Jennifer Alley has more than 20 years of fundraising and leadership experience in the nonprofit sector. She has a track record of securing transformational gifts for institutions, building and leading major gifts and development programs, and training and partnering with volunteer leadership and staff at all levels.

Jennifer joins ClimateWorks Foundation from Campbell & Company, where she served as a senior consultant, working with a number of nonprofit organizations, including the UC Berkeley School of Law, serving as interim Dean of Advancement, and the Seattle Symphony, working as Campaign Director.

She has strong experience in the environmental community, having served as the Director of Development, Northern California at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and leading the regional major gifts program for the Trust for Public Land’s Mid-Atlantic Region. While at NRDC, Jennifer created the “Growing Green Awards” and led regional fundraising efforts and solicitations for the organizations $400 million “Partnership for the Earth” campaign.

Jennifer’s professional background also includes experience in the arts and culture and higher education sectors, having held key development positions at 92nd Street Y, Sarah Lawrence College, the New York Botanical Garden, and the French Institute/Alliance Francaise. Jennifer is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.

Muniba Ahmad is the Data Specialist for ClimateWorks’ Global Intelligence team. She maintains ClimateWorks’ core data infrastructure, and creates data visualizations and custom analyses in support of climate mitigation strategies. Previously, Muniba was a Research Associate for a public health research and consulting firm, where she focused on community health and health analytics. Muniba holds bachelors degrees in Public Health and Psychology from the University of California Berkeley, and received a Master in Urban Planning degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a concentration in Urban Analytics.

Jessica Brown is the Executive Director of the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program. She is an internationally recognized expert with a decade and a half of experience in international climate policy, climate finance, and sustainable development.

Before joining ClimateWorks, Jessica was the Associate Director of Climate Policy Initiative. Jessica also served as Foreign Affairs Officer at the State Department where she led the international climate finance negotiations on behalf of the United States. Jessica has also worked as a Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute and Associate at California Environmental Associates.

Jessica holds a Masters in International Development Studies from the London School of Economics, a Masters in Environmental Policy from Columbia University, and a Bachelors in Political Science from Barnard College.

Avery Cohn leads food and agriculture activities at ClimateWorks as well as the Healthy Diets/Healthy Planet workstream of the Climate and Land Use Alliance, a grantmaking strategy promoting a future for protein consistent with climate and development goals. Avery joined ClimateWorks in 2019, following over 15 years of research and policy work on a food system compatible with a livable climate. During the period, Avery served as a professor at Tufts University, where he retains an affiliation, advised international organizations, and held additional roles at Stanford, Brown, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Avery holds a B.S. from the University of California Davis, a master’s from the Yale School of Forestry, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sue manages ClimateWorks Operations and Planning functions, to ensure the organization is empowered by highly efficient and effective systems, processes, and operating practices. In this role, she works with internal teams, as well as the broader philanthropic and climate communities. Sue has more than 25 years of experience in a variety of executive strategic and operational roles in high tech. She was the co-founder of Spearfish Innovation, helping clients — including for-profit start-ups, Fortune 50 companies, and non-profit organizations — achieve their goals through innovation in business products, services, and processes.

At ClimateWorks, Casey Cronin’s primary responsibilities include coordination and management of Global Intelligence team activities as well as providing a holistic view of ClimateWorks’ grantmaking portfolio and to provide advice and insights into philanthropic opportunities and risks. As part of ClimateWorks’ Global Intelligence service, he works to build a deeper understanding of the broader economic, social and political implications of our collective work, and how this impacts strategic opportunities to advance climate solutions.

Prior to ClimateWorks, he was a Senior Account Executive at Antenna Group, a strategic communications agency representing clean technology companies focused on alternative energy, energy efficiency, storage, pollution remediation, etc. While there, he developed industry experience with silicon and thin film PV, concentrating PV, utility-scale solar thermal, algal biofuels, and other emerging clean energy technologies. Mr. Cronin has an M.Sc. in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and a B.A. in Development Studies and Economics from Brown University.

