ATTENDEE BIOS
Half-sat Ab-ee-oh-lah, she/her
Connected Women Leaders Co-Founder
Hafsat Abiola is the President of Women in Africa Initiative, the foremost platform organizing the continent's leading women into a force for sustainable development.
An economist with degrees from Harvard and Tsinghua, a pro-democracy activist who lost both parents to her country's democracy struggle, and a former member of her state's cabinet in charge of the MDGs and trade and investment portfolios, Hafsat believes women's equal engagement in the economy and governance systems at all levels will lead to a better world.
Her commitment to harnessing women’s power to transform society is reflected in her work, which spans from the local to global. In Nigeria, she founded KIND, a civil society organization that trains thousands of women in service-oriented leadership. She is one of 50 Councilors of the World Future Council, a Special Envoy to Africa for Women Political Leaders, a member of BMW Foundation's Responsible Leaders Group, Vital Voices 100 and an alumna of the World Economic Forum’s Community of Young Global Leaders. She is also the recipient of several global and national awards; including, in 2019, the U.S. Civil Rights Museum Public Service Award.
Global South, Gender, Policy
Ee-lease buck-el, she/her
SHE Changes Climate Co-Founder
Elise is highly committed to making this world a better place for people and nature. She has been working in the field of sustainable development and climate policy for 20 years. She graduated from Sciences Po Paris and the London School of Economic and started her career in the field of humanitarian aid and development. She worked overseas on disaster reduction for the United Nations in Latin America and ACTED, an NGO based in Central Asia. She coordinated the IUCN Global Programme with Africa and Asia providing capacity-building in programme development, monitoring and fundraising.
Elise also advised cities on agenda 21 plans and gained experience from large multinational companies specialized in the energy sector (Total, Gaz de France) for Ernst&Young.She lead the successful REACH+ campaign for environment and health for the Green Members at European Parliament. She worked for WWF France as Climate and Energy Manager and then led the G20 campaign for WWF International during the French Presidency. In 2012, Elise joined UNI Global Union, an international network of 900 members representing 20 million employees, focusing on sustainable finance. She lead several CSR campaigns and managed to get Société Générale to sign a global agreement on human rights. In 2016, she worked for the UNDP Climate Vulnerable Forum team focusing on climate and labour and for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as climate policy manager.
More recently, Elise has been advising Dr. David Nabarro and the Nature-Based Solutions coalition for the UN Summit, COP23 Presidency Chief Negotiator Ambassador Khan and worked for CAN International as Special Projects Director leading three large initiatives (the CVF Summit, the Step Up Campaign and ShiftSEA).
Climate Justice, Gender, Policy
Ron-duh Car-nah-gee, she/her
Connected Women Leaders Co-Founder
Ronda Carnegie is a visionary leader and idea catalyst dedicated to empowering women to lead the way toward a better future. With her vast experience across multiple industries, Ronda has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor to CEOs and Fortune 500 companies.
Ronda was part of the leadership team that built the TED Talks brand and media business, which has become a powerful platform for inspiring change. During her tenure, she helped to transform TED from a single conference to a media company working with organizations to advance their big ideas and create meaningful connections with audiences. She is also the founder of the TED Institute and co-founder of TEDWomen, along with Pat Mitchell.
As the Co-Founder of Connected Women Leaders, Ronda aims to empower women leaders worldwide, helping them shape and build connections and collaborations to support transformative women's leadership. Project Dandelion, incubating with CWL, has focused on creating a female leadership campaign supporting Climate Justice. This collective effort is gaining momentum with the support of organizations like The Elders, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Gates Foundation, strategy partner WRTHY, and the CWL cohort.
Ronda is also the Chief Innovation Officer of The Female Quotient, a women's equality organization dedicated to bridging the gender gap in the workplace. The Female Quotient Equality Lounges at Davos and other conferences are the place for equality conversations supporting women's economic empowerment. In her role, she is honored to work on developing communication tools for women to share their expertise and guide them to data, resources, and inspiration to drive change.
