Christopher Lee is the CEO of Climate-KIC Australia and played a key role its establishment. Chris has extensive climate change experience and from 2009 to 2017 led the development and implementation of Climate Change Adaptation programs for the NSW Government. He has degrees in Economics and Environmental Management, and has experience across, public, private and university sectors.
As Director of Strategic Projects, Belinda brings her global experience in accounting, marketing, strategy and innovation for financial services to develop strategies to build greater resilience for Climate-KIC Australia.
As Director of Strategic Projects, Jason develops and leads multi-stakeholder system transition initiatives, leveraging his experience in Europe over the past decade working with large scale demonstrations and innovation ecosystem building initiatives for industry and cities.
As Climate-KIC Australia’s Director of Systems Innovation Meredith brings her experience in strategy, design, innovation and facilitation to shape and deliver projects and portfolios for systemic impact. She leverages her experience in consulting, financial services, corporate innovation and a start up to help people and organisations tackle the complexity of climate action.
As Director of the Business Renewables Centre Australia (BRC-A), Jackie manages this national membership platform and corporate education initiative to accelerate corporate transition to renewable energy. Jackie brings rich experience in renewable energy procurement and carbon management to the BRC-A to expand corporate renewable energy support to an even wider group of organisations nationally.
As Project Officer for MECLA Alexi is involved in communications and membership management. He has a background working in various environmental NGOs, a passion for tackling climate change, and a first class honours from the University of Sydney in philosophy.
As Principal of Innovation Programs, Sina comes with a strong background in NGO management, international project development, communications and an education from Harvard University. Sina is best equipped to point the next climate change innovators in the right direction.
Melinda brings her experience working on climate partnerships and projects in the Pacific and the UK to lead adaptation and resilience projects. She draws on her legal and policy background and experience in knowledge brokering, facilitation and strategy to support cross-sectoral stakeholders working collaboratively to build resilience and adapt to climate change.
Genevieve is responsible for managing projects which aim to drive systemic change. Her careers spans impact assessment, research, stakeholder engagement and sustainability in the mining, forestry and energy sectors. She takes a systems perspective, integrating technologies, decision-making processes and organisational change strategies to solve complex problems.
As a Project Officer, Nodoka is responsible for supporting stakeholder engagements and the delivery of strategic projects. With experience managing health portfolios and founding a start-up in the Middle East, Nodoka is passionate about facilitating effective intersectoral collaborations that shape a just transition. Nodoka also participates in the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific as a youth advisor and the UTS Sustainability Alliance of Students and Staff as a Co-founder and Vice President.
As Climate-KIC Project Officer for the Telecommunications Resilience Investment Pilot, Viv is involved in building the engagement register and social architecture. She has a Master of Environmental Management with Excellence from UNSW, where she was a casual academic and teaching assistant. Having pivoted from a biology and ethology background in Montreal, Canada, she brings a passion for delightfully disrupting the humancentric status quo toward sustainable worldmaking.
As a project officer on the Energy Upgrades for Australian Homes project, Clare brings her background in project management and research administration to enable seamless convening and coordination a complex collaboration of researchers, industry participants and affiliated projects. An environmental biotechnology major, Clare is passionate about helping organisations adapt to the evolving needs of the environment, and brings to this project relevant experience analysing the impact of urban environments on the health of people and the natural environment.
Marian is our National Director for the European-Australian Climate Business Network. Her career spans from executive management to program delivery, in government and higher education sectors. In this role, she advances partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and project development.
Stephanie is General Manager of the Australian Ocean Energy Group, bringing over 14 years ocean energy experience to the Program. She has been on the forefront of the emerging renewable ocean energy sector, advancing the growth of wave and tidal power in USA as well as Australia. With climate change a defining issue of our time, Stephanie is striving to help Blue Economy communities, businesses and industries adopt ocean energy as a means to decarbonise and reduce their cost of energy.
As senior project manager for the Materials and Embodied Carbon Leaders’ Alliance (MECLA), Kathy manages this national alliance to drive the reduction of embodied carbon in the building and construction industry. Kathy has worked across a range of projects involving large numbers of stakeholders, including the Climate Measurement Standards Initiative (CMSI), sustainable finance and the EU Green Deal. Before moving to Australia, Kathy worked for a senior lawmaker in Germany’s parliament and international development agencies in Europe and Asia.
Bridget Weston is a recently graduated Project Officer at BRC-A, holding a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Technology Sydney. With a strong passion for sustainability and the environment, Bridget has an interest in the nexus between renewable energy initiatives and their implications on biodiversity.
She has previously worked with the University of Technology’s, Climate Change Cluster (C3), performing laboratory work using microalgae to extract Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from mining waste. Bridget has also worked with UTS’s Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF) alongside the Energy Futures and Healthy Environments teams.
Dominic McGann is a commercial lawyer with over 35 years experience in native title, cultural heritage, government advisory, resource development and carbon farming. He has acted for various State Governments, Local Governments, infrastructure and resources companies, as well as Traditional Owners, sugar and timber entities and pastoral companies.
With a focus on responsible prosperity, Damien has worked collaboratively with government and industry spanning the minerals, water, waste and energy sectors on strategy, modelling and policy. His published work spans over 150 technical reports, academic journal articles and online publications including in The Conversation. Damien has undertaken research funded by the Australian Research Council, Cooperative Research Centres and industry and by all levels of government, for example on international best practice in circular economy as input to the development of the NSW Circular Economy Policy Statement.
Currently working as a consultant, Stephanie Ziersch has over 15 years experience as an executive responsible for climate change policy and program delivery at the state, national and international level working on issues such as climate strategy, climate finance and climate innovation. A strategic and innovative leader, she excels at developing collaborative partnerships and building high-performing teams.
Andy Kerr is a leader in catalysing innovation in climate policy and practice. He mobilises and connects resources, insights and capabilities to enable cities and regions, investors, and entrepreneurs to deliver their ambitious climate targets. Having co-founded and directed the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation and the Scottish Centre of Expertise on Climate (ClimateXChange), he now leads EIT Climate-KIC – Europe’s largest public-private climate innovation partnership – in UK and Ireland and EIT’s Global Outreach in Silicon Valley and Israel.