Rebecca Dell directs the Industry program for the ClimateWorks Foundation. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Obama administration, where she coordinated implementation of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and was a lead analyst and author of the U.S. Quadrennial Energy Review. Before her federal service, Rebecca was a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying the interaction between the ocean and land-based ice sheets like those in Greenland and Antarctica. She has a Ph.D. in climate science from MIT.

Mirka della Cava has returned to ClimateWorks Foundation, now serving as the Head of Policies, Standards and Programs for the Kigali Efficient Cooling Program managing a diverse grantee portfolio. Formerly, Mirka was a Senior Program Manager for the Colorado Energy Office, leading the state’s Energy Performance Contracting program. She also supported development of the state’s energy efficiency legislation, testifying on behalf of the New Appliance Energy and Water Efficiency Standards bill which was signed into law in May 2019. Mirka has been involved, both globally and domestically, in energy efficiency, climate change, and energy policy her entire career with senior positions at ClimateWorks Foundation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the US EPA. Most recently, Mirka was honored to receive the Colorado Governor’s 2019 Public Service Recognition award. Mirka holds a Masters of International Affairs degree in Environmental Policy from Columbia University and a BA in Political Science from Duke University.

Anthony Eggert is a director at ClimateWorks Foundation which mobilizes philanthropy to solve the climate crisis and ensure a prosperous future. Anthony comes to ClimateWorks with 20 years of public and private sector experience working on clean energy technologies and policies. Prior to ClimateWorks, Anthony served as the founding director of the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy dedicated to leveraging university expertise to inform better policy. Anthony public sector experience includes serving as an appointee of Governors Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger including as Senior Advisor to the Chair of the California Air Resources Board, Commissioner of the California Energy Commission and Deputy Secretary of California Environmental Protection Agency where he helped implement California’s landmark clean energy and climate policies. Anthony’s started his career as an automotive engineer and program manager at Ford Motor Company working on regulatory compliance and advanced vehicle technology development. Anthony received a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison and master degree in transportation technology and policy at UC Davis.

Chris Elliott is the Executive Director of the Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA). Before joining CLUA, he worked for WWF in a variety of capacities for over twenty years, initially as China Program Coordinator, and most recently as Executive Director, Conservation at WWF International. Before joining WWF, he worked for The World Bank, the Bank of Boston and for a Swiss foundation focusing on organic agriculture and natural medicine. Chris has been closely involved in major forest conservation initiatives in the Congo Basin and the Amazon, and led the development of a global partnership between WWF and IKEA. He worked on the establishment of the Forest Stewardship Council and was the organization’s first Board Chair. His education is in plant sciences, forest policy and ecosystem management at the universities of London, Yale, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. His doctoral dissertation was on forest certification as a policy instrument. He is an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia.

Lina Fedirko is a Program Manager on the Transportation Program at the ClimateWorks Foundation, where she is supporting and leading global grantmaking, research, and strategy development focusing on emerging mobility technologies and transportation electrification across modes.

Lina’s research and programmatic work to date has focused on urban climate change and transportation policy globally. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Lina contributed low-carbon policy research to Climate Change and Cities, Second Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). Locally, Lina assisted a New York City Economic Development Corporation in planning a $1.2 million program addressing access issues in low income neighborhoods and led a transit-oriented development zoning study for a housing non-profit. Globally, Lina has collaborated with UN Habitat Cities and Climate Change initiative to evaluate the effectiveness of Participatory Climate Change Risk Assessments in South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Lina earned an MS in Urban Policy Analysis and Sustainability Strategies from Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at the New School University. She holds a BFA from Pratt Institute. Lina is a native Ukrainian speaker, and also speaks conversational Russian and Polish.

Ilmi Granoff is the Director of ClimateWorks Foundation’s Sustainable Finance Program. He is an attorney and policy expert with nearly two decades of experience in environmental law and policy, sustainable development, energy and infrastructure finance, and public-private partnerships. Previously, Ilmi headed the Green Growth Business Unit at the Overseas Development Institute, served as the Special Counsel for Climate and Environment at the African Development Bank, and practiced law in the global energy and infrastructure group at Freshfields. He is also currently a Visiting Professor at the University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. He holds graduate degrees in law, international relations, and environmental science from New York University and Yale University, and a BA from Swarthmore College.

