THECLIMATEGROUP.ORG - Key Persons
Abyd Karmali is Managing Director, Climate Finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch based in London and is point person for the bank's $10 billion Catalytic Finance Initiative. Mr Karmali is also part of the team that oversees the bank's broader financial commitment to mobilise $1.5 trillion for low-carbon and other sustainable finance opportunities by 2030.
Job Titles:
- Head of Communications, North America at Climate Group
Adam is Head of Communications, North America at Climate Group. He is based in our New York office and leads on communications, media, and engagement across Climate Group's work in North America and LATAM countries. This includes overseeing communications for our systems initiatives, (RE100, EV100), subnational engagement (Under2 Coalition) and core activations (US Climate Action Summit, Climate Week NYC).
Prior to this Adam served as Head of Climate Week at Climate Group, leading Climate Week NYC for the last five years with oversight of brand, development, content, communications, and partnerships. This role involved growing Climate Week NYC to become the largest climate event of its kind, negotiating a range of partnerships with NYC, the media, and NGOs, and working closely with international partners to ensure its integration as a major moment on the climate calendar.
In previous roles, Adam served as Head of Communications for the International Rescue Committee, Head of Communications for UK poverty charity Turn2us, advisor to the Press Complaints Commission media regulatory body, communications lead in UK Parliament, and as a freelance writer and editor for various publications. He has contributed as a spokesperson on CNN, BBC, Sky News, Channel 4 News, ITV, BBC Radio 4 and various international outlets. For the last five years he has also sat on the Board of Directors for Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network (LRMN), a charity that provides support, training and counselling for vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Finance & IT
Alex joined the Climate Group in 2021 as our International Finance and IT Director.
Job Titles:
- Member of Parliament for Hastings
- Secretary of State for Energy
After a career in business, Amber Rudd became the Member of Parliament for Hastings and Rye from 2010 to 2019.
Amber was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in 2015 and led the UK team to the successful completion of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This UN sponsored Conference of the Parties (COP 21) achieved the first ever legally binding global commitment to reduce national carbon emissions.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Duesberg Bosson Financial Services
Ameya Prabhu is an entrepreneur and the Managing Director of Duesberg Bosson Financial Services. Duesberg is an asset management & investment banking firm focussed on the Indian market. Duesberg's asset management business comprises of two public markets funds and a private equity growth fund. Ameya also runs a strategic advisory firm with a focus on renewable energy and clean technology.
Ana Mates is our Chief Operating Officer, overseeing operations across the organisation as a whole.
Andrew Clark is a Chartered Accountant who spent 30 years working for Deloitte and was an audit partner for nearly 20 years. He has significant experience of working with construction and infrastructure businesses, including wind and solar farm developers and one of the UK's largest investment funds for renewable energy projects. He brings experience of governance of both large businesses and charities to our Board.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director for North America at Climate Group
- Executive Director, North America
Angela currently serves as the Executive Director for North America at Climate Group. She brings over two decades of political and policy management experience, most recently as Undersecretary of the California Natural Resources Agency.
Angela currently serves as the Executive Director for North America at Climate Group. She brings over two decades of political and policy management experience, including several years in problem-solving, campaign-driven, solutions-focused work on climate, clean energy, clean cars and protecting natural resources, most recently as Undersecretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. Prior to CNRA, Angela served as Chief Executive for River LA, Deputy Chief of Staff at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and led climate and environment outreach for the Obama White House as Associate Director for Public Engagement of the White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ).
Angela's extensive climate, policy and strategic management skills help Climate Group to strengthen partnerships and networks across sectors to drive impact at this urgent moment. Her strong leadership experience helps focus Climate Group North America on accountability and comprehensive emissions reductions that create a more prosperous future for all. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in Environmental & Conservation Biology and is based out of Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.
Ariane de Vienne is the Global Head of Asset Owner Strategy at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). She is leading a global mandate to deepen ISS' relationships with asset owners and consultants across ISS.
Job Titles:
- Director of Systems Change, India
Atul leads India's strategy on driving powerful networks of businesses towards ambitious commitments and climate action in our energy, transport, industry, food and built environment systems. He is responsible for the strategy and the growth of RE100, EP100, EV100, EV100+, SteelZero and ConcreteZero initiatives in India.
Governor Bill Ritter Jr. was elected Colorado's 41st governor in 2006 and was the District Attorney of Denver from 1993-2005. During his four-year term as Governor, Ritter established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy by building a New Energy Economy.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director for Governments and Policy
Champa Patel is the Executive Director for Governments and Policy, which includes leading on the strategy, development and growth of Climate Groups work with subnational and national governments, including the Under2 Coalition, and international institutions. She also leads on the organisation's policy development and advocacy strategies.
