CLEAN COOKING - Key Persons
Abubakar Bukola Saraki, former President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has experience in both the private sector and in public service in Nigeria.
Born in 1962, Dr. Saraki was educated in both Nigeria and the UK, and practiced as a medical doctor at Rush Green Hospital in London. Dr. Saraki returned to Nigeria in 1989 where he worked in the financial sector for nearly a decade, overseeing corporate development and expansion programs within the financial industry. In 2000 he was appointed by the federal government of Nigeria as Special Assistant to the President on Budget, where he was responsible for preparing the 2000/2001 National Budget.
With a vision to translate his experiences into progress and development for the people of his home state, Dr. Saraki was elected Governor of Kwara State in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. As Governor, Dr. Saraki promoted innovative approaches to agriculture, health, education, fiscal policy and environmental reforms and was appointed Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum. He was the first Nigerian Governor to be awarded the National Honor of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). Programs initiated during his term have been emulated within and outside Nigeria and include community health insurance schemes, environmental ‘Clean and Green' schemes, and agricultural programs that turned Kwara State from a net importer to a net exporter of food.
To continue serving the people of Kwara State and the Kwara Central Senatorial District, Dr. Saraki ran and was elected as a Senator in 2011. He has since been appointed Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology. His legislative interests also include health, agriculture, education, national economy and environmental policy. Senator Saraki is also a member of the Senate Committees on Capital Markets and Finance.
Dr. Saraki has received numerous local and international awards including: ‘Governor of the Year' by This Day Newspapers 2004; Harvard Business School Africa Club Award 2005; Kenneth Kaunda Foundation Best Governor in Africa 2006; Outstanding Governor on Energy 2009 by the Nigerian Compass; Award of Excellence in Development of Education and Health Care Delivery in Nigeria by the College of Medicine, University of Lagos 2012; among many others.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate for Research
Alicia Oberholzer is the Senior Associate for Research at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Prior to joining CCA, Alicia worked as an Impact Associate at Solar Sister. She also supported a variety of off-grid energy and clean cooking research projects at the Duke University Sustainable Energy Transitions Initiative. Alicia holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University and a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Stetson University. Outside of geeking out about energy access, Alicia loves to rock climb and spend time with her two cats.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate, Advocacy & Communications
Allegra Brandon is the Communications Associate at the Clean Cooking Alliance. Previously, Allegra worked on the communications team at Isla Urbana in Mexico City, a social enterprise providing sustainable water access to marginalized communities, and interned on the Public Affairs team at the United Nations Foundation. At Skidmore College, Allegra studied International Affairs, Anthropology, and Latin American / Latinx Studies with a focus on women and gender. She grew up overseas, and in her free time enjoys traveling, cooking, and biking around the city.
Amanda Adams is the Manager, Operations for the Clean Cooking Alliance. Prior to working at CCA, Amanda served as a Program Officer and Grants Manager at the S. Mark Taper Foundation in Los Angeles. She also worked as a Grants Coordinator on the housing and homelessness team at United Way of Greater Los Angeles and brings a background in case management and working with unhoused individuals and families. Amanda has a B.A. in International Studies with a minor in Latin American Studies from Loyola University Chicago and a Master's in Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) with a concentration in Global Health from Northwestern University.
Ambassador Mahama is a Humphrey Fellow and participated in a Post Graduate Studies with Institutional attachments in Urban Policy and Planning and Women Studies under Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program at Rutgers University. She was also affiliated to the Center for Women's Global Leadership, the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) and pursued a three-month attachment at the World Bank.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Amitabh works with the Evidence & Impact team on various organization-wide monitoring & evaluation (M&E) and learning activities. Prior to joining CCA in 2020, he worked for 16 years as a Senior Program Officer and a Consultant doing M&E, strategic planning, project design, and management for projects in the fields of education, ICTs for Development, youth employment, and human rights/Internet freedom. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from American University in Washington D.C. and has lived and worked in various countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer for the UN Foundation
Andrew Axelrod serves as Chief Operating Officer for the UN Foundation. In this role, he leads organizational strategy development and execution, resource mobilization and allocation, financial planning and management, technology and digital services, and works to ensure the ongoing operational effectiveness for the UN Foundation.