Dan Hamza-Goodacre is the Non-Executive Director of the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program, a global initiative helping developing countries improve the efficiency of cooling as they reduce pollution from F-gases. Dan has worked on sustainable development in the public and private sectors across the globe for over 20 years. Prior to K-CEP, Dan was Director of Buildings and Industry at ClimateWorks. Before working in philanthropy, Dan was with PwC, where he served as Deputy CEO of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, a multi-lateral aid program to help developing countries respond to climate change. Dan held various posts with the U.K. Environment and Agriculture Ministry, including: Head of the Secretary of State’s office; co-founder of the UK’s Adapting to Climate Change Program; Adaptation Policy Lead for the UK Climate Change Act and Sustainable Agriculture Advisor. Dan also worked for the UK Foreign Office as a Climate Attaché. He is a regular speaker and moderator at conferences and events and has written widely on climate and development. Dan has an MSc in International Development from Bristol University, where he also lectured and researched global environmental politics. In his early career Dan lived and worked in the rainforests of Latin America.

Patty is an entrepreneurial, creative marketing leader, known for crafting and executing strategies that grow organizations and increase their profile in the market.

Before joining ClimateWorks, Patty was a marketing executive and consultant to both large, established software companies and emerging, high-growth businesses in the tech start-up world, including Autodesk, Intuit, Xora, and Neoforma. In this capacity, she’s led both corporate marketing and the launch, management, and promotion of dozens of products and services across multiple sectors.

Patty has a B.S. in Communications from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has completed Executive Education Programs at the Cranfield School of Management in Cranfield, England and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Jessica Harris is an Associate Director of Development for the Philanthropy team. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, she was a Program Assistant in the Urban and Higher Education Program at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, where she helped to manage a large portfolio of grants focused on teacher and principal training, support, and development. Jessica also served as a Policy Fellow for the New York City Council, and as a Technical Advisor and Systems Reviewer for Pure Earth, an international organization focused on the remediation of toxic pollution sites worldwide. Jessica holds a BA in English from Skidmore College, and received an MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy from New York University, with a focus on environmental policy.

Martina Hartlieb is based in Geneva, Switzerland and serves as Executive Assistant to CLUA. Previously, Martina was an Administrative Assistant to the Director of WWF’s International Species Program from 2009 to 2017. Prior to that, she worked in the airline industry. Martina is passionate about wildlife and travel, and enjoys walking in the Swiss Alps with her dogs, reading, theater and ballet.

Xiaoyi Jin joined ClimateWorks in 2018 and serves as a Senior Associate for the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP). Prior to ClimateWorks, Xiaoyi was a Program Associate at The Asia Foundation where she supported the Foundation’s annual plan and budget process and researched on international development aids to Advanced Middle-Income Countries (AMICs) in Asia. Xiaoyi holds a Master of Development Practice degree from UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources.

Irene leads development and donor relations, working with generous philanthropists to ensure that ClimateWorks’ programs and services have the resources to address the climate crisis. She has decades of experience working with major philanthropists to realize visionary goals and solve complex problems, collaborating with diverse colleagues, and managing large organizations. Irene came to ClimateWorks after a long career in development at UC Berkeley, where she played a number of leadership roles, and was part of three university campaigns. Irene played a pivotal role in the $120 million Hewlett Challenge committed during Berkeley’s last campaign and the creation of the Berkeley Endowment Management Company. As Associate Vice Chancellor – Advancement and Executive Vice President of the UC Berkeley Foundation, Irene led a team of 100 staff, and was part of the leadership team that doubled annual fundraising totals over four years. Irene served as the campaign director for the quiet phase of Berkeley’s current $6 billion Light the Way Campaign, working with academic and programmatic units, development and campus leaders, faculty, Trustees, and donors to develop campaign infrastructure, set priorities, and raise the nucleus fund of the campaign. Prior to UC Berkeley, Irene worked at Project Athena at MIT. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College.

Janene joined CLUA in 2015 and serves as its Grants and Contracts Associate. Prior to joining CLUA, Janene worked for Humana Insurance Company in an outside sales executive role for Northern California. Janene studied Business with a concentration in Marketing at San Francisco State University and California State University, Hayward.

