Athena Kiriacopoulou

Athena is an entrepreneur and engineer with over 8 years of work experience across two continents and multiple industries; spanning from a large European multinational energy utility, multiple years of managing and growing small energy companies, procurement for a global beer manufacturer and founder of a B2B waste management company. 

Athena started her career at E.ON, a German multinational energy company, with key projects including leading the internal cross-functional development of the internal accelerator as well as designing and programming a division-wide, global knowledge management system.

In 2014 she moved to East Africa where she managed the scale-up of multiple off-grid energy companies; structuring, hiring and training high-performing teams, developing SOPs and implementing reverse logistics networks in complex environments. In 2016 she founded a regional B2B waste management company in Tanzania. The business was featured in the New York Times.

Athena has also worked in procurement for Anheuser-Busch Inbev, where she worked on two global projects; a strategy and implementation plan to expand glass recycling globally and created a methodology to monetize water risk for all of AB InBev’s global sites.

Athena holds a Masters of Engineering in Aerospace Engineering and an MSc in Energy, Environmental Technologies and Economics. She also graduated in 2021 from IESE Business School in Barcelona. She is a life long learner and currently speaks three languages.

Outside of work, Athena is a long distance swimmer, and avid cycling enthusiast. She has lived in 10 different countries and recently discovered that houseplants can be fascinating. She fosters large dogs and is an aunt to two nephews. She likes to visit her family in Athens, Greece twice a year.