International Masters Summer School 2023

Chris is responsible for the development of investment in ecosystems and nature-based solutions for climate action. The Green Climate Fund – a critical element of the historic Paris Agreement – is the world’s largest climate fund, mandated to support developing countries raise and realize their national ambitions towards low-emissions, climate-resilient pathways. One of his key tasks is coordinating and supporting the GCF’s Africa’s Great Green Wall program which aims to mobilize public and private sector funds to tackle climate change goals in sub-Saharan Africa. Previously he served as Deputy Director for the Investment Policy Division of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI’s), and he has held positions with the UN Development Program (UNDP), and non-government organizations including the global conservation organization - WWF.

As Managing Director for WWF CEE, Andreas is responsible for leading and coordinating the efforts of WWF, the global conservation organisation, to ensure a living planet for nature and people in and from Central and South-eastern Europe. WWF-CEE seeks to preserve the ‘Green Heart of Europe’, including globally important forests, wetlands, and wildlife, and promotes long-term sustainable local development. Andreas has served on the boards of a number of organisations including the Czech and Slovak Environmental Partnership Foundations, Greenpeace Czech Republic, WWF-Hungary, WWF-Romania, WWF-Bulgaria, WWF-Slovakia, WWF-Ukraine, the WWF-Mediterranean Programme and WWF-Adria, and has written extensively about the environment and local development in Central and Eastern Europe.

Alka is a highly experienced international development professional, with over thirty years of experience in development issues, international trade policy, capacity building, youth and women employment and private sector development. She has related expertise in multilateral trade and inclusive development strategies with UNDP. Experienced in implementation and preparation of the national economic and commercial policy framework aimed at liberalisation and development. Additional areas of expertise include strategic planning, policy development, gender equality, women economic empowerment, results-based management, networking, coalition building, and negotiation strategies. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, cooking and gardening.

Aliza Ayaz is an international climate activist, and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. She jointly won the United Kingdom Youth Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability Award at University College London (UCL), and has spoken at United Nations, London International Model United Nations, and UK Parliamentary events. She is a member of the National Youth Council Pakistan. She is known for setting up the Climate Action Society at UCL which helped inspire UK-wide youth action against climate change, leading to the climate emergency declaration at the UK Parliament. In October 2020 she was appointed as the United Nations youth ambassador for Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG13), the second Pakistani student after Malala Yousafzai to have received this honour.

Jabir Ali is a Professor in Economics & Business Environment Area at Indian Institute of Management Jammu and has more than 16 years of academic experience in various reputable organisations in India. His area of interest in teaching and research includes Business Environment, Economic Policy Analysis, Social Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship, International Trade, Risk Management and Commodity Futures and Options. He has successfully completed more than 30 research/ consultancy projects funded by State/ Central Government and international agencies and coordinated a number of Management Development Programmes for the participants from Asian and African Countries covering sustainability and UN SDGs.

Andrew is the Circular Economy Coordinator for the collective councils across Yorkshire & Humber, seeking to accelerate the transition to a sustainable circular economy. Prior to this role, he spent over 15 years delivering industrial symbiosis and resource innovation solutions to industries across the region, maximising the value of waste and keeping byproducts in the resource loop.

Saira is an award-winning landscape architect and is the lead on several EU-funded projects linked to Blue-Green infrastructure and health. As a landscape architect in Bradford, Saira supports local communities by working directly with people to create meaningful places in the local area by creating stronger communities, better neighbourhoods and encouraging healthier, greener lives and tackling climate change.

Nicole is Co-Founder and Director of Cultinova, a hardware and software solutions provider for efficient and sustainable crop production in controlled environments. She is committed to leveraging sensing, control and data technologies to improve yield, sustainability and transparency of farming operations and food supply chains.

In addition to her role at Cultinova she acts as board and advisory board member of several international industry associations, and as such, has a deep understanding of the challenges and trends impacting on modern food systems. 

Stuart is the Chief Finance Officer at University of Bradford. He has extensive experience in financial leadership having held a number of senior jobs with strategic and advisory responsibility and oversight, operating in complex and politicised environments. His experience has been within large, multi-service organisations including the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions, where his portfolio has concerned areas such as corporate resources, welfare benefits, spending reviews and financial planning. Stuart leads a multi-stakeholder sustainability project at University of Bradford.