Andrew spent the first phase of his career in the private sector, most recently in a leadership role at K12 Inc, where he was responsible for leading the company's entry into the higher education market. Before joining K12, Andrew worked as a management consultant at The Parthenon Group, a strategic advisory firm serving corporate, not-for-profit, and private equity clients. Additionally, Andrew held positions in corporate strategy at The Home Depot and in strategic finance at Ernst & Young.
Andrew graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Commerce and holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Haiti Project Manager
- Manager, Haiti Project
Andye Sanon is the Haiti Project Manager for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Prior to joining CCA, she had worked with NGOs and government entities in Haiti and in several countries in Africa, focusing on program management and coordination in various sectors such as sustainable economic development, community development, capacity building, education, youth/women empowerment, peace-building, human rights, and good governance.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Manager
- Nepal Senior Project Manager
- Senior Project Manager, Nepal
Anobha Gurung is the Nepal Senior Project Manager for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Before joining CCA, she was a postdoctoral scholar at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, where she participated in various air pollution research and its application in policymaking and mitigation strategies in Nepal. She holds a Ph.D. from Yale School of the Environment. She has 12 years of experience investigating exposure to air pollution and its associated human health burden in low-income countries with the goal to improve policies and actions to promote health. In the past, she has also worked for various other organizations like the World Health Organization, Asian Development Bank, and Clean Air Asia.
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Secretary - General of the United Nations Former Prime Minister of Portugal
António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, took office on 1st January 2017.
Having witnessed the suffering of the most vulnerable people on earth, in refugee camps and in war zones, the Secretary-General is determined to make human dignity the core of his work, and to serve as a peace broker, a bridge-builder and a promoter of reform and innovation.
Prior to his appointment as Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, heading one of the world's foremost humanitarian organizations during some of the most serious displacement crises in decades. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and the crises in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Yemen, led to a huge rise in UNHCR's activities as the number of people displaced by conflict and persecution rose from 38 million in 2005 to over 60 million in 2015.
Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, during which time he was heavily involved in the international effort to resolve the crisis in East Timor.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founder
- Founder and CEO of BrightGreen Renewable Energy, Ltd
Chebet has been recognized as a young global leader by the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and has received the Queen's Young Leader Award from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She is also the recipient of the Australia Award Fellowship 2016 and Clean Cooking Alliance Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2018. She has a background in Leadership from the University of Cambridge, Product Design from the University of Nairobi, Supply Chain Management from Rutgers School of Business and a Business-Design Fellowship from Massachusetts Institute of Technology D-lab.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Market Strengthening
Colm Fay is the Senior Director of Market Strengthening at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). He has expertise in enterprise scaling and partnership ecosystem development and has more than eight years of experience in international development including projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Before joining CCA, he was the Energy Sector lead at the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan (WDI). There, he managed projects to identify enterprises developing innovative approaches to power generation and use and connect them with expertise, knowledge, and tools to develop commercially viable business models. Prior to WDI, he managed the launch and implementation of an innovation fund for enterprises serving low-income populations in sub-Saharan Africa supported by the United States Agency for International Development and the United Kingdom Department for International Development. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Science degree in natural resources, both from the University of Michigan. He earned his Bachelor of Arts (Mod.) in Information and Communications Technology from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Job Titles:
- Professor at the Faculty of Economics
Job Titles:
- CEO
- CEO and Special Representative of the UNSG for Sustainable Energy for All Co - Chair of UN Energy
Damilola Ogunbiyi is CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. She is also a Commissioner for the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty.