Most recently, Champa was Director of Innovation and Deputy Director of the Future of Conflict Program at the International Crisis Group. In this role, she was responsible for research and advocacy on climate, technological and the economic aspects of conflict. Before this, Champa was Director of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, managing policy research on the region. She has also worked at Amnesty International, as Regional Director for the South Asia, and Southeast Asia and Pacific Offices and as Global Director for Campaigns, overseeing human rights policy, research and advocacy.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Anglo Malagasy Society
- Commercial Strategy Lead
Chris joined the Climate Group in 2015 and is Head of Business Development.
Chris has over 25 years' experience working in international development and commercial business, previously serving as a Senior Business Development Manager for UNICEF UK, Head of Client Relations for Education Africa, running his own volunteering organisation placing teachers in Madagascar and a fair stint in the world of commercial business publishing.
Prior to establishing himself in the world of international development he travelled extensively in South East Asia, Africa and Central America, working and volunteering with various organisations as a freelance photographer and project manager, including Survival International, The Dodwell Trust and Feedback Madagascar. As part of his work and travels, he helped introduce low-cost solar technology into remote communities in Ladakh, South Africa and Madagascar and continues to take a keen interest in sustainability, innovation and social development.
Chris is also the Chairman of The Anglo Malagasy Society and the Forest Hill 17th Scouting Association and holds a BA (Hons) in PR & Communications from Central Saint Martin's School of Art.
Danielle leads Climate Group's international sponsorship strategy and income generation. She specialises in designing, and implementing world leading partnerships and opportunities to showcase organisations as leaders in climate action.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of Development
David Mole is our Executive Director of Development, where he leads fundraising strategy and income generation.
Job Titles:
- Chairman / Wholetime Director )
- Executive Director, India
Divya is an international climate and urban development expert, specialising in climate resilience and urban development planning with almost 20 years' experience operating throughout India and internationally.
Divya Sharma is an International climate and urban development expert, specialising in climate resilience and urban development planning with almost 20 years' experience operating throughout India and internationally. Divya comes with a Doctorate in urban climate resilience and a Master's in urban development planning. In her career, she has worked in various capacities, 'wearing different hats', including being a thought leader and knowledge communicator, a policy planning consultant, a keen researcher and an academician, as well as a leader-mentor to fellow colleagues.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair of the Board
- Managing Principal and Founder of 5 Stone Green Capital LLC
Douglas Lawrence is Managing Principal and founder of 5 Stone Green Capital LLC with 27 years of distinguished industry experience. Prior to forming 5SGC, Douglas was the co-Portfolio Manager of the 100% green real estate Urban Renaissance Property Fund for JPMorgan Asset Management's Real Estate platform.
Job Titles:
- Independent Director
- Member of the India Advisory Group
Shalini Sarin's career started with teaching, after which she moved into consulting and then into the corporate world for over 35 years. For a significant part of her career, she worked in India but moved on an expat assignment to Europe for a global role, where she lived alone without her family and broke several traditional paradigms.
With Human Resources at her core, she developed a keen interest in sustainability and corporate social responsibility and took up the challenge to head a global solar incubator. Stretching boundaries and creating impact became her way of being with passion for organization culture and change. She returned to India in 2019 and now serves as an independent director for different boards, advising and coaching CEOs and executive teams while volunteering time for a few not-for-profit organisations. She has an infectious energy to learn and contribute meaningfully.
Dr. Shalini serves as an Independent Director on different boards, advises and coaches CEOs and executive teams while volunteering time for a few not-for-profit organisations. With over three decades in the corporate world and an experience ranging from chief people officer to leading a global foundation to running a sustainable business for social impact, she believes in creating impact through her passion for organization culture and change.
Job Titles:
- Program Manager, North American
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
- Climate Group 's Director of Human Resources
Heather is Climate Group's Director of Human Resources and is responsible for shaping and delivering the people strategy internationally. Heather works with the leadership team to deliver priority areas including EDI strategy, talent acquisition and development programmes and international build-out.