Anand is a specialist in environmental economics and public policy with a focus on the interface of urban economy, environment and sustainability. Anand has held various leadership positions including as the Head of Centre for International Development at Bradford (2010-2015). Anand has led various funded R&D projects on ‘inclusive, smart and sustainable cities’ and is principle author of the Mongolia National Human Development Report 2011 titled ‘From vulnerability to sustainability’ for UNDP.

Don has served as the Global Managing Partner of Oil & Gas at ERM. He has over 35 years of industrial experience including process operations, project management, process design, insurance, business risk management. He has worked in several roles/sectors including Head of Technical Services with CIGNA International Insurance; VP, Technical Services with Amersham plc; Dean of Brunel University Business School & Professor of Risk Management and Group Senior Vice President of HSSE & Asset Integrity at BG Group. Don has been a Non-Executive Director of London Waste Limited since 2016. He serves as a Non-Executive Director of RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents).

Jason manages day-to-day business operations at AeroFarms, working closely with the executive team to lead strategic initiatives, process improvements, and special projects for the company. He also manages the AeroFarms’ Community Farm business, overseeing a team of engineers and technicians to oversee customer operations for a network of small farms in schools and community centres.

Jason joined AeroFarms in 2020 after almost three years working as a management consultant in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice in Washington, DC. As a consultant, Jason led project management, data analytics, and product lifecycle programs for US government clients and the Office of the CEO for Deloitte’s 65,000-employee US Consulting practice.

Jason is a Fulbright Recipient to the United Kingdom, where he completed an MPhil in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s in political science from Brown University.

George will be delivering on the African Continent Panel.

He is currently the Deputy Minister of Lands & Natural Resources as well as being the Board Chairman of Ghana's Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF).

Nana will be delivering on the African Continent Panel.

He is currently the Head of Local Government Services of Ghana.

Esra currently serves as an Executive Director for Strategy, Quality and Sustainability and Associate Professor at Ahlia University Bahrain. Handling various senior level units, including University Strategic Planning, QA and Measurement.

Since being appointed as an external reviewer Esra has conducted various QA reviews as part of Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. She has been assigned as United Nations coordinator for Ahlia University and as HEA Principle Fellow revised the University Strategy, Policies and Procedures to integrate UNSDGs as an outcome of the graduate attributes.

Esra developed an annual SDG plan that generates an annual voluntary report highlighting the achievements of the university towards UNSGDs including number of research conducted tackling specific SDGs.

Born and bred Namibian with a passion for helping where she can, figuring out complex problems by making sense of them and identifying local solutions for complex challenges.

Geraldine is fun, quirky and with a passion for community development and enhancing sustainable development in Namibia. Geraldine has over 15 year of experience in Civil Society and Private Sector and previously spent 5 years with UNDP Namibia where she was supporting the Governance, Gender and Disability work of UNDP Namibia and more specifically exploring, data visualization and communication of emerging development trends, data, technologies, and issues with a particular focus on the edges and “below the radar screen” events.

Additionally, her expertise includes provision of programmatic and technical support towards scale up and quantification of the importance of Gender Responsive Budgeting within the National Budget cycle, creating strategic convergence of data between, informality, entrepreneurship and governance in Namibia. She continues to work towards building resilience for vulnerable communities and advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ community and communities often left behind in development. She has been learning to navigate and master the space of innovation and fast-tracking the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through new disruptive methods of thinking, investing, learning, and managing development.

Geraldine was previously engaging and exploring different solutions to some of Namibia's wicked and often very complex development challenges. In her previous role as the Head of Exploration for the UNDP Accelerator Lab Namibia, she worked to explore new ways of disrupting thinking, delivering and investing in sustainable development for Namibia.

She is now a management partner for AMP Health.

Geraldine has attained her honours degree, in Sociology and Industrial Psychology from the University of Namibia (UNAM) and is currently completing her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), through a distance learning with the University in Bradford in the United Kingdom.