FUTURE OF CLIMATE COOPERATION TEAM

Core Team

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Thomas Hale

Project Director

Andrew Higham

Project Director

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Thomas Hale

Project Director

Dr. Thomas Hale’s research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly. He seeks to explain how political institutions evolve--or not--to face the challenges raised by globalization and interdependence, with a particular emphasis on environmental, economic, and health issues. He holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University, a masters degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics, and an AB in public policy from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. A US national, Dr. Hale has studied and worked in Argentina, China, and Europe. His books include Beyond Gridlock (Polity 2017), Between Interests and Law: The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes (Cambridge 2015), Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge 2014), and Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation Is Failing when We Need It Most (Polity 2013). Dr. Hale leads the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker.

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Andrew Higham

Project Director

Andrew Higham is a strategist who has worked across diverse sectors, policy domains and all levels of government for two decades, most recently in shaping international climate change policy. Within the UNFCCC from 2011-2016, Andrew drove the strategy for reaching a universal, legally binding agreement. He provided the strategic and negotiating support to South Africa in 2011 and drafted the Durban Mandate at COP 17, was the Secretary to the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform during its first two years, and then managed the large drafting and advisory team that developed and delivered the Paris Agreement. In 2016, he was invited by the UNFCCC Executive Secretary to take on the role of Chief Executive of Mission 2020 and focused on driving down global emissions at the pace and scale required by science for full decarbonisation by 2050. Through his leadership, the Mission 2020 campaign has been credited with many achievements across all areas of global climate action. In 2008-2010, he designed and delivered by COP 16 the Technology Mechanism under the Convention, and undertook research designing financial instruments to support international climate action, including precursors for the Green Climate Fund. He is presently Special Advisor to the UNFCCC High Level Climate Champions, Director of the Future of Climate Cooperation initiative and Visiting Fellow at Oxford University, a partner of Global Optimism, Strategic Advisor to the Earth4All initiative, and Managing Director of Plexus Strategy. He is also a member of the Urban Leadership Council.
He has extensive experience in driving policy reforms and delivering complex policy initiatives in the fields of science, technology, natural resources and environment policy. Previous roles include: International Expert in Climate Policy at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands; Strategies Director and Vice President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Manager of the Western Australian Office of Climate Change. He also worked as a senior policy advisor to political leaders in Australia, where he designed and implemented policies and programmes in various fields.

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Calder Tsuyuki-Tomlinson

Associate

Cherono Sego

Associate

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Calder Tsuyuki-Tomlinson

Associate

Calder Tsuyuki-Tomlinson is the Director of the Climate-Nature Coordination Platform (CNCP), an initiative working to bridge the climate, nature and development agendas across the UN Rio Conventions to help promote an integrated approach towards planetary crises. Embodying a mycorrhizal ethic, he previously led the climate and nature synergies agenda for the UAE COP28 Presidency after advisorial roles with the UN Biodiversity and UN Climate Change secretariats and the Climate Champions Team.
Calder previously managed and served as research lead for the Future of Climate Cooperation initiative based out of the University of Oxford, and was a Non-Resident Fellow at the United Nations University Center for Policy Research, supporting the work of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism in advance of the UN Summit of the Future. He is now also supporting mobilization around the UN’s Beyond GDP agenda, in advocating for economic paradigms that account for the plurality of values needed to ensure thriving life for present and future generations. Calder holds a MSc in Environmental Governance at the University of Oxford and BA in International Relations from the University of British Colombia.

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Cherono Sego

Associate

Cherono is a Senior Program Associate in the International Engagement and Non-CO2 portfolios at ClimateWorks Foundation where she brings over four years of experience in global environmental policy and multi-lateral environmental engagement. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Management from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a concentration in Energy and Climate.

Kennedy Mbeva

Associate

Daouia Chalali

Project Assistant,
Future Generations

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Kennedy Mbeva

Associate

Kennedy Mbeva (PhD) is a Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, and Research Fellow and Member of the Governing Body at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. His research focuses on the governance of global catastrophic risk, focusing on climate change and geoeconomics. Dr Mbeva has contributed to high-profile UN reports such as the IPCC AR6 and the Adaptation Gap Report and served on Kenya’s delegation to the UN Climate Change negotiations. A Kenyan national, he holds a PhD in International Relations (distinction) from the University of Melbourne and has studied and worked in Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His latest book is "Africa’s Right to Development in a Climate-Constrained World" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, co-authored).

