GREEN FINANCE INSTITUTE - Key Persons
Adam joined the Green Finance Institute in November 2021 as a Senior Analyst for the green taxonomy work. Adam has a policy background, with extensive experience of research and providing analysis to policymakers on strategic trends, associated risks and potential future scenarios.
Before arriving at the Green Finance Institute, Adam worked in various analytical roles in multiple departments within the Civil Service and holds a BSc in Neuroscience from the University of Leeds.
Alessandra joined the Green Finance Institute in January 2022 as an Associate on the built environment programme, with a focus on the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings (CEEB)'s Campaign on Local Climate Bonds.
Before joining the Institute, Alessandra spent 2 years as an Associate consultant at the Risk Practice of McKinsey & Company, where she specialised on the impact of climate change on European banks' risk management practices and GHG portfolio emission pathways.
Prior to McKinsey, Alessandra was part of the Risk Analysis and Stress Testing Unit at the European Banking Authority (EBA), where she gained valuable experience in EU banking regulation and supervision.
Alessandra holds an MSc in Banking and Finance from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy.
Amy Allan joined the Green Finance Institute in September 2022 as an Analyst. She works with the Nature Team's Farming and Finance Group which focuses on developing solutions which help farmers transition to low-carbon and nature-friendly farming practices. Additionally, she supports the GTAG's DEFRA Working Group in developing agriculture-related technical screening criteria.
Prior to joining the GFI, Amy worked as a graduate consultant with Blue Earth Capital focusing on maximizing investment impact through technical assistance. She also served as a project co-lead for Global Research and Consulting and as a research analyst for the LSE Student Union's Impact Investing Society. Amy has over ten years' experience in the food and beverage and hospitality industries and as well as advocacy and volunteer experience promoting sustainable food systems.
Amy holds a BSc in Global Resource Systems from the University of British Columbia, an MA in International Studies from Simon Fraser University and an MSc in Development Management and Applied Development Economics from the London School of Economics.
Job Titles:
- DIRECTOR, PEOPLE and OPERATIONS
- Institute As HR Director and Company Secretary
Andy Jackson joined the Institute as HR Director and Company Secretary in June 2021. Andy has a wealth of experience as both a HR and Operations Director, with significant experience in scaling start-ups and working with organisations that span the public and private sector.
Andy's most recent roles include interim Operations Director of the Impact Investing Institute, where he was instrumental in its establishment. From 2014 - 2018 Andy was Global HR Director and General Manager of the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), also known as the Nudge Unit. At BIT he was a member of the management board where he led the set up and transition from Government to the private sector and expansion into the USA, Australia and Singapore.
In 2007 he worked for David Sainsbury to set up and establish the Institute for Government as Director of Operations. He has also held several roles as a civil servant - most notably working on the Government's commercial portfolio programme and social exclusion policy. Andy has a degree in Music, a post-graduate Diploma in Management and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Blanche de Biolley joined the Green Finance Institute in September 2022 as an Analyst. She is supporting the GTAG in creating the UK Taxonomy and sits on the DEFRA working group, coordinating their work on fishing: whilst simultaneously working with the Nature team on researching ways to increase private investment in nature restoration and nature-based solutions in the UK.
Blanche recently completed an internship as a Graduate Junior Impact Analyst at Planet First Partners (PFP) in London, a purpose-driven European growth investor in "Better for the People" and "Better for the Planet" companies across sustainability, environment, consumer, technology and clean energy themes. At PFP, Blanche collaborated with the sustainability team to conduct the due diligence process for all potential investments, verifying the sustainability of their supply chains.
Blanche holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London with an in-depth focus on energy technologies and policy. Blanche is an ocean enthusiast, and wrote her Masters Dissertation on improving the governance process for the resources of the Sargasso Sea. The thesis explored various decision processes for resource management and marine biodiversity protection in ABNJs - which are home to unique species and ecosystems.
She also holds a BA (First Class Hons.) in History and Politics with Economics from Durham University. Her undergraduate dissertation focussed on the place of carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the UK's energy policy. Prior to joining the GFI, she interned at KCL's Policy Institute, and at Argus Media, working on a project involving chemical plastics recycling for fuel generation.
Charlie joined the Green Finance Institute in November 2022 and works in the Nature Programme working with cross-sector stakeholders to mobilise private finance for nature-based solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss and food security. He is passionate about the role that private finance, and a multi-disciplinary approach can play in accelerating the recovery of nature in the UK.