Ronda continues to be actively involved in both media that empowers people and organizations to be a force for good along and the importance of wellness support for those on the front lines of impact. She serves on the board of GOOD/Upworthy and the advisory board of Omega Institute.
Throughout her career, Ronda has demonstrated an unparalleled ability to develop and build strategies. What sets her apart is her unwavering commitment to creating positive change. Her work is a powerful reminder that, for too long, women have been held back by outdated ideas and prejudices. It's time to break down those barriers and show that individually we can make a difference and united, we can create an impact.
Gender, Strategy, Communications
Tai-ees Core-al, she/her
Sinal do Vale Founder
Thais Corral is a social innovator and entrepreneur as well as a women’s rights and ecological activist. She is the founder of Sinal do Vale, a Brazilian regeneration campus for action learning located near Rio de Janeiro, which serves as a center for the regeneration of ecosystems, communities and individuals.
She is one of the leaders who actively participated in the organization of the Earth Summit in 1992. Together with the nobel prize winner Wangari Mathaai and American Congresswoman, Bella Abzug, she was a co-founder of WEDO (Women, Environment and Development Organization) and two well respected non governmental organizations in Brazil: REDEH (Network of Human Development) and CEMINA (Communication, Education and Information on Gender), which supported the creation of a network of 400 women’s radio programs all over Brazil.
For her accomplishments, she was awarded the “Women of the year 2001” title by the Brazilian National Council of Women. As part of WEDO, she won the UNEP Global Champions in 2006 and the Tech Interactive Award for social technologies that benefit the economy of Silicon Valley.
Gender, Climate Justice, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Global South
Share-ell Door-see, she/her
Echoing Green President
Cheryl L. Dorsey is a trailblazer in the social entrepreneurship movement, and the president of Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that supports emerging social entrepreneurs and invests deeply in their ideas and leadership.
An accomplished leader and entrepreneur, she has served in two presidential administrations as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Labor (1997-98); Special Assistant to the Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Labor Department (1998-99); and Vice Chair for the President's Commission on White House Fellowships (2009-2017). Cheryl serves on several boards including The Bridgespan Group, Skoll Foundation, Oak Street Health and Northeast Bank and, previously, the Harvard Board of Overseers. She has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, a master’s in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School, and a bachelor’s degree in history and science magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges.
Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Health
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés
Mah-ree-ah Fur-nan-duh Es-pee-nose-ah Gar-seh-s, she/her
GWL Voices Executive Director
María Fernanda Espinosa was the President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly, has more than 20 years of multilateral experience in international negotiations, peace, security, defense, disarmament, human rights, indigenous peoples, gender equality, sustainable development, environment, biodiversity, climate change and multilateral cooperation. She has served Ecuador as Minister of Foreign Affairs (twice), Minister of National Defence, and Coordinating Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage.
Ms. Espinosa was Chair of the Group of 77 and China until January 2018, and also served as Chair of the Andean Community. At the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, she promoted the adoption of the resolution presented by Ecuador entitled “Indigenous women: key actors in poverty and hunger eradication”. She was a chief negotiator at the sixteenth and seventeenth Conferences of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Government, Policy, Gender, Climate
Mee-gan Fah-lone, she/her
CARE Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Executive Advisor on Climate Justice
Meagan is currently the first Entrepreneur in Residence for CARE one of the world’s largest and oldest humanitarian and development organizations, whose development and enterprise programs span 111 countries and touch 174 Million beneficiaries. Meagan Joined CARE following 2 years in Private Sector as Chief Impact Officer and Director of Digital Products at Innoterra Ag an Indian and Swiss international Agriculture company.
She and her team have developed a universal digital platform (app) for smallholder farmers focusing on “Learning, Action & Earning”. The Soli product was the bronze winner of the prestigious Anthem Award in the sustainability and climate category in 2022. The product is currently being supported through the Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact accelerator.
