Adjunct Professor
Ian Ball is an Adjunct Professor at the Wellington School of Business and Government at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is a former CEO of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) (2002-2013), and was the Director of Financial Management Policy and Central Financial Controller at the New Zealand Treasury (1997-2004). He was a principal architect of the New Zealand Government’s financial management reform process, making New Zealand the first government to introduce modern accrual accounting integrated with the budget and appropriation processes. He also initiated and lead the development of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) while Chair of IFAC’s Public Sector Committee (1995-2000).
Senior Subject Manager - Public Sector
Mark leads ACCA’s global public sector research as part of the Policy and Insights team, focusing on current issues affecting finance professionals working in the public sector across different countries. He has previously authored reports on public sector sustainability reporting and assurance, jointly published by ACCA, IFAC and the INTOSAI Development Initiative, as well as green budgeting and the evolving role of senior finance leadership in the public sector. Mark has a MA in Public Administration and Public Policy and a MSc in Public Financial Management. He is a qualified Chartered Public Finance Accountant and previously worked in local government in England.
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Manager, IPSASB
Karen is a Manager at the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), focusing on sustainability reporting technical projects. She is currently the staff lead on the Climate-related Disclosures project.
After her initial exposure to sustainability through a series of workshops with the Nature Conservancy, her career in sustainability and green finance began with the Climate Change and Sustainability Services, Financial Services team at EY in their Hong Kong office. Since then, she has also worked with the Blockchain and Climate Institute and Zevero, a carbon accounting startup. Her diverse experiences include sustainability and climate risk advisory, sustainability reporting, sustainable finance assurance, greenhouse gas accounting, and climate risk modelling through GIS.
Karen is an EFFAS Certified ESG Analyst® (CESGA) and a holder of the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, issued by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). Karen holds a MSc Sustainable and Green Finance from the National University of Singapore, where she collaborated with WWF Singapore on bankable nature-based solutions. She also holds a BSc (Hons) Geology from the University of Edinburgh, where her academic pursuits led her to the University Centre in Svalbard, where she studied permafrost and its associated climate and avalanche risks.