Previously, she was an EDI leader and Talent Director in a big four accountancy firm. She has also held HR Director and Operations roles in SME professional services firms. Heather has a BSc in Management Science from Lancaster University Management School and a post-graduate diploma in HR. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- CEO, Climate Group
- Climate Group in 2017 As Chief Executive Officer
- Climate Group in 2017 As Its Chief Executive Officer
Helen joined the Climate Group in March 2017 as Chief Executive Officer. The Climate Group is an international non-profit organisation with a mission to drive climate action, fast. It brings together coalitions of ambitious companies in demand-side campaigns such as RE100, EV100, and SteelZero which work to shift markets and policies, as well as leading the Under2 Coalition of state and regional governments, and every year delivering Climate Week NYC, the world's largest climate week.
In addition to leading the growing Climate Group team, Helen sits on the board of the We Mean Business Coalition , is on the board of the Sustainable Development Capital Energy Efficiency Income Trust, and is on the Mission Council for Pukka Herbs.
Prior to joining the Climate Group, Helen worked at Forum for the Future where she founded the organisation's US office. Helen joined Forum from Médecins Sans Frontières where she worked on humanitarian missions in countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
Helen qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte, and has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Cambridge University, and a master's degree from Birkbeck College, University of London.
Helen was awarded an OBE in June 2022 for services to tackling climate change and supporting the UK Presidency of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).
Helen joined the Climate Group in 2017 as its Chief Executive Officer. In addition to leading the growing Climate Group team, Helen sits on the board of the We Mean Business Coalition ,is on the board of the Sustainable Development Capital Energy Efficiency Income Trust, and is on the Mission Council for Pukka Herbs.
Prior to joining the Climate Group, Helen worked at Forum for the Future, Médecins Sans Frontières, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte.
James Hall-Smith was a founding partner of InfraRed Capital Partners, an international fund management business with over 220 infrastructure projects in 17 countries. He has more than 25 years' experience of investing and managing the development, construction and operation of major infrastructure projects. For the last 10 years James has focused on infrastructure that is central to accelerating the energy transition.
James started his career as a mechanical engineer and then had a brief stint advising the UK Government on the first Private Finance Initiative projects. Whilst at InfraRed James, amongst other things, led the initiative to launch one of the UK's largest investment funds for renewable energy. He was the Fund Manager of the company's flagship fund and co-led the infrastructure business.
More recently James has been working with early stage businesses across the energy transition providing strategic advice and support.
Job Titles:
- Head
- Head of Global Implementation at the Climate Group
Jebi is currently the Head of Global Implementation at the Climate Group, where she is responsible for developing and overseeing the delivery of major projects and high impact initiatives within the Governments and Policy department. She joined the organisation in September 2018 as Team Lead for the Climate Footprint Project, leading a consortium of partners to support governments in developing and emerging economies.
Job Titles:
- Head of Industry at Climate Group
Jen Carson is Head of Industry at Climate Group leading the programme strategy and growth of our SteelZero and ConcreteZero initiatives. Jen brings her decade long experience of working in the sustainability sector to accelerating the decarbonisation of heavy industries.
She joined the Climate Group in 2021 as Senior Manager for Industry, following her role as Associate at Delta-EE where she was based in Australia and led research on the country's energy market. Prior to this, Jen held a variety of roles at Delta-EE, where she created the organisation's first cross-technology research service and provided in depth market analysis on a range of areas.
Jen started her career in a variety of consultancy and analysis roles at The Carbon Trust, Dunelm Energy and Kier Group. She holds a Masters in Carbon Management and a BSc in Geography from The University of Edinburgh, and is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and Member of the Energy Institute (MEI).
Job Titles:
- Head of Climate Group Europe
Our European office is headed up by Jeroen Gerlag, who joined the organisation from METRO AG where he was Head of Corporate Responsibility.
Jo has more than 25 years' experience in brand and marketing communications consultancy working both client and agency side including a start-up which she was instrumental in building until sold to Chime, when she became its' CEO.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director and Global Financial Services Sustainability Leader at Accenture Plc
Jon Williams is a Managing Director and Global Financial Services Sustainability Leader at Accenture plc, the professional services company specialising in information technology services and consulting. Previously he was a partner with PwC, where he chaired their UK Sustainability practice and was their Global Banking & Capital Markets Sustainability Leader. He was also a Mental Health and Social Mobility Partner Advocate, and is a trained Mental Health First Aider.
Joseph M. Kinard is the immediate past Chair (June 30, 2020) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) which was created in 1971 to advance the church's mission through the financial resources (approximately $10 billion dollars) entrusted to it.
Kemal is responsible for providing strategy, oversight, and support for all the Climate Group's IT resources and technology implementations, as well as the administration of the back-end infrastructure across our global offices.