He joins us from the Westcountry Rivers Trust, where he was a Senior Project Manager in their Land Team. His career in conservation includes the Zoological Society of London working on several species recovery projects in the UK, the Marine Megafauna Foundation managing a sustainable fisheries and alternative livelihoods programme and the Large Marine Vertebrate Research Institute where he conducted extensive shark research.
Prior to his roles in conservation, he spent six and a half years at Standard Chartered Bank, starting out on their graduate training programme in Dubai. He then went on to work in the Asset and Liability Management business as a Liquidity Manager in London, using money market instruments to manage day-to-day liquidity. In 2013 he moved to East Africa to run the Asset and Liability Management business for Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania, managing the liquidity and interest rate risk of the Bank's balance sheet.
Charlie holds a BSc (Hons) in Biosciences and an MSc in International Management from the University of Exeter.
Job Titles:
- HEAD of FINANCE and OPERATIONS
Clive joined the Institute in May 2022, bringing with him 25+ years of business management experience. He has worked across central and local government, corporate, and the not-for-profit sectors, managing finance, people, contracts, and IT systems.
Prior to joining the Institute, Clive worked for over 7 years as the Finance Director for a group of media companies, transforming their financial management processes and providing strategic and financial guidance to their respective management boards.
Previous experience includes: Finance and IT management roles for DEFRA; freelance contractor specialising in IT contracts and service management; IT Manager for Clyde & Co. (a global law firm) responsible for the management of systems, IT contracts, and service delivery across their network of international offices; and School Business Manager and Company Secretary for a local authority.
Clodagh joined the Green Finance Institute as an Analyst in October 2022. She works in the Coalition for the Decarbonisation of Road Transport, which focuses on developing new financial products and solutions to help accelerate the decarbonisation of transport.
Prior to joining the GFI, Clodagh worked at the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) as an Associate in the Reporting and Assessment team, where she supported investment managers and asset owners to report on their responsible investment activities. Clodagh also led the minimum requirements workstream which helped signatories improve their responsible investment practices and increase accountability.
She holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Manchester.
Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas was awarded an OBE for services to green banking and was appointed chief executive of the UK Government and City of London Corporation-backed Green Finance Institute in 2019.
Eduardo joined the Green Finance Institute in July 2023. He has more than 25 years' experience in the financial legal environment and has held various positions of responsibility in several multinationals in the corporate finance, securities markets, consumer finance and renewable energy sectors.
Throughout his career, Eduardo has held senior management positions at Banesto, Santander, GE Capital Bank and Iberdrola.
Eduardo also holds three master's degrees in energy law, lobby and global business.
Elhan Cara joined the Green Finance Institute in October 2021 as a finance intern, but became an analyst in March 2022. He works across several coalitions and workstreams, with a particular focus on international and local authority structured finance.
Before joining the Institute, Elhan was a student at Loughborough University, where he completed his BSc (Hons) degree in Mathematics.
Job Titles:
- PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, BUILT ENVIRONMENT
An experienced and passionate green finance specialist, Emma Harvey-Smith leads the Green Finance Institute's built environment programme. Since joining the GFI in 2019, Emma has chaired the 400+ member Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings (CEEB), and now oversees a multi-faceted programme that catalyses and scales green building finance markets through industry collaborations, product development, place-based partnerships, and strategic engagement with local, devolved, and national government.
Emma sits on the UK Government's Solar Taskforce, Scottish Government's Green Heat Finance Taskforce, and is a non-executive director of Trustmark and the Future Homes Hub.
Emma previously worked across several areas within Barclays Bank including product development, portfolio management and corporate debt structuring. Throughout this period she championed the green finance agenda, supporting the bank's first green bond issuance and pioneering the Barclays' green home mortgage.
Emma Howard Boyd is the Interim Chair and will help drive the Green Finance Institute's work ahead of the UNCCC COP26 conference this November in Glasgow and will also be working with the Green Finance Institute Board in conducting an open process to appoint a permanent Chair, with proceedings set to begin in September, and likely to result in an official announcement in early 2022.
Emma has spent over 25 years working in the finance industry and is Chair of the Environment Agency, an Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), an Advisor to the Board of Trade, and a Global Ambassador for UN's Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26.
She serves on a number of boards and advisory committees which include The Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (as co-Chair), the European Climate Foundation, the Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project, and Menhaden PLC.
Emma was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation from 2018 until January 2021.
Job Titles:
- Director of Nature Programmes
- DIRECTOR, NATURE PROGRAMMES & GFI HIVE
Helen Avery is a Director of Nature Programmes and GFI Hive within the Green Finance Institute.
She leads the Institute's work on supporting the development of a pipeline of investible nature projects and on building investor demand, including advising and supporting the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund. The Institute also hosts the Secretariat for the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and Helen oversees the UK National Consultation Group.
