Our Team

Sahba Sobhani, Director

Sahba Sobhani is the Director of UNDP ICPSD and co-leads UNDP’s Private Sector Team within the Sustainable Finance Hub. He brings more than two decades of experience in the private sector in Silicon Valley and Singapore and at UNDP as Programme Advisor, Team Leader and Programme Manager, including as technical lead for UNDP’s private sector strategy. He has worked with over 100 companies and business organizations and has led six global UNDP multi-stakeholder initiatives, including the Business Call to Action, the Connecting Business initiative and the G20 Global Platform on Inclusive Business. He co-authored Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor and is a graduate of Yale University and the Fletcher School.

Gülçin Salıngan, Deputy Director

Gülçin Salıngan is the Deputy Director of UNDP ICPSD. Since 2013 she has led the design and operationalization of the Centre’s strategy and the development of its programmes and partnerships. She has more than two decades of experience with private sector and government institutions in Europe and the Middle East. Before joining UNDP she ran her own consultancy for ten years on competitiveness, industrial clusters, entrepreneurship, SME development and regional development, having started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Lisbon and Istanbul and served as Finance Manager for South East Europe at The Coca-Cola Company. She holds a BA from Boğaziçi University, a postgraduate degree from the University of Westminster and a PhD on industrial clusters and social capital.

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Gökhan Dikmener, Team Lead, AI, Digital Transformation and Skills Development

Gökhan Dikmener is Chief Technical Advisor at UNDP ICPSD and leads the Centre’s work on artificial intelligence, digital transformation and skills development to foster inclusive markets and sustainable development. Combining a background in economics, international development and software engineering, he brings deep expertise in frontier technologies, strategic advisory and private sector engagement. He has been lead researcher and co-author of more than ten UNDP publications on frontier technologies in disaster contexts, digital entrepreneurship, gender mainstreaming and private-sector-led skills development. He holds degrees from Boğaziçi University, Johns Hopkins University and METU.

Funda Süzer, Team Lead, SDG Finance and Private Sector Development

Funda Süzer is the SDG Finance and Private Sector Development Portfolio Lead at UNDP ICPSD. She has over 15 years of experience spanning private sector engagement, development finance and investment facilitation, with a strong focus on SDG-aligned and blended finance solutions. Her work focuses on mobilizing private capital for sustainable development through SDG financing and impact investing mechanisms, and on technical support to strengthen private sector engagement. Before joining UNDP she worked at Deloitte and the Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Association (İTKİB) on trade, competitiveness and private-sector-led growth.

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Muniruddeen Lallmahamood, Team Lead, Islamic SDG Finance

Dr Muniruddeen Lallmahamood is the Islamic Finance Portfolio Lead at UNDP ICPSD, with global experience spanning strategic management, digital finance, microfinance and Islamic finance. His leadership and advisory roles include CEO of a financial institution, team leader of the UNDP Afghanistan Microfinance Project and Islamic finance specialist at the Central Bank of Mauritius. His background includes management consulting under the mentorship of a former McKinsey & Company director, reinforcing expertise in business strategy, governance and financial systems. He has published peer-reviewed work, presented at international conferences and serves as adjunct professor at several universities.