Meagan Fallone is the CEO Emeritis of Barefoot College + Barefoot College International; now Board Director of Barefoot College International, whose commitment to leveraging the “Barefoot Approach” towards addressing the pressing challenges of access to energy, economic inequality, human rights & climate change, has been achieved though a focus on climate justice and dynamic systems change. It is today present in 93 countries, delivering access to energy to 1.5M people and having established 6 Regional Barefoot Colleges in collaboration with Global South Governments.
Climate, Entrepreneurship, Business Development
Lar-uh Gar-see-ah, she/her
Global Green Grants President & CEO
Laura is a Mexican feminist who has advocated for human rights, social justice, and civil society throughout her career. Before joining Global Greengrants, Laura served for seven years as the Executive Director of Fondo Semillas, a Mexican nonprofit organization that finances grassroots organizations to achieve gender equality. Laura has vast experience in grassroots philanthropy, human rights, and movements for social justice, and she has co-created networks to promote community philanthropy in the Global South. She holds a Master's Degree in International Peace and Security, from King’s College, London. She currently serves on the boards of Oxfam Mexico, Co-Impact, and the Global Fund for Community Foundations.
Gender, Business Development
Kay-tee Hair-eh-son, she/her
WRTHY Co-Founder & Partner
Katie specializes in business and brand strategy, consumer research and behavior, marketing, and advertising with a focus on driving progress on social issues. A skilled strategist she provides strategic leadership across clients with a focus on combining data and creativity to maximize social impact. WRTHY is an award-winning social impact agency built to humanize complex challenges and accelerate change. Uniting experts from the worlds of business, marketing, policy, media, and entertainment, WRTHY creates innovative ways to deliver meaningful impact at scale.
Formerly Head of Strategy at creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty NY, Katie spent almost 20 years as an award-winning brand planner/strategist leading impactful global brand campaigns for organizations such as Unilever, UNICEF, Sony, Levi Strauss & Co, Tate and BBC Worldwide. An avid explorer of cultures, she lived and worked in London and Singapore before settling in Brooklyn. Katie is an RSA fellow and has a BA/MA Cantab from Cambridge University.
Business Development, Climate Justice
An-uh-meek (An-uh) Who-gin-boom, she/her
Postcode Lottery Fomer Country Director, Founding Member of the Charity Advisory Committee
Annemiek Hoogenboom started her career as a lecturer at several international universities and she later focused on global water management, empowerment of women and girls and free press in Eastern Europe. In 2005, she launched People’s Postcode Lottery in the UK, of which she was Country Director till January 2021. In 2015, she was responsible for launching the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie in Germany, of which she is Managing Director.
Annemiek holds an honorary Doctorate in the Humanities from Ahfad University in Sudan, awarded in 2015, for her decisive role in the introduction of women’s studies and the 2018 Inspiration Award from TheirWorld. In 2019, Annemiek was knighted in the Royal Order of Oranje-Nassau, a Dutch honor recognising her contribution to society, in the fields of human rights and sustainable development.
Gender, Entrepreneurship, Business Development
Mah-lee-aah Kaan, she/her
Women Deliver President & CEO
Dr. Maliha Khan is President and CEO of Women Deliver. She brings over 25 years of experience in girls’ and women’s empowerment.
Maliha is an international expert in program design and performance, learning, and accountability, with a focus on the empowerment of girls and women. She has designed rights-based programs focused on girls and women, taught as a professor of gender studies, and implemented women’s programs in marginalized regions of Pakistan.
Maliha also founded and led a start-up consulting firm that specializes in supporting clients in better decision-making through innovative information and measurement systems. She has served as a long-term consultant for the Rockefeller Foundation and the Asian Development Bank. Prior to her international development work, Maliha spent many years in academia, as an Associate Professor of Sustainable Development at World Learning’s SIT Graduate Institute and at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan.