Mrs. Ogunbiyi was formerly the Managing Director of the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency, where she successfully negotiated the Nigerian Electrification Project-a USD 550 million facility-to rapidly construct solar mini-grids and deploy solar home systems across Nigeria. She was also responsible for the agency's Energizing Education Programme, which will electrify 37 universities and seven teaching hospitals in Nigeria, as well as the Energizing Economies Initiative, which provides sustainable and affordable off-grid power solutions to economic clusters.
She also worked as a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Power and Head of the Advisory Power Team in the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria.
Before joining the Federal Government of Nigeria, Mrs. Ogunbiyi was the first female to be appointed as the General Manager of the Lagos State Electricity Board. Under her leadership, five independent power projects were completed to deliver over 55 megawatts of power to Lagos State hospitals, schools, streetlights and the Government secretariat.
Mrs. Ogunbiyi entered public service as the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Public-Private Partnerships. Prior to her appointment, she was a consultant for the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) on public-private partnerships.
Job Titles:
- Manager for Advocacy and Communications
Dan Dredger is the Manager for Advocacy and Communications at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). He is responsible for supporting CCA's global communications and advocacy efforts and leading digital outreach. Prior to joining CCA, Dan served as the social media manager, brand strategist, and podcast producer for a D.C.-based retail startup. He also worked as Communications Associate for The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, an international science advocacy organization, where he assisted in developing and implementing cross-channel social media campaigns. Dan spent many formative years in East Asia - first in South Korea as an educator and assistant to director Lee Myung-se, and then as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, where he taught undergraduate- and graduate-level English majors and trained local secondary school teachers. Dan holds degrees in Film and Media Production (BA) and Secondary Education (MEd) from Arizona State University and a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Duke University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Science and Learning Officer
- Learning Officer
Dr. Donee Alexander is the Chief Science and Learning Officer for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Dr. Alexander provides vision, leadership, technical guidance, operational direction, and oversight for all research, evidence, and learning (REL) activities at CCA, including the health, environment, & climate portfolios; global standards & testing efforts; monitoring, evaluation & learning across the organization; and development of CCA's Nepal Program. Prior to joining CCA, Dr. Alexander was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago where she managed a randomized controlled intervention trial evaluating household air pollution and pregnancy outcomes in Ibadan, Nigeria. She has over 15 years of experience evaluating the health effects of household air pollution in low-income countries and has published on both the maternal and child impacts of exposure to household air pollution. Dr. Alexander sits on the National Institutes of Health's Implementation Science Network Steering Committee, provides expert consultation to the World Health Organization's Household Energy Programme, and is a regular peer-reviewer for articles in multiple academic journals. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in environmental engineering and has lived and worked in both Latin America and West Africa.
Dymphna van der Lans is the Chief Executive Officer of the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Dymphna brings more than 25 years of experience managing and leading global development, energy, and climate initiatives in the nonprofit and private sectors. Most recently, she led international corporate engagement with the World Wildlife Fund's Climate & Energy team. Previously, she worked with the Clinton Foundation as CEO of the Clinton Climate Initiative and has served as the senior director for public policy programs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Dymphna has also served as the director of global renewables, infrastructure, and energy efficiency at a specialist investment banking firm in London, and for seven years at BP, where her last appointment was as BP Alternative Energy's director of distributed energy markets.
Dymphna has worked and lived in China, India, and Kenya and engaged with island nations in the Caribbean and the Indian and Pacific Oceans to support their transition away from polluting diesel fuels to renewable sources of energy. Her native language is Dutch, and in addition, she speaks English and Chinese fluently and has conversation ability in both French and German. She holds advanced degrees from both Leiden University and the University of Beijing, and has earned a Master's in Business Administration from Rice University. She lives with her family and two dogs in Washington, DC, where she enjoys long walks in Rock Creek Park.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Research, Evidence and Learning
Elisa Derby is the Senior Director of Research, Evidence and Learning for the Clean Cooking Alliance. She leads CCA's work building capacity and facilitating collaboration between diverse technical experts and policymakers to translate local needs and scientific expertise into publicly accessible information and action, including leading CCA's Standards and Testing portfolio. Elisa has 20 years of clean cooking sector expertise as an experienced project and program manager and technical facilitator. Prior to joining CCA she led Winrock International's 15-year household energy and clean cooking portfolio, including co-coordinating CCA's precursor Partnership for Clean Indoor Air from 2003 through the establishment of CCA. She has been an active technical expert member of ISO Technical Committee 285 (Clean Cookstoves and Clean Cooking Solutions) since its inception, and has led or supported multiple research projects investigating consumer adoption of cooking technologies and practices and resulting impacts. She holds a Master's degree from UC Berkeley's Energy and Resources group.
