Marianna Polykrati, Group Treasurer at AVRAMAR Aquaculture wins Champion of Change, EMEA in recognition of her role steering the company out of a period of financial distress and operational uncertainty. Her exceptional determination, resilience and leadership transformed the treasury function from a largely informal structure into a fully organised and operational department.
Since joining AVRAMAR Group three years ago, Marianna Polykrati has played a pivotal role in transforming the treasury function and the organisational culture across finance, decision-making and inclusion.
When Marianna joined AVRAMAR it was a complex organisation that had grown through multiple mergers that had led to strong legacy cultures, competing internal champions, fragmented processes and high levels of operational and financial stress. Marianna focussed on rebuilding trust, structure and inclusivity across teams, generations and national cultures.
Before she joined the company, treasury activities were decentralised, reactive and largely invisible. Marianna played a leading role in the transformation towards a structured, transparent and collaborative treasury model, helping reposition treasury as a strategic partner rather than a back-office function.
She moved decision making from a siloed basis to cross-functional collaboration incorporating finance, operations, legal, HR, logistics, procurement and commercial teams, integrating governance and accountability. Under her leadership, the organisation gradually shifted from crisis-driven reactions towards more structured planning, forecasting and disciplined execution. This shift created a culture of calm, clarity and trust in an organisation operating under intense pressure.
Marianna has consistently built and led multi-generational, diverse teams that foster an environment where all voices are heard and respected. She is particularly committed to empowering women in finance and treasury, both within the organisation and beyond. Her concrete achievements include actively mentoring and developing junior team members, with a strong focus on women’s progression. She has also created psychologically safe spaces where team members are encouraged to speak up, challenge and grow. She has nurtured inclusion in newly merged teams by integrating individuals from previously competing organisations into one cohesive treasury function. Most recently, she has supported and helped launch initiatives aimed at empowering Women in Aquaculture.
Marianna has played a critical bridging role between the local realities at the company and the global expectations that have come with its growth. She regularly translates local market complexities to international stakeholders, ensuring understanding rather than conflict, and inclusion rather than marginalisation of local teams. It is an approach that has significantly reduced friction, improved cooperation and strengthened trust between local and international leadership.
Cultural change is not always easy to quantify, but the impact of the transformation initiatives Marianna helped drive is reflected in the significant improvement in cash visibility and forecasting accuracy, enabling better decision-making. Operational risk has fallen in line with the standardisation of processes and controls and employee engagement and retention within the treasury team is also notably stronger.
Under her leadership, the role of treasury has been elevated to now actively contribute to strategic funding and restructuring decisions. Marianna earned the trust and support of leadership through credibility, consistency and tangible results. Her approach has been to lead by example in high-pressure situations, communicate transparently and calmly, even in crisis, and demonstrate quick wins to build trust. She educates leadership on the strategic value of treasury and has earned confidence from senior management and the executive committee, allowing her to drive broader cultural and structural change.
Marianna believes that people perform best when they feel safe, respected and empowered. Throughout her career, she has consistently chosen to challenge the status quo, not for the sake of disruption, but because she has seen first-hand the cost of silence, inertia and “this is how we’ve always done it” thinking.
Marianna has repeatedly stepped into organisations experiencing post-merger fragmentation and internal rivalries, liquidity pressure and financial distress as well as companies that are resistance to change. Marianna leads through listening first, understanding legacy sensitivities and team fears. She builds new structures calmly, introducing governance, processes and clarity step by step. She challenged the perception of treasury as a transactional function and repositioned it as a strategic partner, enabling better decision-making and risk management.
In some of the most complex, high-pressure and fragmented organisational settings, Marianna has consistently helped rebuild structure, trust and inclusion bringing alignment and clarity to challenging environments. She brings together people from different generations, cultures and legacy organisations and turns them into cohesive, high-performing teams. Her impact goes far beyond treasury. She reshapes how decisions are made, how people are heard, and how leadership is exercised. She works to break down silos, gives voice to the quiet, empowers women and young professionals, and bridges local realities with global expectations.
What makes Marianna unique is not only her technical excellence, but her rare combination of courage, empathy and calm authority. She leads without ego, builds without imposing, and changes cultures without breaking people. Rather than imposing solutions, Marianna is known for bringing people together, listening to different perspectives and building alignment around common goals. In environments defined by crisis and complexity, she creates clarity. In organisations shaped by fear and pressure, she creates safety, and in professions that often remain invisible, she creates voice and pride. That is true, lasting change.
Marianna’s impact is not confined to her organisation. Through mentoring, speaking, community building and active involvement in professional initiatives, she has become a visible advocate for the treasury profession and for women in leadership. She consistently invests personal time in developing others, creating safe spaces for learning, and encouraging young professionals, especially women, to believe in their potential and claim their voice. Her commitment to change is not situational. It is systemic, consistent and deeply personal.