Maliha is from Pakistan, where she started her career implementing development projects. She has a PhD from the State University of New York and an MA from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad in Social Anthropology.
Gender, Business Development, Global South
Moe-soon Lay-oar-day, she/her
African Philanthropy Forum Executive Director
Mosun Layode is a development professional with two decades of experience in international development and nonprofit leadership. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the African Philanthropy Forum (APF) where she works extensively across Africa with established and emerging philanthropists who are committed to the sustainable and inclusive development of Africa. She joined Candid’s board in 2020.
Mosun was instrumental to the establishment of APF as an independent entity in Africa, increasing its reach and impact in the philanthropic community, as well as growing its brand and membership base. Prior to this, she served as the Executive Director of WIMBIZ and LEAP Africa, leading nonprofits in Nigeria. Passionate about the interplay of social issues and business, Mosun founded Social Runway, a nonprofit organization that supports social innovators. She has also served as an independent development consultant for nonprofit organizations.
Mosun studied Urban and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, and obtained an MSc. in Environmental Resources Management from Lagos State University. She has an MBA from Lagos Business School and benefited from Executive Programs offered by the IESE Business School, Barcelona, and Harvard Business School.
Business Development, Global South
Peg-ee Lee-oo, she/her
JUCCE Chairperson
Peggy Liu, Chairperson of JUCCCE, is a leading environmentalist at the heart of the greening of China since 2007. Named the "Green Goddess of China" by the Chinese press, she travels the world to consult companies and governments on how to catalyze societal-scale change, scale sustainable innovation, and collaborate with China.
Peggy keynotes around the world on lessons she learnt in tackling China's toughest environmental challenges: pollution, urbanization, epidemics, drought, obesity and diabetes. Peggy's superpower is bringing people together to bring in a better future faster. Peggy's "Tornado Leadership" methodology draws from her work across policy, economic, technical, and spiritual realms to lead China-wide changes.
Peggy is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She was awarded the "Nobel" of climate change, the "Hillary Step". The Economist called her "one of the most innovative thinkers in Asia." Previously, she was a venture capitalist and founded one of the earliest ecommerce companies in Silicon Valley. A "Red Herring" cover story dubbed her an "Internet Pioneer". She started her career as an MIT-trained engineer and McKinsey consultant.
Peggy dedicates her life to personal and planetary health. She believes that the most helpful skill is heart-based storytelling, and that cultural translators will have the most important roles of the next generation.
Climate, Business Development
Less-lee Mac-rell, she/her
Bridgespan Partner
Leslie leads Bridgespan’s Operating Models area of expertise, which helps our teams and clients develop organizations that can deliver on ambitious strategies, with equity at the center. She has previously served as an instructor and executive coach in Bridgespan’s two-year consulting and capacity-building program for nonprofit executive teams, Leading for Impact. Leslie is co-author of “Guiding a Giving Response to Anti-Black Injustice,” (2020) "Operating Models: How Nonprofits Get from Strategy to Results," (2019) and “Cutting Costs to Increase Impact,” Stanford Social Innovation Review (2017). She is also featured in Bridgespan’s hybrid learning Leadership Accelerator program on Achieving Strategic Clarity. Leslie previously has served as “people partner” for the NY office and as recruiting lead to help attract and retain the amazing, talented, diverse team that makes Bridgespan what it is.
Leslie holds an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business, City University of New York, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa/summa cum laude from Fordham University with a BA in American Studies. Outside of Bridgespan, Leslie loves being with her wife and son in Inwood, one of NYC’s greatest neighborhoods.
Business Development
Jee-yo-tee Mac-wahn, she/her
Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) General Secretary
Jyoti Macwan is a leading women’s activist and the general secretary of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India.