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Daouia Chalali

Project Assistant, Declaration on Future Generations

Daouia is a passionate Foresight Practitioner. She has worked with international companies to promote Foresight methodologies. She has actively built Foresight networks in Paris, collaborating with over 50 prominent companies and institutions. Her expertise lies in Global Health and Corporate Geopolitics, explored in her graduation thesis and at the French Mission to the UN Geneva. She holds a triple Master’s Degree in International Relations, MBA, and Public Administration.

Mathilde Mansoz

Operations Manager

Jason Anderson

Advisory Group Chair

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Mathilde Mansoz

Operations Manager

Mathilde is experienced in managing complex and high-level projects across the private sector and not-for-profit with demonstrated achievements in running operational & financial management of international organizations. Over the past 15 years, Mathilde developed her expertise in structuring and managing operational structures, in creating partnerships and in shaping the development of several high-impact climate initiatives, including the International Policy and Politics Initiative administrated by the European Climate Foundation and Mission 2020 a campaign convened by Christiana Figueres. Mathilde holds a Master in International Economics from Sorbonne University and a MSc in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University. Before working in the climate policy field, she worked in the movie industry leading the operational distribution of independent and mainstream movies for companies like Lionsgate and The Walt Disney Company. In her spare time, Mathilde loves curating objects from around the world that inspires beauty, stories and memories.

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Jason Anderson

Advisory Group Chair

Jason is a Senior Program Director at ClimateWorks Foundation in San Francisco. His work spans efforts ranging from advancing the Paris Agreement, to cleaning up maritime shipping and preventing methane leakage. Jason was a lead author of the IPCC special reports on ozone and climate interactions, and on carbon capture and storage. He earned degrees in public policy and energy and resources from U.C. Berkeley, and in biological anthropology from Harvard University.

Daouia Chalali
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Claudette Salinas Levya

Project Assistant,
Future Generations

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Claudette Salinas Levya

Project Assistant, Declaration on Future Generations

Claudette is a Project Assistant in the Declaration on Future Generations working group. She specializes in future generations policy and is a Next Generation Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, leading the Task Force on Future Generations. With a summa cum laude Law degree from ITAM, Claudette has experience in research and advocacy within the multilateral system.

ADVISORY GROUP

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Steven Bernstein

University of Toronto

Steven Bernstein is Distinguished Professor of Global Environmental and Sustainability Governance, University of Toronto. He is a professor in the Department of Political Science and Co-Director of the Environmental Governance Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He also co-edits the journal Global Environmental Politics and is a lead faculty member of the Earth Systems Governance Project.

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Rishikesh Ram Bhandary

Boston University Global Development Policy Center

Rishikesh Ram Bhandary is the Assistant Director of the Global Economic Governance Initiative at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center. He previously worked as a post-doctoral scholar at the Climate Policy Lab in the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is also a member of the Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Monetary Fund.

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Ayman Cherkaoui

Mohammed VI Foundation for
Environmental Protection

Nisreen Elsaim

UN Secretary-General Youth
Advisory Group on Climate Change

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Dr. Janine Felson

Permanent Mission of Belize to
the United Nations | Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute

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Dr. Janine Felson

Permanent Mission of Belize to the United Nations | Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute

Janine Felson is a research fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. Prior to joining MSSI, Janine served as a senior diplomat in the foreign service of the Government of Belize. From 2019-2020, Janine was the principal negotiator and political strategist on behalf of the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. Janine received her juris doctor from the University of Wisconsin School of Law in Madison, Wisconsin and her Certificate of Legal Education from the Norman Manley Law School in Kingston, Jamaica. She is admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Bar Association of Belize. In 2007, the Government of Belize conferred upon Janine the title of Ambassador.

Ramiro Fernández

High Level Climate Champions |
Fundacion Avina

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Ramiro Fernández

High Level Climate Champions | Fundacion Avina

Ramiro Fernandez is Director of Climate Change at Fundacion Avina. For over 15 years he has worked together with allied organizations to promote public-private partnerships towards sustainable development in Latin America. The Climate Change Strategy at Avina is conceived as a cross-cutting issue, introducing it in all of its Programs and Opportunities for systemic change, as a means to encourage sustainable development policies. Ramiro has been leading this initiative inside the organization, developing different strategies to include the Climate Change variable in different agendas, and representing Avina in World Forums and international negotiations.