Job Titles:
- Director of Policy and Knowledge
- Is Director of Innovation
Libby is Director of Innovation and Impact. She leads the development of Climate Group's new programmatic work ensuring our programmes remain at the forefront of innovation and have most possible impact. Prior to this, Libby was Director of Policy and Knowledge and led Climate Group's global government program, including the establishment of the Under2 Coalition.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of International Communications
Luke's previous role was at Madano, the integrated communications consultancy, where he was Director, working with multinational energy businesses and industry. Prior to that, he spent seven years as Head of Government Affairs at Jaguar Land Rover, focusing on UK and international stakeholder issues.
Mandy has 14 years event management experience delivering multifaceted, international events for multiple sectors including healthcare, finance and pharmaceutical. In her most previous role she designed and implemented a new events strategy that enabled significant growth and cemented partnerships for the organisation.
Mary D. Nichols is widely recognized for a career as one of the world's most important environmental regulators. Nichols currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility, as Vice Chair of the California-China Climate Institute, holds visiting appointments at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy and much more.
Job Titles:
- Project Officer, Climate Group
Meryam Omi has over 16 years of investment experience, starting her career as an investment writer and managing marketing and sales initiatives across a wide range of products and capabilities. In 2010, she created a sustainability role within Legal & General Investment Management and launched successful engagement campaigns on topics such as independent directors in Japan, corporate tax and removal of quarterly reports.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Systems Change
Mike leads our portfolio of global campaigns that are designed to secure climate commitment and action from the world's most influential companies: from growing demand for renewable energy (RE100), electric vehicles (EV100) and low carbon steel (SteelZero), to investing in smart energy systems (EP100) including cooling technologies and LED lighting.
Mike Rann was Premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was also Climate Change Minister, the first in Australia and one of the first in the world. When he was elected in 2002, South Australia had zero renewables. It now has more than 60% from wind and solar. Mike was Co-Chair of the Climate Group's States & Regions Alliance.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Manager, Latin America
Job Titles:
- Head of Subnational Governments and Under2
- Head of Under2 and Subnational Governments at Climate Group
Nehmat Kaur is the Head of Under2 and Subnational Governments at Climate Group. As such she is responsible for strategy and programme development for Climate Group's work with subnational governments, primarily through the Under2 Coalition, for which Climate Group is Secretariat.
Nicol oversees our global governance and is responsible for the efficient administration of the organisation and its compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements. She's been with the Climate Group since its inception and has assisted with its growth operationally and administratively over the years.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, South Asia Government Relations
Job Titles:
- Director of Programme and Corporate Communications
Rik is our Director of Programme and Corporate Communications. He has a background in media - first as a journalist in The Netherlands, and after that covering human rights issues and humanitarian crises in North and West Africa as a foreign correspondent for Dutch and English media.
Job Titles:
- Head of Development, UK & Europe
Ruby leads our UK and Europe development team. The team is responsible for generating philanthropic funding from governments, foundations and individuals to fund climate action around the world.
Job Titles:
- Head of Legal
- Head of the Legal Team
Sahra is Head of the Legal team which provides legal advice and support across the organisation. Sahra is responsible for designing frameworks and processes to ensure compliance with the law and to protect our business and assets from risk.
Sam is our Director of Energy. He has 20 years' experience leading sustainability projects in the shipping, aviation, food, construction and NGO sectors.
Sandra is our Director of Transport. Previously, Sandra spent eight years in Brussels, where she led the public affairs team of a German political communications agency and set up its EU office.
Job Titles:
- Client Experience Manager
Job Titles:
- Head of Operations and Finance, India
Tarun heads the operations and finance team in India. She has got an illustrious career in the non-profit sector spanning over two decades. She has handled and led functions like finance, operations, HR and even partnerships management across organizations such as The Aga Khan Foundation, PATH, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and India HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Job Titles:
- Head of Group Reporting & Control
Toyin is the Head of Group Reporting and Control, having joined Climate Group in 2014. She manages the Financial Reporting team, ensures financial compliance and leads the external statutory audit process.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chairman of the SUN Group
Uday Khemka is the Vice Chairman of the SUN Group of companies and an ardent advocate of new and renewable energy. He has almost 30 years of entrepreneurial and investment experience in varied emerging markets, including India.
Job Titles:
- Chief Representative and Executive Director, China
- Expert in China
Yuming is an expert in China's sustainability and environment policy, with over two decades of experience. He manages our operations in China and leads the overall strategic development in the region.
Zoë Ashcroft is an international corporate and finance lawyer, one of the founding partners of the London office of international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, Head of the UK Corporate & Finance Team and a member of the Winston & Strawn global Executive Committee.