Louise Helen Brown is a climate finance expert based in Windhoek, Namibia. She is the recent founder of a small business, Triple Capital, which develops financial and economic solutions to environmental and social challenges. Previously, she coordinated the Africa Climate Change Fund, a grant-making fund for climate resilience at the African Development Bank.
Karina Cheah is a rising senior at Colgate University (Hamilton, NY, USA) and is currently working for Initiatives of Change Switzerland as an intern for communications and the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a double minor in French and Creative Writing and plans to continue with all three fields in her postgraduate education. Her academic areas of interest include the intersection between foreign and domestic policy and the politics of Southeast Asia.
Gareth Phillips is Manager of the Climate and Environment Finance Division in the African Development Bank, based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Gareth has over 25 years’ experience in climate change and sustainability. His team at the AfDB works to source climate and environmental finance from a range of funds including the Climate Investment Funds, GCF and GEF.
Tony Rinaudo took on his current position of Senior Climate Action Advisor in 2020. He is responsible for advocacy, awareness creation and promotion of sustainable land management practices, particularly Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). He joined World Vision Australia in 1999 after spending 17 years in Niger, where he managed rural development and relief projects and pioneered the development and dissemination of FMNR. From 1999-2011, he held project officer roles for country portfolios (Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Chad).
Since January 2020 Oumar Sylla has been acting as Director for the Regional Office for Africa in the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat). Before this, he was Branch Coordinator, Urban Legislation, Land and Governance in UN Habitat and, from September 2015, Head of UN Habitat’s Land and GLTN Unit. Prior to joining the Land and GLTN Unit, Oumar served as a Senior Advisor in UN Habitat’s Regional Office for Africa and focal point to support urban policies development and sustainable urbanization in francophone countries.
Bishnu Raj Upreti has a Master’s in Sociology (1994) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and an MSc in Management of Agricultural Knowledge Systems (1998) and a PhD in Conflict Management (2001) from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. From 2001-3, he did post doctoral work at the University of London (King’s College) and the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Surrey, UK. In 40 years of professional work he has gained wide experience in research and development from the local to international level.
Dr Dhanasree Jayaram took on her current positions of Assistant Professor in the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations and Co-coordinator at the Centre for Climate Studies, at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), in 2018. She is also a Research Fellow of Earth System Governance (ESG) and a Project Associate of the Manipal Advanced Research Group (MARG).
Maxi Pia Louis is the Director of the Namibian Association of CBNRM Support Organizations (NACSO). Her background is in tourism and conservation; in 1995 she co-founded the Namibia Community Based Tourism Association (NACOBTA) and was its Director for nine years. Maxi joined NACSO in 2005 as the Secretariat Coordinator. Her current activities include coordinating the NACSO’s three main thematic working groups and nine non-profit organizations, as well as researchers and consultants working in communication.
Himanshu Kulkarni has led ACWADAM, a not-for-profit knowledge institution and think-tank on groundwater since 1998. He is a hydrogeologist by qualification and has been working on aquifers and groundwater across India’s diverse groundwater typology for more than 35 years. ACWADAM has partnered with a variety of organizations on piloting and mainstreaming the ideas of participatory groundwater management and springshed development across India, Nepal, Bhutan and Vietnam and has begun work in Africa.
Thomas Gauthier is Professor of Strategy at Emlyon Business School. Prior to moving into academia, he worked at Philips Healthcare and Philips Group Innovation where he held various positions including Clinical Research Director. His research interests have now brought him to explore how anticipation may help organizations make decisions in unpredictable times.