Job Titles:
- Institutional Economist
- Senior Director of Innovative Finance
Feisal Hussain is the Senior Director of Innovative Finance for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). He leads CCA's efforts related to unlocking finance and investment for clean cooking, including from the emerging carbon and social impact markets.
Feisal Hussain is an institutional economist with over 30 years of international development experience, primarily on financial sector development. Prior to joining CCA, Feisal led a boutique consulting firm helping donors, philanthropic foundations and large management consultancies develop private sector development strategies and design innovation and blended finance structures. Earlier, he held key senior executive roles in UN agencies, international management consultancies and not-for-profit organizations, including as head of UKAid's largest financial sector reform programme in Bangladesh, head of the UN Capital Development Fund in Asia and the Pacific, and head of ActionAid International's global external affairs and partnerships division.
Feisal holds a Master's degree from the University of Leeds. He now lives with his family and two cats in London.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Climate & Environment
Forrest Robinette is the Senior Climate & Environment Associate for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Prior to joining CCA, Forrest worked as a research associate at Duke University, examining the linkages between energy access and gender equality. He also worked as a public information intern at the United Nations Environment Programme in Geneva, Switzerland. Before beginning his graduate degree, Forrest served as a Teach For America corps member and spent two years teaching high school math and English in Louisiana. Forrest holds a Master of Public Policy from Duke University and a B.A. in English literature from Trinity College.
Job Titles:
- Country Director, Haiti
- Haiti Country Director
Gary Philoctete is the Haiti Country Director for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). He provides overall leadership and direction to the Cookstoves and Clean Energy Market project implementation and oversees CCA operations in Haiti. He holds a degree in civil engineering and brings more than 25 years of professional experience managing relief and development programming in water and sanitation, food security, environment, energy, and climate change for the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining CCA, he worked at Save the Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he coordinated the Ebola response program. He served as Country Director for J/P Haitian Relief Organization in Haiti where he oversaw the earthquake response and coordinated development program implementation office operations. He also provided assistance to a national climate change program that involved the Haitian government, donors, and private stakeholders. Gary served as Director of Operations with Save the Children in Haiti where he oversaw post-earthquake response and development programs. He also worked for CARE-International in Haiti as Assistant Country Director where he provided leadership to emergency response and development programming in environment, health, and food security sectors.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate, Market Strengthening and Venture Catalyst
Gathoni is the Senior Associate supporting the Market Strengthening team and Venture Catalyst for the Clean Cooking Alliance. She has over six years of legal and corporate governance experience having worked in private practice in various firms and at Absa Bank Kenya PLC before transitioning into consulting where she focused on helping small and medium companies navigate the legal landscape. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, a PostGraduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law, and a Master's Degree in International Relations from United States International University-Africa.
Job Titles:
- White House National Climate Advisor and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Gina McCarthy is the former Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and current White House National Climate Advisor and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
Appointed by President Obama in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common-sense strategies to protect public health and the environment.
Previously, McCarthy served as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. During her career, which spans over 30 years, she has worked at both the state and local levels on critical environmental issues and helped coordinate policies on economic growth, energy, transportation and the environment.
McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a joint Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering and Planning and Policy from Tufts University.