In previous roles, Helen was Sustainable Finance Editor and Global Wealth Management Editor with Euromoney Magazine.
Ingrid Holmes is the Executive Director of the Green Finance Institute. Ingrid was previously a Director and Head of Policy and Advocacy at Federated Hermes International. She was also the firm's climate change coordinator. She has over 15 years of experience working on environmental policy and sustainable finance issues. Prior to joining Hermes Ingrid was a Director at climate change think tank E3G, leading a range of global initiatives on sustainable and inclusive finance. She has also held positions at the low carbon asset manager Climate Change Capital; been an energy and environment adviser in the UK Parliament; and adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Prior to that she had a career in science publishing and journalism.
Ingrid has held a number of UK and EU advisory roles including Member of the UK Green Finance Initiative (2016/2018), Member of the European Commission's High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (2017/2018) and ran the Secretariat for the Green Finance Taskforce (2017/2018). During the period 2019/2021 she was Vice Chair of the Disclosures Working Group within the UK Prudential Regulation Authority/Financial Conduct Authority Climate Financial Risk Forum and Co-Chair of the Investment Association's Climate Change Working Group. She is currently a Member of the Lloyd's ESG Advisory Group, acting as an independent expert on climate change.
Ingrid has a BSc in Biological Sciences (Hons Zoology) from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc/DIC in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London. Her BSc thesis was published in Genetical Research (Cambs) and she was awarded the Kathleen Lacy Prize for ranking first in her MSc specialism (Pollution Management).
Job Titles:
- Programme Director
- MANAGING DIRECTOR, GFI EUROPE
James Hooton joined the Institute in May 2021 as programme director, leading the expansion of the CEEB into Europe.
James was previously the Finance and Operations Director for a Charity operating across the South West of England. The Charity runs Local Authority contracts tackling adult and young people substance misuse as well as homelessness. James spent the last 3 years transforming the organisation's technological infrastructure, preparing the business for regulatory change and stabilising the balance sheet.
Prior to his Charity role, he spent 16 years at Goldman Sachs in London and Singapore managing a number of middle and back-office teams across a range of financial products from commodities, equity derivatives to vanilla cash equity. In his 9 years in Singapore, James advocated for and created teams, and their supporting technological processes, to improve oversight and reporting of operational risk as well as teams specifically assigned to clients and their trading risk. James sat on the operations steering committee of pan-Asia projects such as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect as well as global projects such as the Margining of Non-Cleared Derivatives.
Part of James's remit in Asia was acting as the Operations Client Relationship Manager for large Hedge Fund clients operating out of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. In this role it was his responsibility to manage different external stakeholder relationships across various financial jurisdictions, cultures and languages.
James holds an MSc in Physics from Nottingham University.
Jonathan Heybrock joined the Green Finance Institute in April 2020 and works across its portfolio of coalitions and projects as well as supporting the Institute's operations, marketing, research, events and communications functions.
He has experience in financial research across different asset classes, financial products and sectors, having interned at Allianz Global Investors, Peel Hunt and Standard Life Aberdeen. He is passionate about the areas of ESG and sustainable and responsible finance.
Jonathan holds an MA in philosophy, politics and economics from Leiden University and a BSc (Hons) in politics and economics from the University of Bath.
Juliet joined the Green Finance Institute as an Associate in March 2022. She works in the Coalition for the Decarbonisation of Road Transport, which focuses on developing new financial products and solutions to help accelerate the decarbonisation of transport.
Juliet joined the Institute from the Power, Utilities, and Infrastructure Investment Banking team at Jefferies where she had been since 2019. Whilst an Associate at Jefferies, she worked on several deals within the green energy and energy transition sector involved in the successful completion of several infrastructure transaction.
She holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.
Job Titles:
- FINANCE
- OPERATIONS ASSISTANT
Kim Lynch joined the Green Finance Institute in February 2023. She joined the GFI from the Food and Drink Federation as a finance executive where her responsibilities ranged from purchase ledgers and expenses to management accounts. Prior to this, she worked at the Anthony Nolan Trust, a charity that makes connections between patients in need and strangers ready to donate their stem cells.
Lauren Pamma joined the Green Finance Institute in December 2020 as programme director, leading the Coalition for the Decarbonisation of Transport, which focuses on developing new financial products and solutions to help accelerate the decarbonisation of transport.
Her career at Lloyds Banking Group spanned 16 years and saw her hold a number of finance, strategy and commercial roles, primarily within the asset finance division. Most recently she led the electrification agenda for Lex Autolease, identifying ways to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
Lauren holds a BSc in Zoology from Liverpool University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.
