MANAGEMENT
Philip Bartley
Founder / Director
Philip is an accomplished professional with twenty-five years’ experience working in China on trade and investment programmes. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has worked extensively with the EU Delegation, European Commission line DGs, the Chinese government, national enterprises, foreign investors and donor agencies on previous assignments and projects. Specifically, he has 20 years’ experience as Team Leader on EU-China cooperation projects, including 11 years as Team Leader on the EU-China Trade Project (EUCTP) Phases I and II, from 2005-2016. In this role he managed a team of 18 staff and experts and oversaw the delivery of more than 500 TA activities supporting more than 20 EU-China Trade and Investment Dialogues, covering 25 action fiches under 5 component areas: Services; Quality Infrastructure; Agriculture and SPS; Customs; Cross-Cutting issues. His most recent assignment has been as Team Leader on the Asia Competition Cooperation program, a post he held for seven years, supporting EC DG COMP with their Competition Dialogues with counterpart Competition agencies across Asia, including China.
Mary Guo
Co-founder / Finance Manager
Mary has provided financial oversight for over 150 EC funded projects and has over 15 years of experience in financial planning and management and coordinating EU-funded projects in a finance and contracts backstopping capacity. Mary is experienced in ensuring project compliance with EC rules and procedures and financial processes, overseeing administration of project accounts, and ensuring the quality of reporting to the European Commission. Her areas of expertise include budget planning for multi-type of EU projects, budgeting, cost control, third-party contractual management, payments, and financial consolidations of accounts. She is responsible for ensuring all invoicing, revenue collection, and payment to internal staff, external experts, and project partners and suppliers, ensuring timely payments.
TEAM
Simon Cheetham
Team Leader
Simon brings extensive experience in EU Project Cycle Management, Financing, Procurement, and reporting procedures. His deep expertise in EU-China relations has been pivotal in successfully implementing various EU-funded projects in China, including his current role as Team Leader for the "China IP SME Helpdesk" project. As Team Leader, Simon designed the operational framework of the Helpdesk and oversees its day-to-day operations, ensuring all project outcomes, deadlines, and quality standards are met.Simon has over 30 years of experience in commercial investigations, due diligence, and IPR enforcement in China and internationally, as well as in launching and supervising EU projects. Having lived and worked in China and Southeast Asia for 20 years, he has gained extensive knowledge of the region's legal and business environments. As the Managing Director of ERINYES INTERNATIONAL LTD, a firm he founded, Simon leverages his expertise in project management, contract compliance, and international investigations to oversee strategic planning, execution, and the operational direction of the company from Europe to East Asia. He is fluent in English and Cantonese.
Alessandra Capriglia
Project Manager
Alessandra is highly experienced in Management, Technical and Logistics backstopping. Alessandra has had management responsibility for various EU-funded projects within the company portfolio. She currently serves as Project Manager on the project China IP SME Helpdesk, where she has manages effective delivery of the project tasks. Alessandra has also contributed to the successful completion of, among others, of the Due Diligence Helpdesk on EU Sanctions for EU SMEs dealing with Iran, the EU GSP Hub, the EU-Japan EPA Support Facility. Prior to joining SD Policies, Alessandra lived in Beijing, PRC and worked at Innoway, an international accelerator in Zhongguancun Science Park, where she supported foreign tech companies, supervised international cooperation on startup support as well as executed G2G activities. She conceptualised and organised a variety of training events and seminar to support foreign companies navigate the Chinese market. Alessandra has also worked for Tech Silu, supporting Italian startups to connect with Chinese angel investors, and prior to that for the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce. Alessandra is fluent in Italian, English, Chinese and French.
Federica De Curtis
Stakeholder Manager
Federica has a demonstrable experience in the field of EU law, EU external action and EU foreign policy and international cooperation holding an LL.M in European Law and Policies. She currenlty implements a wide variety of communication and outreach tasks, and assists the PM in day-to-day tasks, for the EU-funded project China IP SME Helpdesk. Specifically in that role, she liaises with EU-based economic operators to promote the services offered by the Helpdesk and recruits new project partners through the Enterprise Europe Network. She likewise oversees the building of strategic partnerships with a broad range of key stakeholders, including national governments, chambers of commerce and trade associations, to strengthen the visibility and impact of the project.
Prior to joining SD Policies, Federica engaged in several activities to promote trade and investment for sustainable and inclusive economic development. She has pursued her career ambitions to serve the international donor and business community in support of sustainable development and investment objectives in the Levantine region.
Mariana Fagotti
Events and Communications Officer
Mariana Fagotti is a dynamic project executive with a strong track record in event support and project execution, particularly within the context of international projects and organisations. Currently, she serves as a Project Executive for the China IP SME Helpdesk, where she is responsible for organizing and coordinating both online and onsite training events, representing the project at trade fairs across Europe, and designing visual materials for events. Her role requires close coordination with administrative teams to ensure seamless execution and impactful representation of the project. Mariana has also gained valuable experience as a Legal Manager Trainee at Finabel – European Army Interoperability Centre, where she produced and supervised in-depth research articles and actively participated in networking events and conferences.