Elin Matsumae is the Program Assistant for ClimateWorks’ Global Intelligence team. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Elin was a research team member at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) Japan Program at Stanford University, where she conducted research on innovation and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley and in Japan. She also worked at a refugee advocacy non-profit in Istanbul, and helped to launch a US-based branch in New York. Elin holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Kenyon College.

Jan Mazurek, PhD directs ClimateWorks’ Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Fund. She has worked on energy and environmental policy at the federal and state level for more than 25 years. Prior to ClimateWorks, then-Governor Schwarzenegger (R-CA) appointed her to serve as Senior Policy Advisor to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Before CARB, Mazurek was a member of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, advising on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toxics, pesticides, and children’s health issues. She has published two books with the MIT Press and Johns Hopkins University presses, respectively, and more than 100 other publications, including op-eds in major U.S. newspapers. Dr. Mazurek also has testified on environmental policy matters before U.S. Congressional subcommittees. She holds a doctorate from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Brian McCracken is the Chief Financial Officer at ClimateWorks Foundation. He has over 20 years of experience in finance roles and has led ClimateWorks’ finance team since 2012. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Mr. McCracken worked as an independent financial consultant, helping establish financial and reporting infrastructure at for-profit start-ups in addition to several emerging San Francisco-based non-profits, including ClimateWorks Foundation, Taproot Foundation, and Tipping Point Community. Mr. McCracken was also a key member of the senior executive team at iSyndicate, a digital syndication company, where he held leadership positions in finance, products, and business development, Mr. McCracken helped lead iSyndicate from pre-launch to $12 million in annual revenues, and then brokered the sale of the company. Earlier, Brian managed the budgeting process and financial planning for Adobe. Brian holds a M.B.A. from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and a B.A. in economics from Whitman College.

Charlie McElwee is the Vice President of Programs at ClimateWorks Foundation. At ClimateWorks he helps direct funding to support public policies that prevent dangerous climate change and promote prosperity in the geographic regions that have the greatest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. McElwee practiced environmental and energy law for over 25 years at an international law firm, including five years in Shanghai. He developed an expertise in Chinese environmental and energy law and policy and served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Shanghai Jiaotong University’s School of Law. He won the President’s Prize, the University’s highest award, for extraordinary contributions to the University, and was awarded the Shanghai Municipal Government’s Magnolia Award, the highest honor the city bestows upon foreigners. He is a board member of the International Council on Clean Transportation, the Climate and Land Use Alliance, and serves on the China Advisory Board of the Environmental Defense Fund. His book, Environmental Law in China, was published by Oxford University Press in 2011.

Surabi Menon is VP, Global Intelligence at ClimateWorks Foundation. Her work supports climate philanthropy by providing a global context for climate mitigation and climate policy progress; identifying investment flows and high-impact investment opportunities; and supporting energy transitions and the developmental and economic benefits associated with reducing climate pollution. Dr. Menon serves on the advisory council of the Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium and was a charter member of the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board (2012-2018). She has published over sixty peer-reviewed publications and co-authored the 2007 IPCC report that led to a Nobel Peace Prize. She also started an environmental NGO in India in 2008.

Dr. Menon has over 20 years of professional experience in the climate change field. Before joining ClimateWorks, Dr. Menon was a staff scientist and the leader of the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California. Prior to that, she was a climate scientist at Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.  She has a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science and an MBA in Sustainable Management.

Seth Monteith joined ClimateWorks in 2013. He works on developing the core products and sets of insights that make up ClimateWorks Global Intelligence. This includes downscaling energy-climate models for examining low-carbon pathways, analyzing GHG mitigation policies, evaluating philanthropic portfolios, and designing and managing research projects including the Carbon Transparency Initiative (CTI). Seth also designs data visualizations for Global Intelligence products.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Seth worked on privacy policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab, and spent two years in Kazakhstan as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He holds a B.A. in European History and Russian Language from Portland State University, and an M.S. in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University focusing on Policy Analytics.