Maria joined the Green Finance Institute as an Associate in January 2022. She works mainly in the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of buildings, a cross-sector collaboration made up of more then 365 individual members to help accelerate the decarbonisation of buildings. Within this she leads on Demand Aggregation Financing and blended finance.
Maria joined the Institute following a three-year rotational Finance and Business Management graduate scheme at J.P. Morgan Chase, gaining experience from a range of teams in both the Corporate Investment Bank and in Asset Management. Whilst at J.P. Morgan she led on projects with GoGreen, a voluntary employee-led group supporting green initiatives.
She holds a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics with Statistics from the University of Southampton and has completed her CIMA exams.
Matt joined the GFI in September 2022 as Head of Partnerships. Matt focusses on collaborating and fostering relationships with Local Authorities and the Finance industry, developing innovative financial solutions designed to ‘crowd-in' private capital to support energy-efficiency improvements in the built environment.
Matt is leading the pioneering partnership announced in August 2022 between the GFI and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, aiming to pilot several financial solutions designed to unlock funding for owner-occupied and privately-rented homes in the region.
Prior to joining the GFI, Matt spent 13 years working at global banks, holding senior positions at Santander and Lloyds, where he specialised in mortgages and digital transformation.
Nicole joined the Green Finance Institute as HR Manager in August 2023 to support the business across all aspects of the HR function including recruitment, reward, policy, learning and development and performance management.
Prior to joining the GFI, Nicole worked for 5 years within the People and Wellbeing team at MJ Hudson (now part of Apex Group).
Nicole holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bristol and CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management.
Phoebe Tucker is a Nature Associate at the Green Finance Institute and joined the team in December 2021.
At GFI, Phoebe has been focused on the acceleration of the UK's supply of nature-based projects through the design and development of the Investment Readiness Toolkit. She has conducted interviews with project developers, landholders, buyers, investors and other market actors to identify common considerations on projects' journey to Investment Readiness and write case studies to share learnings. Alongside this work, she is an advisor and assessor to the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) in England and the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS).
Prior to joining GFI, Phoebe worked in commercial banking for three years at NatWest, where she specialized in strategy development and the launch of transformational programmes.
Job Titles:
- GREEN MORTGAGE CAMPAIGN LEAD
Rachael Joined the GFI in January 2023 to lead our Green Mortgage Campaign. Rachael's core focus is to establish a sustainable green mortgage market within UK lending, which is scalable and plays a significant role in improving the energy efficiency of UK housing stock.
Rachael joined GFI with a decade of mortgage lending experience, starting out her career as a mortgage broker before moving over to work for a national mortgage lender, spanning multiple roles including business development, new build and national account management. While working in the lending sector Rachael has regularly featured as a guest writer for trade publications in addition to designing and hosting a flagship national webinar and podcast series which focused on mortgage lending, exploring topics from mortgage product pricing to inclusion in financial services and sustainability.
Job Titles:
- PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
- Programme Director for Green Taxonomy Work
Ryan is the Programme Director for Green Taxonomy work at the Green Finance Institute, with a focus on advising the UK Government on implementing a UK Green Taxonomy - a common framework setting the bar for investments that can be defined as environmentally sustainable - through the Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG). Ryan also works with the Institute's sector-focused coalitions and initiatives, bringing together key stakeholders across the public and private sectors, academia and civil society in order to unlock barriers to the deployment of capital to deliver tangible economic outcomes. Ryan previously led the Institute's Zero Carbon Heating Taskforce, as part of the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings (CEEB), and is currently leading the Local Climate Bond (LCB) Campaign.
Ryan co-hosts the Institute's Green is the New Finance podcast series, showcasing leading thinking on how to mobilise capital towards a greener, more inclusive and climate resilient global economy.
Before joining the Institute, Ryan worked in investment banking at Cantor Fitzgerald and Jefferies, specialising in power, energy and infrastructure, with a particular focus on renewable energy transactions. He has experience providing financial and strategic advice to leading clients on high-profile, global transactions, in both mergers and acquisitions and project finance.
Sandie joined the Green Finance Institute as an Associate in October 2022. She works on the Defra subgroup of the Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG), providing independent advice to Defra on resilience-based investing and the UK Green Taxonomy areas that relate to the UK's wider environmental economic activities.
Sandie joined the Institute from Defra where she held various roles. This included the delivery of Defra Carbon Budgets and Net Zero, a secondment to the Green Finance Team and as a fisheries policy advisor - where she negotiated for improved sustainability measures in international fisheries organisations. Before joining Defra, Sandie worked as a Sustainability Strategy Consultant, advising on the risks and opportunities of the Net Zero transition for energy organisations and as an analyst for C40 Cities where she focused on developing Paris aligned Climate Action Plans for a global network of cities.