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Lolita Jackson

Sustainable Development
Capital LLP

Rajiv S. Joshi

Bridging Ventures

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Heeta Lakhani

ClimACT Initiative

Heeta is a climate educator from Mumbai, India and holds Masters of Science in Environmental Studies and Resource Management from TERI University, New Delhi. She was introduced to the world of international climate negotiations at the UNFCCC COP21 in 2015. Since then, she has been active at the local as well as international level, advocating for and working towards creating change-makers who take knowledge-based action in order to combat the climate crisis. At COP25 in Madrid, Heeta was elected the Global Focal Point for YOUNGO, the official Children and Youth constituency of the UNFCCC for 2020-2021, along with Marie-Claire Graf.

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Bernice Lee

Chatham House

Bernice Lee is Founding Director at Hoffmann Centre on the Sustainable Resource Economy, Chatham House, United Kingdom. She was Director for Climate Change and Resource Security Initiatives at the World Economic Forum (2014-2016) and Research Director for Energy, Environment and Resources at Chatham House – Royal Institute of International Affairs (2007-2013). She was also a member of the Climate Change Advisory Board of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Queen Elizabeth Academy of International Leadership and the External Review Committee of Royal Dutch Shell. Bernice holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Oxford University, where she was a College Scholar for three years. Bernice was awarded an OBE for services to UK-China climate change cooperation in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2011.

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Dr. Shehnaaz Moosa

Nick Mabey

E3G

Dr. Shehnaaz Moosa

SouthSouthNorth

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Nick Mabey

E3G

Nick Mabey is a founder director of E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism) and has been E3G’s Chief Executive since 2006. In addition to his leadership role, Nick directly works on issues of climate diplomacy and foreign policy, macroeconomics and the security implications of climate change and resource scarcity. Nick undertakes a range of other roles including advising the UK COP President as a Friend of COP 26, a London Sustainable Development Commissioner, a trustee of Ashden, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Energy Transition. Nick has a degree in mechanical engineering from Bristol University and a Masters in Technology and Policy from MIT. He began his career working in the UK electricity industry for GEC and PowerGen.

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Dr. Shehnaaz Moosa

SouthSouthNorth

Shehnaaz oversees the finance hub at SouthSouthNorth, and is the Director of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) programme. Previously, Shehnaaz was the African Regional Coordinator for CDKN (2013-2017) and the Climate Resilience Lead for the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF). Shehnaaz has overseen SSN’s Southern Africa Climate Finance Partnership (SACFP) programme since 2016. She has deep theoretical and practical expertise in delivering complex programmes addressing climate change within the African context. Prior to joining SSN, Shehnaaz was a researcher and lecturer in the department of Chemical Engineering at University of Cape Town.

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Dr. Cosmas Ochieng

World Resources Institute

Dr. Robert Orr

University of Maryland

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Asad Rehman

War on Want

Sue Reid

Global Optimism

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Richard Samans

World Business Council for
Sustainable Development

Dominique Souris

Youth Climate Lab

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Katherine Stodulka

Quadrature Climate Foundation

Steve Waygood

Aviva Investors

Rishikesh Ram Bhandary

Boston University Global
Development Policy Center

Steven Bernstein

University of Toronto

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Nisreen Elsaim

UN Secretary General Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change

Nisreen Elsaim is a Sudanese activist very committed to climate issues. Coming from a country plagued by the adverse effects of climate change, she has been an activist on climate issues since 2012. In August 2020, she was appointed Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, Climate and Security. Nisreen Holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in renewable energy from the University of Khartoum.

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Ayman Cherkaoui

Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection

Ayman Cherkaoui is the Coordinator for the Mohammed VI Prize for the Climate and Sustainable Development as well as Strategic Development Officer at the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection and Deputy Chair for the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law for the 2021-2024 Mandate. Ayman is also Regional Facilitator of Major Groups and Stakeholders, Africa, elected by African organizations accredited to UNEP.

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Rajiv S. Joshi

Bridging Ventures

Rajiv is an economist, systems thinker, and community organizer working on climate change, economic transformation, and human rights. He is a Lead Author of the Decisive Decade Inquiry on the Future of Climate Action, commissioned by the Chief Architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, Christiana Figueres. Rajiv has served as the President & Executive Director of Project Regeneration and as the inaugural Associate Dean for Climate Action at Columbia University’s Climate School. He continues to serve as Co-Chair of the Earth Network on the Social Climate and as an Adjunct Professor at the School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) where he instructs graduate students in issues including climate change policy, technology, AI and regenerative entrepreneurship, while judging the SIPA policy challenge. Rajiv helped to establish The B Team, serving as its first Managing Director. He is the Founder of Bridging Ventures, a collective that drives collaboration and partnerships to address complex challenges.