Melissa Nunan-Lew is the Executive Assistant to the VP of Programs at ClimateWorks. She has over 15 years of experience supporting executives in addition to experience in operations management and human resources. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Ms. Nunan-Lew was the Executive Assistant to the President & CEO and board liaison for the Global Fund for Women, a non-profit grantmaking foundation supporting women’s human rights worldwide.  She holds a BA in Education from San Francisco State University.

Shilpa Patel comes to ClimateWorks Foundation with a development banking, project finance, and climate policy background. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, she was an independent consultant for a number of organizations on climate finance and was Principal Advisor to the Finance Center at the World Resources Institute. Shilpa started her career in the World Bank, where she worked on private sector development across a number of sectors, regions, and economies in transition, including agriculture in the Maghreb. She headed the International Finance Corporation’s work on climate strategy and metrics, including understanding the climate change impacts of its activities, as well as the impacts of climate change on private business and IFC’s operations. She has also managed IFC’s investments in petrochemicals, as well as health and education, and run an experimental incubator for environmental business. She helped launch IFC’s first green bond and worked with institutional investors and other stakeholders to define green bond criteria and standards. Shilpa holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and has taught courses on Project Finance at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Charlotte Pera is President and CEO of the ClimateWorks Foundation, a leading philanthropic organization that works globally to mobilize philanthropy and advance climate solutions. Charlotte previously held leadership roles for more than a decade at the Energy Foundation, including Senior Vice President and Director of US Programs, and US Transportation Program Director. She helped launch the Energy Foundation’s program in China and supported the creation of the European Climate Foundation. Earlier in her career (1991-1999), Charlotte analyzed advanced vehicle technologies, developed emissions inventory models, and designed public programs to reduce vehicle pollution at engineering consulting firm Acurex Environmental.

Charlotte serves on the supervisory board of the European Climate Foundation and the Stewardship Board of the World Economic Forum System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security. She served for many years as a founding board member of the International Council for Clean Transportation. Charlotte holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

Dan Plechaty is a Program Manager in ClimateWorks’ Global Intelligence team, where his primary responsibilities include data analysis, policy modeling, economic valuation, and data visualization. This work spans across ClimateWorks’ program areas and includes investigating the multiple benefits of aligning health and climate initiatives and exploring the opportunities for cities to serve as a nexus for climate action as well as contributing to the development of the Carbon Transparency Initiative.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Dan was a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analyst in the World Wildlife Fund’s Private Sector Engagement team and was an Economist at RCF Economic and Financial Consulting, where he focused on environmental and energy economics. Dan holds bachelor degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago and received a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment with a concentration in Environmental Economics and Policy.

Monique Rao is a Grants Specialist on the Finance team at ClimateWorks Foundation, where she supports grantmaking, project management, and monitoring and evaluation for the team’s growing portfolio which aims to green the financial system.

Monique has over 6 years’ experience spanning across sectors — supporting for-profits, local governments, nonprofits, NGOs, and UN Agencies alike in areas such as research, monitoring and evaluation, grant writing, facilitation, and strategy. Most recently, she was grantmaking sexual and reproductive health projects across Latin America and East Africa at the Erik E. and Edith H. Bergstrom Foundation. She completed the last credits of her master’s degree interning with the Evaluation Section at UNICEF Cambodia, where she made recommendations to incorporate child-led participatory methods for their upcoming Child Protection Evaluation.

Monique has an MA in International Policy and Development with a focus on Program and Policy Research and Evaluation from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She holds a BA in Political Science with a minor in Ethics from California State University, Chico.

Gretchen Rau joined the ClimateWorks Foundation in 2008. In her current position Ms. Rau manages the activities of the board of directors and internal leadership teams, coordinates the annual organizational goal-setting process, and contributes to other cross-functional projects on an ad hoc basis. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Ms. Rau’s diverse professional experience included a career in civil engineering with a specialization in geotechnical structures. She served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Zen Center and holds three degrees related to civil engineering: a B.S. from Humboldt State University, an M.S. from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mary Raftery joined ClimateWorks Foundation in 2013, working with flagship funder collaboration groups. Ms. Raftery has more than 25 years of experience with organizational leadership and change management, strategic planning, consulting, and executive coaching – specializing in supporting transformative growth and change in mission-based programs, coalitions, and start-ups. For the last six years at ClimateWorks, Ms. Raftery has staffed collaborations among philanthropies funding climate mitigation globally. Consulting clients prior to ClimateWorks include Stanford University, the Hewlett Foundation, California Certified Organic Farmers, Audubon Society, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Alive & Radiant Foods. Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Ms. Raftery held senior management positions at the Apollo Alliance and the BlueGreen Alliance and was the first director of the Stanford University Institute for Creativity and Arts. Ms. Raftery graduated from Brown University and currently serves on the board of trustees for Green Century Funds, the first family of mutual funds to divest from fossil fuels.