When she is not in D.C., McCarthy lives in the Greater Boston area with her husband and two dogs, just a short bike ride away from their three children, Daniel, Maggie and Julie.
Job Titles:
- Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the United States
On January 21, 2009, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Honorary Chair of the Alliance Leadership Council, was sworn in as the 67th Secretary of State of the United States. Secretary Clinton joined the State Department after nearly four decades in public service as an advocate, attorney, First Lady, and Senator.
Secretary Clinton was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 26, 1947 to Dorothy Rodham and the late Hugh Rodham. She attended local public schools before graduating from Wellesley College and Yale Law School, where she met Bill Clinton. In 1974, Secretary Clinton moved to Arkansas, a year later then married Bill Clinton and became a successful attorney while also raising their daughter, Chelsea. She was an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, and after working to strengthen the local legal aid office, she was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to serve on the board of the Legal Services Corporation, which she later chaired.
During her 12 years as First Lady of the State of Arkansas, she was Chairwoman of the Arkansas Education Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Children's Defense Fund.
In 1992, Governor Clinton was elected President of the United States, and as First Lady, Hillary Clinton became an advocate of health care reform and worked on many issues relating to children and families. She led successful bipartisan efforts to improve the adoption and foster care systems, reduce teen pregnancy, and provide health care to millions of children through the Children's Health Insurance Program. She also traveled to more than 80 countries as a representative of our country, winning respect as a champion of human rights, democracy and civil society. Her famous speech in Beijing in 1995 -- when she declared that "human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights" - inspired women worldwide and helped galvanize a global movement for women's rights.
Jean-Louis Racine is the Chief Program Officer at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). He manages the Market Strengthening team as well as the overall development, strategic planning, implementation, and management of CCA's work in Haiti.
Prior to joining CCA, Jean-Louis worked at the World Bank where he led infoDev's Climate Technology Program and was involved in the design and implementation of ecosystem-level initiatives to build new markets for climate change technologies. At the World Bank, Jean-Louis also worked with numerous governments to develop and deploy strategies, policies and programs to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Jean-Louis has focused much of his career around organizational innovation and launched a corporate accelerator for World Bank and International Finance Corporations teams to develop novel support instruments for green innovation. Before joining the World Bank, Jean-Louis worked in a private consulting practice and startup foundry where he advised regional governments and businesses on innovation-based competitiveness strategies. His practical experience with technological innovation involves working on product design and engineering in sectors spanning rural micro-hydropower, hydraulic systems, medical devices and robotics in various countries. Jean-Louis holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering a from the University of California at Berkeley, and Master's degrees in Technology Policy for Economic Development from Columbia University and in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate, Climate
Jessica Vargas Escobedo is the Climate Associate for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Originally from Mexico, Jessica recently graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Science in Sustainability Management. Prior to obtaining her Master's degree and joining CCA, Jessica served as an intern for the Environment Affairs team at the United Nations Environment Programme. She also worked as a research assistant at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, helping to examine the social and environmental impacts of natural protected areas across Africa and Latin America. In her free time, Jessica enjoys traveling and painting.
Job Titles:
- Chief of Staff
- Chief of Staff and Chief External Affairs Officer
Jillene Connors Belopolsky is the Chief of Staff at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Jillene has over a decade of experience in energy sustainability, strategy, and innovation. Prior to joining CCA, Jillene worked at BP, developing group-level strategies focused on the environmental and societal impacts of technology, climate change, and carbon management, and was involved in BP's early energy access business. Jillene has focused much of her career around energy sustainability strategies and collaborative partnerships to accelerate the shifts that are needed in global decision-making, with a concentration on energy access and sustainable livelihoods. Jillene has worked with Earth Security Group where she advised corporations on a range of sustainability impact opportunities and led research to define a global cooperation framework to accelerate public-private sustainability investment in forced displacement. She has also held positions with The Prince's Rainforests Project, McKinsey & Company, and The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Jillene holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Gettysburg College.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and President of Pani - Fresh
Juan Carlos Paiz is the Co-Founder and President of Pani-Fresh, an industrial bakery with 300 employees that exports to 20 Latin American countries. Pani-Fresh won the Award for Best Exporter, as well as for Best Manufacturing Business in Guatemala, in 2011. Juan Carlos Paiz also is the former President for McDonald's Supply Chain Latin-American Counsel, which encompasses 800 providers.
