $8 billion.

Most recently, Dawn was the senior director for investment administration at Emory University and worked as an independent consultant advising nonprofit institutions on investment operations. She lives in a multigenerational household with her parents, husband, and adult son. In addition to being among with loved ones, she enjoys spending time outside gardening and inside sewing.

As the director of investments, Charlotte oversees the selection of external investment managers, conducts portfolio research, and helps to institutionalize processes, tools, and resources. Experienced in impact investing, she previously served as a senior associate at ICONIQ Capital and, before that, Medley Partners. Investing on behalf of foundations affiliated with family offices, her investments supported a variety of nonprofit work, from early childhood education to autism research. Charlotte was a founding partner of Seed Consulting Group, a California-based nonprofit that provides pro bono strategy consulting to environmental and public health organizations, and currently serves on the Women’s Association of Venture and Equity’s west coast steering committee and as a Project Pinklight panelist for Private Equity Women Investor Network. She is also on the advisory boards of MoDa Partners, a family office whose mission is to advance the economic and educational equity of women and girls, and 8090 Partners, a multifamily office consisting of families and entrepreneurs across diverse industries that is currently deploying an impact investment fund.

Charlotte earned a BS with honors in business administration from the University of California, Berkley. When not working, you can find her globetrotting (18 countries and counting), writing a Yelp review about the best bite in town, or cuddling up with a book and her two adorable cats.