Anna Richter is the Associate Director of Funder Collaborations at the ClimateWorks Foundation. She brings over fifteen years of experience at the intersection of social impact, technology, and community engagement.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Anna worked as the Client Experience Director and a Community Strategist helping clients such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation develop community engagement visions and strategies to increase collaboration and their impact.

She holds a BS in Applied Engineering Science from Michigan State University and an MBA in Sustainable Systems from Presidio Graduate School.

Kelly joined CLUA in 2014 and serves as its Director of Operations. Prior to joining CLUA, Kelly worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration in a program officer and grants management role serving the states of Illinois and Wisconsin as the agency’s point of contact. Kelly also previously served as a Community Relations Specialist in Kaiser Permanente’s National Community Benefit office, supporting Kaiser Permanente’s national grantmaking programs. Kelly has an MBA from San Francisco State University and a BA in Sociology from State University of New York, College at Geneseo.

Cherono Sego is a Senior Program Associate in the International Engagement and Non-CO₂ portfolios where she brings over four years of experience in global environmental policy and multi-lateral environmental engagement. At ClimateWorks, Ms. Sego co-ordinates the Non-CO₂ Initiative’s campaign to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and Black Carbon from maritime transportation and shipping and helps to co-ordinate strategic climate policy initiatives for the International Engagement portfolio. She also provides technical assessments for grant-making in both portfolios. Ms. Sego was previously based at the global headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi where her work focused on strategic communications and global environmental policy.

Ms. Sego holds a Master’s in Environmental Management from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a concentration in Energy and Climate.

Tim brings a background spanning the private, public, and nongovernmental sectors to the ClimateWorks sustainable finance program. Most recently he was stationed in Germany where, with the support of a Robert Bosch Foundation fellowship, he worked in the international climate finance unit of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB) and the climate competence center in Germany’s state development bank (KfW). Prior to his time in Germany Tim spent five years at the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute developing emissions measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) capacity building interventions for a range of global applications including carbon trading, low emissions development planning, and international treaty compliance. Tim has also worked in the private sector commercializing emission reduction projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. He holds a BA from Willamette University and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Axum Teferra is Associate Director of the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP) at the ClimateWorks Foundation. She brings over a decade of experience in climate and energy policy, strategic planning, and program implementation.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Axum spent several years overseeing efficiency, renewable energy and electrification programs in state and regional government. Most recently, she was on the climate team at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, where she launched the agency’s first building-sector decarbonization strategy. Axum previously worked as Clean Energy Planner at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council of Greater Boston, producing energy-reduction plans and advising cities on various sustainability solutions, including clean heating and cooling technologies. She also served as an Industry and Innovation Support Consultant at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, where she facilitated international cleantech partnerships.

She holds a BS in Environmental Conservation from Texas Tech University and an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.

Kathy Tryce joined ClimateWorks in 2012 as Grants and Contract Manager. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector, including Project S.I.S.T.E.R. and the Healing Woman Foundation, which she transitioned from a sole proprietorship to a public charity. Ms. Tryce also worked for 10 years at the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, first in the Conservation and Science Program and later in Grantmaking Operations, where she developed her deep love of tax-code compliance. She has a B.A. in Government from Pomona College and a J.D. from Santa Clara University.

Melissa Tupper is the Climate and Land Use Alliance’s Communications Director.

For over 15 years, Melissa has worked with non-profit organizations focused on protecting the planet – by tackling climate change, conserving forests and oceans, protecting wildlife, making transportation more sustainable, and getting children outdoors and engaged in caring for nature.