He has also served as Guatemala's Presidential Commissioner for Competitiveness, Investment and Millennium Challenge Corporation. He has developed a national strategy for attracting investment and promoting exports, and has personally led a development proposal to augment the annual economic growth of Guatemala.
Commissioner Paiz has been a Professor at the Faculty of Economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquín and is Regional Director for the Dutch Cooperation Agency ICCO for Central America and Haiti. Mr. Paiz co-founded and became President of the Fundación Proyecto de Vida "GuateAmala" which aimed at improving the attitude of Guatemalans and coordinated community activities that empowered citizens.
Juan Carlos Paiz is also former President of the Guatemalan Exports Association (AGEXPORT) and the "Central American Federation of Exporters" (FECAEXCA) and the "Coordinating Committee of Guatemalan Chambers" (CACIF), as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of "FUNDESA" (Foundation for Guatemalan Development) and is part of the program "Guatemaltecos Mejoremos Guatemala" a private sector proposal that fights aggressively against poverty.
Juan Carlos Paiz was born in Guatemala. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from INCAE Business School and a Master's degree in Productivity from Universidad Francisco Marroquín.
Job Titles:
- Country Manager, Nepal
- Nepal Country Manager
Karuna Bajracharya is the Nepal Country Manager at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Prior to joining CCA, she was a household energy and development analyst at ICIMOD, where she spent her time developing organizational strength in mitigating air pollution from cooking and other sources of rural energy while working directly with communities. Prior to that, Karuna worked for Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) in different capacities (i.e. National Adviser, Manager and Component Coordinator for Biomass Energy /Improved Cook Stove component of Danida and Norway; supported National Rural and Renewable Energy Programme (NRREP); and Energy Sector Assistance Programme (ESAP)). During her tenure at AEPC, she was extensively involved in striving new ventures related to the development of the clean cooking sector in Nepal such as support on the establishment of cookstove testing wing at Renewable Energy Test Station (RETs)/Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), advisor to the development of Nepal standard and interim benchmark for wood-burning cookstove suitable for the Nepalese context. Karuna holds dual Master degrees MBA and MA Social Science from Ace Institute of Management Pokhara University and Tribhuban University, Nepal.
Job Titles:
- Director for Advocacy & Communications
Katherine Manchester is the Director for Advocacy & Communications at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). She is responsible for amplifying the work of CCA through a variety of communications strategies, including publications, social media, web outreach, and events. Prior to joining CCA, she supported communications teams at the World Bank and several for-profit and non-governmental organizations, with a focus on sustainable development, women's empowerment, and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. She has over 20 years of experience working and living in East and West Africa and speaks French fluently. She holds a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance
- Senior Director, Finance & Operations
Kenny Pankey is the Director of Finance for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) where he manages and analyzes CCA's overall budget, and ensures financial compliance with external partner agreements. Just prior to joining CCA, Kenny spent two years as a budget analyst for the United Nations Foundation where he supported the budgetary and financial reporting needs of climate and various development-focused initiatives. Kenny has a B.S. in International Business from Towson University and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Advocacy and Communications
Kip Patrick is the Senior Director of Advocacy and Communications at the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Kip leads CCA's external outreach, including strategy development, partnerships, champion engagement, digital media, and content development. Kip has more than 20 years' experience building and implementing communications programs and partnerships for nonprofits, major corporations, and government agencies.
