Over more than three decades, Natalie Jaresko has guided governments and investors through war, fiscal collapse, natural disasters, and political upheaval, building a body of work that spans more than US$150 billion in sovereign and sub-sovereign restructurings.
As Ukraine’s Minister of Finance from 2014–2016, Natalie was recruited at the onset of Russia’s invasion to lead the country’s financial turnaround. She negotiated and implemented a demanding IMF program, executed a sovereign debt restructuring, introduced transparency to the national budget process, directed 5% of GDP to building Ukraine’s military, and brought inflation sharply under control — all amid active conflict and the illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory. From 2017–2022, she served as Executive Director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, where she led the largest municipal restructuring in U.S. history, restructuring more than US$125 billion in debt and pension obligations and returning the Island to capital markets despite hurricanes, earthquakes, and COVID.
Today, at EY-Parthenon, Natalie leads sovereign advisory and large-scale public-sector turnaround work, helping governments and private-sector clients design the financial architecture, governance, and investment frameworks needed to convert reconstruction ambition into bankable execution. Her current focus is Ukraine’s 1–3 year horizon: how to mobilize private capital alongside donor funding, how war-risk insurance and guarantees unlock real transactions, and how reform conditionality can be sequenced to attract — rather than deter — strategic investors. Her current work focuses on translating the lessons of those crises into the financial architecture Ukraine’s recovery now requires.
Earlier in her career, Natalie co-founded Horizon Capital, raising and managing more than US$600 million in assets across Ukraine and Moldova. She previously led the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, deploying US$150 million in SME investments, and began her career as a U.S. diplomat, serving as Economic Section Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
Natalie holds an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School and a B.S. in Commerce from DePaul University and is a Certified Public Accountant. She is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security. She serves as Chairperson of Aspen Institute Kyiv, and on the boards of Superhumans Ukraine, BlueCheck Ukraine, Kyiv Security Forum Council, and GLOBSEC Womens Leaders Council. She has received distinguished honors from two Presidents of Ukraine.