Gender, Global South
Mary-ana Mare-ah-shin, she/her
Youth Climate Leaders Board Member
Mariana is a Law graduate from Brazil who worked in the Public Administration for over seven years but decided to seek a new life in Portugal in 2017. Since then, she has become a certified trainer and has dedicated herself to learning and teaching about environmental preservation, climate justice, and sustainable societies for all. She is currently finishing her Master's degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies at the University Institute of Lisbon.
Believing strongly that we are nothing without each other, and recognizing the urgency to reinvent our ways of living in society, she has an Instagram page @In.Sustentável where she shares studies, news, and suggestions to raise awareness about environmental consciousness.
She is currently a member of the board of the non-profit environmental association Youth Climate Leaders Portugal and volunteers in project management. She organized Portugal's first Local Conference of Youth - LCOY - in October 2022, and she organizes education projects on climate justice for young adults and teachers in Portugal, using non-formal education techniques. Over the past six months, she has participated as an activist trainer in the YMCA - Youth Makers as Climate Ambassadors project, which was part of the Leuven 2030 Project (Funded by Horizon Europe 2030) to learn about best practices from some EU mission cities (Seville, Leuven, Amsterdam, and Porto) to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
Gender, Climate Justice, Youth Leadership
Soo-zan Mar-ks, she/her
Carter Center Human Rights Program Director
Susan Marx was appointed director of the Carter Center Human Rights Program in May 2022. Prior to that, she was project director for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative combating human trafficking in the Southern Africa Development Community and implementing women’s economic empowerment and gender-based violence reduction initiatives in Eswatini.
Marx is an expert in human rights, rule of law, access to justice, gender-based violence and combating human trafficking as well as strategic leadership, program design, implementation, and operational management. She has spent most of her career in the field and has experience in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States, with specific focus on conflict, post-conflict, and least-developed environments.
Marx holds a Master of Studies degree in international human rights law from Oxford University, a master’s in African studies from UCLA, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California. She is also a graduate of the Yale School of Management Women’s Leadership Course.
Gender, Business Development
Tseet-see Mah-see-yee-wah, she/her
Philanthropist & Higherlife Foundation Executive Chairperson
Tsitsi Masiyiwa is an African philanthropist and social entrepreneur. She is Executive Chair and Co-Founder of Higherlife Foundation, whose primary goal is to invest in human capital development to build thriving individuals, communities and sustainable livelihoods.
In 2017, Tsitsi established Delta Philanthropies, as a vehicle for impact investing and grant making. Delta Philanthropies seeks to unlock and catalyze innovative solutions to the elimination of poverty by convening strategic partnerships and incubating new development models.
Her work has garnered global recognition, including Honorary Doctorate degrees from Morehouse University in Atlanta, Georgia; Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe; as well as the prestigious Champions for Change Award for Leadership from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).
Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Global South
Pat Mitch-el, she/her
Connected Women Leaders Co-Founder
Pat Mitchell is a lifelong advocate for women and girls. At every step of her career, Mitchell has broken new ground for women, leveraging the power of media as a journalist and an Emmy award-winning and Oscar-nominated producer to tell women’s stories and increase the representation of women onscreen and off. Transitioning to an executive role, she became the president of CNN Productions, and the first woman president and CEO of PBS and the Paley Center for Media. Today, her commitment to connect and strengthen a global community of women leaders continues as a conference curator, advisor and mentor.
In partnership with TED, Mitchell launched TEDWomen in 2010 as its editorial director, curator and host. She is also a speaker and curator for the annual Women Working for the World forum in Bogota, Colombia, the Her Village conference in Beijing, and the Women of the World (WOW) festival in London. In 2017, she launched the Connected Women Leaders Initiative with the Rockefeller Foundation focusing on women leaders in government and civil society.