Previously, Kip worked as a Senior Communications Consultant with the World Bank, leading global efforts to increase access to safe water and improved sanitation in developing countries. Prior to that, he and his wife Liz spent 16 months volunteering across Asia, Africa, and Central America, for which they were named 2014 National Geographic Travelers of the Year. Kip has also served as Vice President of Public Affairs at the global public relations firm Ketchum and as Senior Communications Officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts. A longtime writer and photographer, his work has been published by CNN, National Geographic, and Men's Journal. Kip earned a degree in journalism from Northwestern State University in Louisiana and a masters certificate from The George Washington University School of Political Management.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director at GOGLA
Koen Peters is Executive Director at GOGLA, the association for the off-grid solar energy industry. Koen is a strong advocate of making market solutions work for public goals and believes the off-grid solar industry holds the key to the quickest, most cost-effective and overall best route towards universal energy access.
Koen is internationally oriented and throughout his 25+ year career has been active in various private and public sector roles to support sustainable and green business development, with a specific interest in renewable energy.
He holds an MSc Degree of Environmental Engineering from Wageningen Agricultural University and International Master of Business Administration (MBA), University Nyenrode and Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University, USA).
Job Titles:
- President of Balderston Strategic Partnerships
Kris M. Balderston is the President of Balderston Strategic Partnerships. Previously he served as the Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the Global Partnership Initiative within the Office of the Secretary of State. Prior to his role at the U.S. Department of State, Kris was Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's first Legislative Director in January 2001 before serving as her Deputy Chief of Staff from 2002-2009. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Balderston accomplished numerous successful private-public partnerships under the direction of then Senator Clinton with multiple stakeholders in the State of New York.
Kris began his career with the National Governors' Association and later ran the Massachusetts State Office for Governor Michael Dukakis from 1987-1991. He then became Senior Policy Advisor to Majority Leader George Mitchell at the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee from 1991-1993. From 1993-1995, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Labor under Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Kris served in the White House from 1995-2001, as Special Assistant for Cabinet Affairs to President William Jefferson Clinton and then later as the Deputy Assistant to the President and the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet. Kris holds his BA in Political Science from LeMoyne College and his MA in Government from Georgetown University.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Monitoring & Evaluation at CCA
- Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation
Lauren is a Manager of Monitoring & Evaluation at CCA. She began working in monitoring, evaluation, and learning in 2015, and has supported M&E efforts on State Department, USAID-funded Bureau for Economic Growth and Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, and USDA-funded Food for Progress projects. She has provided MEL technical support for projects across Africa, Eastern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia.
Lauren has a Master of Arts, Humanitarian Affairs joint degree from the Friedman School of Nutrition and Fletcher School of International Affairs at Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from American University. She speaks advanced Spanish and conversational French.
Job Titles:
- Senior Portfolio Manager
- Senior Portfolio Manager, Market Strengthening
Lindsay is a Senior Portfolio Manager on the Market Strengthening team at CCA. In this role she will be managing a portfolio of companies and partners and supporting market ecosystem projects within the Venture Catalyst program. The VC program provides enterprise-level support to companies across the clean cooking value chain with the aim of enabling impact and financial returns at scale and driving more private sector investment into the sector. Lindsay brings thirteen years of strategy and operations experience in the social enterprise and non-profit space to the CCA team. She has worked across a variety of sectors including energy access, agriculture, and education. Lindsay has spent the last four years consulting in the energy access space, working with the World Bank, Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors, and VentureBuilder with a variety of clients across Sub-Saharan Africa. Lindsay holds a BA and MA from Stanford University. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Job Titles:
- Officer, Administration & Finance, Haiti
Lyne has a background in Finance and Administration and more than 20 years of experience in financial management, accounting, audit, internal control, and human resources management. She has strong experience with financial project management and good knowledge of international donors' regulations and procedures. Prior to joining CCA, she had worked with audit firms, NGOs, and government entities in Haiti and in Canada. Within CCA Haiti, Lyne will be managing Finance and Administration and Human Resources. Lyne holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Tampa and a Master of Business Administration from Florida International University. She also has a passion for volunteering and supporting social outreach programs.