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Lolita Jackson

Sustainable Development Capital LLP

Lolita Jackson MBE is the Executive Director of Communications & Sustainable Cities and is the link to governments around the world, also working on media relations, COP, UN and climate and business network engagement. Lolita previously worked for the NYC Mayor’s Office for 15 years in a variety of roles. She last served as the Special Advisor for Climate Policy & Programs, where she was the climate diplomat for NYC and lead for the administration regarding global work on divestment and climate finance. She is an alumna of the Penn School of Engineering, majoring in Applied Science with a concentration in Chemical Engineering.

Bernice Lee

Chatham House

Heeta Lakhani

ClimACT Initiative

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Dr. Robert Orr

University of Maryland

Robert C. Orr serves as UMD School of Public Policy dean, United Nations under secretary-general, and special advisor to the UN secretary-general on climate change. He is also past president and current executive committee member of NASPAA, the global association of public policy, affairs and administration schools. He has served in senior posts in the government of the United States, including deputy to the United States ambassador to the United Nations and director of global affairs at the National Security Council, where he was responsible for peacekeeping and humanitarian affairs.

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Dr. Cosmas Ochieng

World Resources Institute

Dr. Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng is the Director of the Climate Change, Food Security and Natural Resources Division at the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Before joining the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. Ochieng served as the Global Director for the Center for Equitable Development at the World Resources Institute (WRI). Prior to that he served as Director of the African Natural Resources Centre at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan.

A climate change, natural resources and development expert, Dr. Ochieng, has also held appointments with various universities, policy thinktanks and development institutions. These include as Associate Professor of the Practice of Global Development Policy at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University (US), Lecturer in Sustainable Agriculture, Land and Water at Lancaster University (UK) and Executive Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) in Nairobi Kenya. Dr. Ochieng is also a former Technical Coordinator of the Business, Economics and Biodiversity program of IUCN’s Eastern and Southern regional office in Pretoria, South Africa and a Research Fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Dr. Ochieng holds graduate degrees in Development Studies from Oxford and Cambridge universities in the UK.

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Sue Reid

Global Optimism

Solutions-oriented advocate and specialist focused on scaling investment in climate solutions. Also an adjunct faculty member teaching Climate Change Law at Boston College Law School. Current portfolio includes driving ambition of the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), as well as spurring financial institution uptake of The Climate Pledge, as a senior finance advisor at Global Optimism. Previous roles include co-lead of the High Level Climate Action Champions Finance Team in the run-up to COP26 and senior finance advisor at Mission2020. Also served as Vice President of Climate & Energy at Ceres.

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Asad Rehman

War on Want

Asad Rehman is the executive director of War on Want, where he organizes to put an end to poverty and injustice. Prior, he was the head of international climate at Friends of the Earth. Rehman has over 25 years of experience in the non-government and charity sector. He has served on boards of Amnesty International UK, Friends of the Earth International, Global Justice Now, and Newham Monitoring Project.

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Dominique Souris

Youth Climate Lab

Dominique Souris (she/her) is passionate about the intersections of climate justice, social innovation and climate finance. In her time as co-founder & executive director of Youth Climate Lab, she led the design, partnerships and fundraising of YCL’s projects, which have engaged youth in 77+ countries, supported nearly 50 youth-led climate ventures, and sparked close to 100 policy ideas. Dominique has been named among the Top 21 Founders to Watch by Future of Good, Top 100 Visionary Leaders by Real Leaders and Top 25 Environmentalists in Canada by the Starfish. She is a Board Member of the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices and the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship, and is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers, the Smart Prosperity’s Leaders Initiative and SDSN-Canada Leadership Council.

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Richard Samans

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Richard Samans is an internationally-recognized expert on strengthening the growth and development prospects of economies through fundamental improvement in their social inclusion and environmental sustainability. He has proposed corresponding structural reforms of macroeconomic theory and policy, corporate governance, and the international economic architecture, which he characterizes as an agenda to adapt the “source code” and “operating system” of market economies to 21st century circumstances, thereby improving their social and political cohesion as well as growth. A former senior US government official and international organization chief executive, he is the author of numerous publications, including Human-Centred Economics: The Living Standards of Nations, which the Financial Times selected as one of the best books of 2024 on Economics. Open access from: richardsamans.net. Richard Samans currently serves as Senior Economic Adviser to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Special Advisor to the United Nations Economist Network, Nonresident Senior Fellow of The Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Geneva Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies.