In 2014, the Women’s Media Center honored Mitchell with its first-annual Lifetime Achievement Award, now named in her honor to commend other women whose media careers advance the representation of women. In 2016, she served as a congressional appointment to The American Museum of Women’s History Advisory Council. Mitchell is also active with many nonprofit organizations, serving as the chair of the Sundance Institute Board and as chair emerita of the Women’s Media Center Board. She is a founding member of the VDAY movement and on the boards of the Skoll Foundation and the Woodruff Arts Center. She is also an advisor to Participant Media and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Entrepreneurship, Gender, Climate Justice
Em-el-ee Moo-dee, she/her
Connected Women Leaders Chief of Staff
Emily is a young activist on fire for women’s rights. From starting a nonprofit at the age of 15 to empower women and girls in East Africa through education, to her role at the Female Quotient where she amplified women’s voices in the workplace, she understands and embodies the fact that women are integral to saving our planet.
As Chief of Staff for Connected Women Leaders, Emily has directly overseen and managed many high-profile gatherings, and is honored to have a seat at the table in these rooms. Emily is a graduate of The University of Georgia and The University of Westminster, where she received a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Enterprise Development. Her journey as an activist and feminist is just beginning, and her fresh optimism is a beacon for the future.
Gender, Climate Justice
Foon-kay Oh-pay-kay, she/her
Philanthropist & Founder of MainOne
Ms. Funke Opeke, is founder and CEO of MainOne, formerly Main One Cable Company. MainOne is West Africa’s leading communications services and network solutions provider that built West Africa’s first privately owned, open access 7,000 kilometer undersea high capacity cable submarine, a $240-million-dollar project that was completed on time and on budget in 2010. MainOne also built West Africa’s largest Tier III Data Center, MDX-i’s Lekki Data Center, a $40 million investment with a capacity for 600 racks.
Ms. Opeke is an experienced telecommunications executive who returned to Nigeria in 2005 as the Chief Technical Officer of MTN after a twenty-year career in the United States. Prior to her return, she was the Executive Director of Verizon Communications Wholesale Division. Subsequent to MTN, Ms. Opeke advised Transcorp on the acquisition of NITEL and briefly served as the interim Chief Operating Officer, post-acquisition of NITEL. She obtained a first degree in Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York.
Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Global South
Hen-doo Oh-mah-rh-oo Ee-bra-heem, she/her
Association of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad President
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an expert in the adaptation and mitigation of indigenous peoples to climate change. She is a member of the Mbororo pastoralist people in Chad and President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT). Oumarou Ibrahim is an advocate for the greater inclusion of indigenous people and their knowledge and traditions in the global movement to fight the effects of climate change. Oumarou Ibrahim received the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and was appointed as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. She serves as a Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues; Member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC); Member of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit; and Conservation International Senior Indigenous Fellow. In 2019, she was listed by Time Magazine as one of 15 women championing action on climate change.
Climate Justice, Indigenous, Global South
Co-let Pee-shawn Bat-el, she/her
Partner, Vision & Initiatives, Taproot Earth
led the development of programming focused on equitable climate disaster recovery, global migration, community economic
development and energy democracy for more than 17 years in the Gulf South. Colette now serves as the Partner of Vision & Initiatives at Taproot Earth, a global climate justice organization working for a world where all people can live, rest and thrive in the places they love. She serves on the governance council of the Southern Movement Assembly, co-chairs the national Water Equity and Climate Resilient Caucus with PolicyLink, serves on the steering committee of the Ocean Justice Forum, and is a lead architect of the 5-state, multi-issue initiative Gulf South for a Green New Deal. Colette also helped to develop the 13-state Southern Communities for Green New Deal with the Southeast Climate & Energy Network and the Red, Black & Green New Deal, the national climate initiative with the Movement for Black Lives.
In 2022, Colette received the William O. Douglas Award- recognizing individuals who have made outstanding use of the legal/judicial process to achieve environmental goals, particularly those with national significance and received the the Catalyst Award from Rachel's Network for her environmental leadership as a woman of color. She also received Her TED Talk on climate migration was ranked in the top 10 TED talks of 2020. And she was named a 2019 Obama Fellow for her work with Black and Native communities.