Job Titles:
- President of the Mary - Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice
- President of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, Former President, Ireland
Mary Robinson is the President of the Mary-Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice. She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change and most recently as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Her Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, established in 2010, came to a planned end in April 2019.
A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012.
Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the International Science Council and Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019. Mary's memoir, ‘Everybody Matters' was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice - Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future' was published in September 2018.
Job Titles:
- Associate, Venture Catalyst
Michelle is a Venture Catalyst Associate for the Clean Cooking Alliance. She supports the CCA's market strengthening efforts by understanding market dynamics, evaluating new investment opportunities, conducting outreach, and nurturing our portfolio and donor relationships. Prior to CCA, Michelle began her career in the banking sector working at Stanbic Bank Kenya in their Personal and Business Banking division. She then transitioned to impact investing in emerging markets, gaining valuable experience in early-stage venture accelerator programs execution and portfolio management support while working for an international non-profit, Village Capital.
She recently took on a fellowship where she accelerated venture growth by developing continuous cycles of value creation activities for growth stage tech portfolio & pipeline companies at Capria Ventures, a Global South investment fund of funds.
Michelle holds a Bachelor of Business Science degree in Actuarial Science.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation
Irfan has a background in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) across the non-profit sector. His expertise includes systematic data collection and analysis for project monitoring, refinement of information management systems, technical assistance to learning agendas and strategy development, and establishment of centralized evaluation systems. Previously, he has worked for AJWS, USAID, World Learning, and the Aga Khan Development Network in the US, Pakistan, Egypt, and the UK on the M&E of programs focused on human rights, civil society strengthening, education, and global health.
Irfan has a Master of Science in Development Administration and Planning from the University College London and is currently based in Austin, Texas. His hobbies include photography, singing/songwriting, and the acoustic guitar, and he is part of a US based South Asian fusion band called Fitoor.
At CCA, Irfan works on M&E and learning activities across the organization.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager of Private Sector & Investment
Ronan Ferguson is the Senior Manager of Private Sector & Investment for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Based in London, UK, he joins CCA after more than six years at Accenture, a global management consulting firm, where he worked in their Strategy & Consulting practice serving commercial oil, gas, and utilities clients. Most recently, Ronan was a core team member of Accenture Development Partnerships, a team dedicated to delivering projects that have a positive social impact. He has worked on issues pertinent to Sustainable Development Goal 7 across sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, using Human-Centered Design and experiences in data visualization to shape and drive projects. Prior to Accenture, Ronan worked in the oil and gas industry and UK Government to improve operational, environmental, and health and safety standards and performance. Ronan holds a BSc in Biological Sciences from Oxford University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Portfolio Manager, Market Strengthening
Job Titles:
- Director, Market Strengthening and Gender
Régine has worked in international development for 18 years and has been in Haiti for a combined total of 12 years. Her career has brought her to several countries where she has focused on economic development, specializing in the private sector, investment, and capacity building. She has led various programs aimed at supporting small & medium enterprises. She held the Deputy Chief of Party's position for the Leveraging Effective Application of Direct Investments (LEAD) program and the Senior Entrepreneurship and Social business Manager's position with the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) where she provided direction and managed a multi-million grant program, accompanying entrepreneurs in various sectors, including renewable energy and clean cooking. She has also worked as the Public-Private Partnership Specialist for the USAID Feed the Future program, where her work centered on reinforcing businesses, and agriculture undertakings through investments, and technical support. Régine has expertise in gender related issues, microfinance, and financial product development in frontier markets.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Strategy & Development
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate, Evidence & Impact
Job Titles:
- Director, Venture Programs
Job Titles:
- Senior Portfolio Manager, Venture Programs
Job Titles:
- Associate, Evidence & Impact
Job Titles:
- Founder and Honorable Chairman of China Vanke President of China Vanke Foundation
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Vice President and Regional Director for Africa