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Steve Waygood

Aviva Investors

Steve leads Aviva Investors' Global Responsible Investment team, which is responsible for integrating environmental social and corporate governance (ESG) issues across all asset classes and regions of c£350bn of assets under management. Steve has recently been appointed to the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on sustainable finance, and the UK Green Finance Taskforce, and is also a member of the Financial Stability Board Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). He is a faculty member at the International Corporate Governance Network and the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He is also a Visiting Professor of Sustainable Finance at Cass Business School.

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Katherine Stodulka

Quadrature Climate Foundation

Katherine is a Director at the Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF) where she leads the adaptation & resilience programme, designing high-impact funding strategies to tackle climate vulnerability. Katherine started her career as an M&A lawyer in Australia. Before moving to QCF, Katherine was the head of Sustainable Finance at climate advisory firm, Systemiq, where she worked with public, private and philanthropic clients in emerging markets to mobilise capital for climate action. Katherine Chairs the Blended Finance Taskforce, a global network which works to unlock catalytic climate finance solutions and structure largescale blended funds for clean energy, infrastructure and nature. She is a founding member of the Global Capacity Building Coalition, part of the Independent High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, is in the Expert Advisory Group for the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action and is on the JUST Stories Advisory Council. Katherine was named Environmental Finance’s “Net Zero Champion of the Year” for her work helping structure the Global Fund for Coral Reefs and the Just Energy Transition Partnerships in South Africa and Indonesia.

PROJECT COMMITTEE

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Andres Jimenez

Mason District Supervisor

Andres Jimenez was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and raised in West Virginia. He is proud to serve as the first immigrant and Latino member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors representing the Mason District. Andres Jimenez brings a long record of public service, including work on Capitol Hill, for the City of New York, and in senior leadership roles at environmental nonprofits such as Citizens’ Climate Lobby and Ocean Conservancy. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of Green 2.0, an initiative focused on increasing diversity in the environmental sector and uplifting communities disproportionately affected by climate change. He moved to the Mason District 12 years ago with his wife, Shanna, where they have since raised two daughters and numerous adopted pets.

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Cassandra Pillay

Climate Change Expert & Climate Fiction Artist

Cassandra Pillay is a climate change expert and storyteller with over a decade of experience working with international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank. With academic roots in psychology and international relations, she brings a unique lens to climate policy—one that bridges the emotional and systemic dimensions of global change. Recently trained in climate change law, Cassandra is passionate about innovation at the intersection of inner resilience and planetary wellbeing.
Her creative journey began during the COVID-19 lockdown, when she created Magica, a fantasy world inspired by real-world climate and mental health challenges. Her debut novel blends policy insight with imagination, inviting readers to explore their own role in the planetary story.
Based in Vienna, Cassandra draws strength from her Malaysian heritage—and a good bowl of laksa.

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Heather Grady

Vice President of Collaboratives and Asia

Heather Grady is a Vice President in the San Francisco team of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. She leads on funder collaboratives and oversees a portfolio of more than 40 sponsored projects in environment, climate change and cross-cutting issues including migration, public interest media, and democracy. Heather also advises philanthropists and foundations on issues from grantee selection to governance of funder collaboratives. She co-founded and leads the Shifting Systems initiative that encourages funders to place longer-term, more adaptive funding with grantee partners to support them to foster systemic impact. Her perspectives and practice have been influenced by two decades living and working in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She previously worked with the Rockefeller Foundation, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, and Oxfam Great Britain. She serves on the boards of several outstanding organizations including the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Doc Society, Wildlife Justice Commission, the Dropbox Foundation, and WINGS.

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Rabab Fayad

Strategic Senior Advisor on Climate Strategic Engagement

Rabab Fayad is an international affairs and sustainability expert with two decades of experience shaping high-level policy, partnerships, and communications across the United Nations, global alliances, and multilateral platforms. As Head of Partnerships at the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, she led global engagement for a coalition of governments committed to a managed fossil fuel phase-out, working closely with funders, co-chairs, and member states to design Just Transition strategies and deliver a major presence at COP28. Rabab has also served as a senior advisor to the UNFCCC, UNITAR, and Principia Advisory, supporting climate strategy, ethical leadership, and systems-level change. Earlier in her career, she held leadership and advisory roles at the UN Secretary-General’s Office, the President of the General Assembly, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Mission 2020—where she helped drive global climate ambition and cross-sector collaboration. Rabab holds a Juris Doctor from William & Mary and a B.A. in International Relations from Austin College, with executive training from Columbia University, INSEAD, and Wharton.