Colette chaired the 2021-22 Equity Advisory Group of the Louisiana Governor’s Climate Initiative Task Force, she currently serves on the Kataly Foundation’s Environmental Justice Resourcing Collective as well as sits on the boards of the US Climate Action Network, Center for Constitutional Rights, Highlander Research Education Center, and Healthy Gulf, serves on the steering committee of the Resilience Roadmap Project.
Entrepreneurship, Policy, Indigenous
Kay-tee Red-furd, she/her
Equation Campaign Executive Director & EarthRights International Founding Director
Katie Redford is the Executive Director of The Equation Campaign, a 10-year climate justice fund with the mission of keeping fossil fuels in the ground by funding movements on the ground. She is a lawyer with expertise in human rights, climate justice and corporate accountability, who is credited with spearheading legal strategies to hold corporations accountable for human rights and environmental abuses around the world. Prior to her current role, Katie was a founding Director of EarthRights International, where she spent 25 years building the NGO that trains and litigates on behalf of communities harmed by corporate human rights and environmental abuses. Katie received an Echoing Green Fellowship in 1995 to establish EarthRights and has since been recognized as an Ashoka Global Fellow, a Rockwood Leadership Fellow and a Bellagio Resident Fellow. She has received numerous awards and has been profiled in a variety of media including the books Be Bold and Your America: Democracy’s Local Heroes, and the award-winning documentary film Total Denial. Katie has published in legal, human rights and environmental journals, and is the co-author of The Revolution Will Not Be Litigated. She has served on a variety of nonprofit boards, as well as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and the Washington College of Law. Katie is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court and the Massachusetts state bar, and a graduate of Colgate University and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Entrepreneurship, Policy
Mare-ee Rob-in-sun, she/her
The Elders Founding Member & Former President of Ireland
Mary Robinson is a globally recognized voice on climate change and frequently highlights the need for drastic action from world leaders, as well as the intersectionality of the climate emergency: from intergenerational injustice to gender inequality and biodiversity loss. Mary is a founding member of The Elders and was appointed Chair in November 2018 following the death of Kofi Annan. She makes it a priority to bring the concerns of ordinary people to the international stage.
Climate Justice, Government, Policy
J-es Sur-ch, she/her
Doc Society Chief Executive
As chief executive of Doc Society – formerly BRITDOC – Jess works with independent film-makers globally, to help them tackle challenging subjects and ambitious stories by providing funding and other support. Credits include Oscar nominated CITIZENFOUR, Virunga, Whose Streets, Hooligan Sparrow, The Square and The Look of Silence.
In the UK, Doc Society is a delegate partner to the British Film Institute, administering their national documentary funds. It also runs the Doc Academy programme, providing free, easy-to-use resources for secondary school teachers.
In partnership with the Ford Foundation and The Sundance Institute, Doc Society created and runs the Good Pitch, which partners films with advocates, NGOs, community organizers, foundations and brands.
She is also on the board of Kickstarter and is a trustee of Marie Stopes International, which provides contraception and abortion services to women and girls around the world. She has an MBA from Cass Business School and co-founded Shooting People, a network for independent film-makers.
Media, Business Development
E-liz-ah-beth She-han, she/her
The Valerian Fund & Care 2 Communities Founder
Elizabeth Sheehan is a founder, philanthropist, advocate, and global health expert. Originally trained as a Physician Assistant, Elizabeth worked in Africa and Asia for two decades, where she saw how the gap in health care services at the community level led to poor health and perpetuated cycles of poverty. She worked for USAID on a primary health care reconstruction project in post-war Mozambique and later in Angola. In 2008, she co-founded Care 2 Communities (C2C), a non-profit social enterprise that delivers comprehensive primary health care in Haiti. Elizabeth is a member of the executive board of Women Moving Millions and joined Co-Impact as a founding community member.
Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Health
Jen-eh-fur St-oaks, she/her
RMI Chief Development Officer
Jennifer Stokes is the Chief Development Officer at RMI. Jennifer serves as a leader in the Development team for strategic engagement and development of philanthropic investors in the bold funding partnerships to propel the clean energy revolution.
Jennifer has 20 years of experience in leading fundraising for our country’s most respected human services organizations, including American National Red Cross, Girl Scouts of South Carolina and Mile High United Way. Prior to joining the team at RMI/CWR, Jennifer successfully led the major giving efforts for the American National Red Cross during major national and international disasters, including the 9/11 Tragedies and Hurricane Katrina. As the Chief Development Officer of Mile High United Way, she led the team of staff and volunteers to raise more than $35 million annually and mobilized more than 150,000 hours of volunteer service. She recently completed the fundraising for LEED Gold Certified Mile High United Way Morgridge Center for Community Change, anchoring the redevelopment of the Curtis Park neighborhood in downtown Denver.
Jennifer’s expertise in the complex issues related to poverty and natural disasters overlaps with the dynamic opportunity that clean, renewable energy offers as part of the solution for our country and the world.
An active national speaker on donor-focused communications and engagement, Jennifer continues to serve as a mentor and advisor in the philanthropy field.
Business Development, Climate
Hall-ah Toe-mahs-dah-tur, she/her
The B Team CEO
Halla Tómasdóttir is CEO of The B Team, a group of global business and civil society leaders driving a better way of doing business for the well-being of people and the planet.
Halla brings broad expertise and insights, having worked in corporate America, as an entrepreneur, educator, investor, and board director. She was on the founding team of Reykjavík University and the first female CEO of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce. Halla co-founded and led an ESG focused investment firm and was the runner-up in the 2016 Icelandic Presidential Election. Halla lives in New York, and tries to visit her beloved Iceland as much as possible. Married and a proud mother of two and a dog, she fully embraces how The New Yorker described her: “A Living Emoji of Sincerity.”
Business Development
Vick-ee Why-uld, she/her
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Senior Program Officer
Vicki Wilde is a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she is responsible for the women’s economic empowerment portfolio in Agricultural Development. Vicki works with public and private sector partners to ensure women have equal access to agriculture opportunities that can boost crop and livestock productivity and improve nutrition and incomes for millions of impoverished farming households in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Before joining the Gates Foundation in 2014, Vicki spent several years working with smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa on behalf of the United Nations agencies for food and agriculture. In 1999, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) selected Wilde to set up the Gender & Diversity Program for 15 agricultural research centers worldwide. In 2007, she became the founder and executive director of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), which is working across 11 countries to strengthen support for African women as leaders in the region’s efforts to achieve more inclusive, agriculture-driven prosperity.
Gender, Business Development, Food Security
Jen Will-ig, she/her
WRTHY CEO & Partner
An astute business leader, Jenifer is CEO and co-founder of WRTHY, a global social impact agency creating unique campaigns and initiatives focused on the most pressing social issues. Jenifer leads the strategic development of the business and team globally. She has been the driving force behind some of the world’s biggest social impact initiatives, including ONE’s global campaigns Pandemica and #Passthemic, LifePack, VOW for Girls. As the former CEO/CMO of (RED), Jenifer has succeeded in creating meaningful change worldwide. A skilled marketer, she spent the first half of her career in advertising on global brands including AT&T, Levi Strauss & Co, British Airways, The Financial Times, and more. She ran the New York office of M&C Saatchi and led iconic dot com businesses at TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco during the tech boom of the late 1990′s. In 2013, she was named one of the 10 Most Generous Marketing Geniuses by Catch a Fire’s Generosity Series featured in Fast Company, and in 2021 was named 40 over 40 for Campaign US. Jenifer is on the boards of the I AM WATER Conservation Foundation and the Thankful Enterprise and is a 92 Street Y Women in Power mentor.
Business Development