Sandie holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, specialising in International Environmental Policy & Law, and an MEarthSci from the University of Manchester.
Signe Fosgaard joined the Institute in August 2023 to lead the Green Finance Institute's work in Denmark, with an an initial focus on catalysing and scaling green investment into renovating the built environment.
Signe joined from the Danish Green Building Council, where she was responsible for ESG, advising on EU sustainability regulations, and for attracting investment into sustainable building projects. Prior to this, Signe led the government's efforts at furthering economic and environmental sustainability in the social housing sector through baseline, benchmark and best practice setting. Signe has worked on investment advisory in Shanghai, both for institutional investors and on direct investment projects.
Signe holds an MA in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and in addition to the Scandinavian languages, Signe has working proficiency in English, German and Mandarin.
Job Titles:
- DIRECTOR of STRATEGY and PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Simon leads the GFI's strategy function and manages our relationships across government and wider public affairs. He works across our different programmes to maximise impact. Prior to joining the GFI, Simon was Innovation Director at the City of London Corporation where he served on the secretariat for the Green Finance Taskforce which led to the creation of the GFI. He also served on the board of the Kalifa Review into UK Fintech. Most recently he was a Director at Flint Global, advising investor clients on sustainability policy, regulation and strategy.
Job Titles:
- LEAD of EMERGING SECTORS and LEAD of BATTERY WORKSTREAMS
Suzanna Hinson joined the Green Finance Institute in January 2021 on secondment from the House of Commons. She is working across the Institute's portfolio of coalitions and projects with a focus on researching and reporting on sector-specific green finance and policy developments.
Suzanna's background is in energy policy; in her role in Parliament she is the energy specialist for the Library (an in-house research service) advising Parliamentarians on legislation, debates, policy, and constituency issues. Since she joined in 2017, Suzanna has worked on several key energy issues that have drawn the attention of Parliament, including the net zero decarbonisation target, Brexit (including the UK's departure from the EU Internal Energy Market, Emissions Trading Scheme, and Euratom) and, more recently, the Ten Point Plan and Energy White Paper. She has published several reports on energy policy areas including electricity grids, new nuclear power, support for renewable power, consumer energy costs, and green finance.
Suzanna has also worked with the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee including on inquiries into energy networks, energy efficiency, and clean growth. In 2019, Suzanna worked on secondment with the Committee on Climate Change, including on the Sixth Carbon Budget. Prior to her role in Parliament, Suzanna worked for think tanks and charities on various energy policy areas with a UK and European focus.
Suzanna holds an MA(Cantab) in Geography from the University of Cambridge, and an MSc in Climate Science and Sustainability from Brunel University, London.
Tom joined the Green Finance Institute as an Associate in June 2022. He works in the Coalition for the Decarbonisation of Road Transport, which focuses on developing new financial products and solutions to help accelerate the decarbonisation of transport.
Tom joined the Institute from the Portfolio Management team at Growth Lending, part of a group that provides working capital and venture debt finance to fast-growth businesses. Whilst there he independently managed a portfolio of businesses from a variety of sectors including transport, consumer and tech, working to structure deals and tailor different financial products to meet the needs of customers. He played a key role in the company's involvement in the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), helping to deliver millions of pounds in emergency funding to businesses during the pandemic, including an £8 million facility to support a client supplying 165,000 laptops into the Department of Education for underprivileged school children studying from home.
Tom has also undertaken strategy work in a clean-tech consulting firm helping start-ups developing technologies aiming to improve environmental sustainability. He holds an LLB in Law from the University of Nottingham and a Certificate in Business Accounting (CIMA).
Victoria joined the Green Finance Institute as Communications Manager in September 2022 and supports across the Institute's range of strategic communications activities.
Victoria joined the GFI following three years working in communications consultancies, where she led public affairs, communications and stakeholder engagement strategies for corporates and non-profit clients. She has led national campaigns around complex policy issues for businesses across sectors, including energy and financial services.
She holds a MSc in Strategic Communications from the London School of Economics and a BA in Political Science from McGill University.
Will joined the Green Finance Institute as a Communications Manager in February 2023 to lead on communications for the Institute's built environment programme.
Prior to joining the GFI, Will worked for a specialist real estate and ESG consultancy where he devised and delivered global communications campaigns for tech start-ups, family offices, and developers.
He holds an MSc in Law, Business and Management from the University of Law and an LLB in Law from the University of Birmingham.