CASSANDRA PILLAY

Climate Change Expert &
Climate Fiction Artist

ANDRES JIMeNEZ

Mason District Supervisor

RABAB FAYAD

Strategic Senior Advisor on
Climate Strategic Engagement

HEATHER GRADY

Vice President of
Collaboratives and Asia

KUKI SOEJACHMOEN

Co-Founder & Executive Director at Indonesia Research Institute for Decarbonization (IRID)

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Kuki Soejachmoen

Co-Founder & Executive Director at Indonesia Research Institute for Decarbonization (IRID)

Ms. Moekti Handajani Soejachmoen (Kuki Soejachmoen) is Co-Founder and the current Executive Director of Indonesia Research Institute for Decarbonization (IRID). Kuki has been working in climate change related issues since the early 1990s when she worked on the Final Paper for her bachelor’s degree at Department of Environmental Engineering at Institut Teknologi Bandung. Her involvement started with climate science and climate modelling before she got involved in policy analysis and policy advocacy as well as international climate diplomacy and negotiation.
Starting her career as a Researcher at the Center for Research on Energy ITB until mid-2000, she then joined Yayasan Pelangi Indonesia until mid-2010 when she finished her tenure as its Executive Director. She became the Special Assistant to the Indonesia President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change for the period 2010-2019. In December 2020, Kuki with three other co-founders established IRID, where she has been the Executive Director since then.
Her involvement in international climate diplomacy and negotiations started in 2000 as part of the Climate Action Network International by lobbying parties under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). She joined the Indonesian Delegation since COP13/CMP3 in Bali in 2007 until COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh in 2022.

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP

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Heather Grady

Vice President of Collaboratives and Asia

Heather Grady is a Vice President in the San Francisco team of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. She leads on funder collaboratives and oversees a portfolio of more than 40 sponsored projects in environment, climate change and cross-cutting issues including migration, public interest media, and democracy. Heather also advises philanthropists and foundations on issues from grantee selection to governance of funder collaboratives. She co-founded and leads the Shifting Systems initiative that encourages funders to place longer-term, more adaptive funding with grantee partners to support them to foster systemic impact. Her perspectives and practice have been influenced by two decades living and working in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She previously worked with the Rockefeller Foundation, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, and Oxfam Great Britain. She serves on the boards of several outstanding organizations including the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Doc Society, Wildlife Justice Commission, the Dropbox Foundation, and WINGS.

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Kelsey Ring

Advisor, Sponsored Projects & Funds

Kelsey Ring is an Advisor at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, where she partners with project leaders and funders to advance critical philanthropic initiatives. With a robust background in climate, sustainability, and community development, Kelsey brings extensive expertise in project management, stakeholder engagement, and grantmaking. Prior to joining RPA, she held significant roles at the Clinton Global Initiative, World Resources Institute, and the Peace Corps, leading global initiatives in regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, and climate policy. She holds a M.S. in International Policy Management, and serves as a dedicated Board Member for Bike East Bay, supporting their mission for safe and inclusive bicycling in the San Francisco Bay Area.

KELSEY RING

Advisor, Sponsored Projects & Funds

HEATHER GRADY

Vice President of
Collaboratives and Asia

MAUREEN MAHONEY

Analyst, Operations Specialist

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Maureen Mahoney

Analyst, Opertaions Specialist

Maureen Mahoney is an Analyst on the Sponsored Projects and Funds team at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), where she oversees a diverse portfolio of initiatives in health, education, arts, and environmental impact. Since joining RPA in 2022, she has led grants and contract management, provided operational guidance, and ensured legal and financial compliance for more than a dozen fiscally sponsored projects.
Previously, Maureen worked at Arabella Advisors, a philanthropic consulting firm, where she served as an advocacy specialist supporting both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) projects. Her experience spans grantmaking, nonprofit operations, and cross-sector collaboration. She holds a Professional Certificate in Operations Management for Nonprofits, with specialized training in project planning, stakeholder engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
Maureen earned her degree in Public Policy from the Ford School at the University of Michigan, where she led fundraising efforts for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and interned with the Flawless Foundation, later becoming the first graduate of its leadership program to join the board. Her passion for driving systemic change in public health, education, and justice continues to guide her work across the social sector. Originally from the Washington, DC area, Maureen now lives in Nashville, Tennessee.