Savoy Magazine names Sene ’00 among ‘most influential’ in corporate America

Savoy Magazine’s list of the most influential women in corporate America features Lena Sene ’00.

A managing director with Deer Isle Capital, Sene is responsible for overall business development and for the firm’s Africa investment strategy.

Considered an expert on global investing in African nations, Sene in 2011 told a Harvard Business School conference that private-equity investing in Africa requires a more efficient operation than in other markets — more skills, more on-the-ground knowledge and more feasibility and research studies.

Last year, Sene, who is a Bates trustee, served as campaign manager for Idrissa Seck, a former Senegal prime minister, during that country’s presidential election, won by Macky Sall.

Sene majored in economics at Bates, then earned an M.B.A. from Harvard and a master’s degree in public administration fro mHarvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Born in the U.S., she was raised in Senegal, Russia and Ukraine.

Savoy describes its list as “the most comprehensive and accomplished list of African American Women executives ever assembled in a magazine.”

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