Before joining CLUA, Melissa led communications for the World Wildlife Fund’s global Forest and Climate Initiative and for WWF-Canada’s marine conservation work on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. While studying sea turtles in Greece, Melissa realized she was not a particularly good scientist. She’s been dedicated to environmental communications ever since.

Melissa has an MA (Environmental Education and Communications) from Royal Roads University and a BSc (Biology) from the University of British Columbia.

Before joining ClimateWorks, Frances worked for three years in interdisciplinary environmental research with a focus on action-oriented solutions. As a Research Associate for McGill University, she helped to lead and design innovative monitoring and evaluation frameworks for climate adaptation governance. Frances also worked on renewable energy research at Oxford University’s Low-Carbon Futures Program as part of the Horizon 2020 Projects and green growth strategies at the United Nations Environment Program in Geneva, Switzerland. She is the author of multiple academic and U.N. flagship publications. Frances holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University with a focus on energy policy and practice and a B.A. in Economics from McGill University.

Tao Wang is a China Strategist at ClimateWorks Foundation, where he advises the organization and its partners on climate and energy philanthropy in China. Dr. Wang is also a guest lecturer at Tsinghua University.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Dr. Wang was assistant dean of the Yicai Research Institute; a scholar in the energy and climate program of Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy; senior program manager at World Wildlife Fund’s China program; and a researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

Dr. Wang holds a PhD in Environmental Economics from the University of York and a BA in Environmental Science from Fudan University. He is author of articles in journals such as Climate Policy, Energy Policy, and Science of the Total Environment, and is a regular contributor to the New York Times, Financial Times, the Diplomat, People’s Daily, China Daily, and other publications.

Johanna works with CLUA’s member foundations and Initiative teams on strategic planning, monitoring frameworks, and funder analyses to facilitate robust strategic and organizational planning. She additionally manages CLUA’s development efforts, building partnerships with aligned and member foundations, as well as with key partners and government agencies.

Prior to CLUA, Johanna held clinical and field research positions at UCSF, Harvard Forest, and Cornell University, as well as researched land use conflict in Tanzania with the School for Field Studies. She has also engaged with the Student Conservation Association for over a decade, working in various field leadership positions and serving on SCA’s Alumni Council. Johanna holds a B.A. in biology with minors in chemistry and dance from Oberlin College.

Catherine Witherspoon advises ClimateWorks on the linkages between air quality management, short lived climate pollutants, and climate mitigation. Previously, she served as the program director for ClimateWorks’ non-CO₂ fast action campaign. She has 26 years of regulatory, legislative, and management experience in the air quality field. Ms. Witherspoon started as a student assistant at the California Air Resources Board in 1981, and eventually rose to Executive Officer (2003-2007). In that role, she managed a staff of 1,100 and an annual budget of $350 million. Ms. Witherspoon was directly involved in the drafting of the California Clean Air Act and California’s landmark Greenhouse Gas Solutions Act.  In the mid-1990s, she left state government and served briefly as an Expert Consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 9), Legislative Director for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and sole proprietor of her own consulting firm, before returning to CARB in 1999 as Senior Policy Advisor to the then-Chairman Dr. Alan Lloyd.  Ms. Witherspoon has a BA in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Anthony Yazaki is the Senior Writer and Storyteller at ClimateWorks. He was previously a Publications Editor at the Brookings Institution, where he oversaw the publication of foreign policy research reports. As a Research Fellow at the United Nations University in Tokyo, he was co-author and co-editor of Poised for Partnership: Deepening India-Japan Relations in the Asian Century. He was also a Producer for NHK News (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), where he traveled internationally to cover the US State Department and the 2012 presidential election. Anthony holds an MSc in Sustainability, Development, and Peace from the United Nations University and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications from the George Washington University.

Daniel Zarin is Senior Director of Programs of the Climate and Land Use Alliance since its inception in 2010. He was previously Senior Advisor to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. From 1995-2009, Dan was a university professor, first at the University of New Hampshire and subsequently at the University of Florida. He has a B.A. in History, a Master’s of Forest Science from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dan has published widely on forest ecology, management, and policy, and the interface between deforestation and climate change.