Who’s moved and to where
Appointment of the month
The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiativehas announced the appointment of Fiona Reynolds as a managing director, based in London. In this newly created role, Reynolds will work alongside executive director James Gifford, and will oversee key areas such as organisational development, signatory relations and outreach, communications, events, finance, operations, administration, reporting and assessment, support for the PRI governing bodies, and much of the day-to-day running of the organisation.
Reynolds is currently CEO of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to promote and protect the interests of Australia’s $450bn not-for-profit superannuation sector.
On her new role, she says: “There is a strong match between the objectives of long-term institutional investors and the aims of the PRI and I firmly believe that global investors working together can achieve the PRI’s goals of a sustainable financial system. I have watched the PRI, its membership and its importance grow and I look forward to being part of its future development.” The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment is an investor initiative in partnership with UN Environment Program Finance Initiative and the UN Global Compact.
Karin Kreider is the new executive director of the ISEAL Alliance, the global association for sustainability standards. She was previously the organisation’s scaling up director.
Kreider started out as a freelancer on various film and TV productions in New York, but became involved in sustainability when the founding executive director of Rainforest Alliance asked her to join the organisation as his first staff member. “At the time, we were just a group of people who wanted to ‘save the rainforests’, which we soon realised was no easy task,” she recalls. “My earliest memory was coordinating what was really the first big conference on rainforest conservation in 1987.”
In 2004, Kreider relocated to Costa Rica to head the Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable agriculture programme. After chairing its board for four years, she joined ISEAL as scaling up director in 2009. She was drawn to the sector because she wanted to find solutions to our sometimes destructive role as consumers of tropical products. “Working with businesses made a lot of sense to me as a place where we could redefine production and consumption,” she explains.
“I really believe in the potential of sustainability standards to help transform supply chains and I think that by working together on key issues, standards can multiply their impact,” says Kreider. “With the growth of different standards and new opportunities to support sustainable development in emerging economies, we need to trumpet best practices for credible and effective standards. The future is certainly exciting.”
Chris Atkinson has joined the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) as professor of sustainable agriculture and climate change.
Atkinson started out working for Unilever Research, as a lab technician, in their oils and fats division. As a school leaver interested in biological plant science, he studied part-time through day release and at night school. His lifelong interest in plants was inspired by his parents, his studies – and watching UK botanist David Bellamy on television.
“I trained as an analytical chemist and moved to Rothamsted Research to work on plants,” he recalls. “I then decided that I want to do my own research, so I gave up employment and became a full time student, and got a 1st at London University in applied biology.” After doing a PhD and a number of post-doctorate degrees, Atkinson spent 20 years at East Malling Research, ending up as head of science, deputy chief executive and senior programme leader, before moving to NRI, in Greenwich.
“I want now, at Greenwich, to be involved and broaden my skills and the delivery of research and development on a more international scale,” he explains. He wants to move into areas, “where the efficiency with which resources, such as water and fertilisers, are used to produce food is becoming even more critical – for example, sub-Saharan Africa”.
Charity Bank – the UK’s only FSA regulated bank set up to invest depositors’ money in loans to charities and social enterprises – has appointed Patrick Crawford as its new chief executive.
Crawford was briefly a barrister in pupillage before joining the banking division of Morgan Grenfell and has since held roles as both a banker and a civil servant. In 2002 he moved to Standard Bank as managing director, emerging Africa advisers, and managed a senior debt fund for private infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2004 he became chief executive of UK Export Finance (the operating name of the Export Credits Guarantee Department, the UK government’s export credit agency).
“There is a common thread to my career,” Crawford explains. “I have always been interested in helping to serve organisations’ hitherto unserved financial needs and, in doing so, by advising on or providing senior debt for viable capital projects.”
His most recent position was as managing director and global head of project finance for Deutsche Bank, but he is looking forward to the challenge of his new role. “In its first ten years, Charity Bank has touched the lives of three and a half million people. It is demonstrating that the organisations it helps are sustainable, creditworthy and able to make a significant difference if able to borrow on terms that meet their needs,” he says. “I see my role as one of both maintaining this course and increasing Charity Bank’s lending activity and hence beneficial impact on communities.”
The World Nuclear Association has announced the appointment of its new director general, Agneta Rising. Rising joins the WNA having previously held the position of vice-president, environment, at Vattenfall AB.
Rosie Bristow is now sustainability planning and communications manager, TUI UK & Ireland at TUI Travel. She was previously content coordinator for Guardian Sustainable Business.
US pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly has announced the appointment of Melissa Barnes, as chief ethics and compliance officer and senior vice-president of enterprise risk management. Barnes, who will take up her post in January 2013, is currently vice-president and deputy general counsel.
The Network for Sustainable Financial Markets has announced the appointment of Cary Krosinsky as its first executive director. Krosinsky was formerly senior vice-president, North America, at Trucost. He also has teaching posts on sustainability and investing at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Shorenstein Properties LLC has hired Jaxon Love as sustainability programme manager. Based in the company’s San Francisco office, he will be responsible for running Shorenstein’s comprehensive in-house sustainability programme, which includes the company’s corporate operations as well as all properties under management. Prior to joining Shorenstein, Love was a fellow of the Environmental Defence Fund’s climate corps programme.
Nitesh Magdani has been appointed as BAM Construct’s first director of sustainability. He will be responsible for continuing to develop BAM Construct’s sustainability expertise in designing, constructing, managing and maintaining buildings and for developing a consultancy service to clients. He was previously the company’s head of sustainable design.
US sustainability-focused asset manager Calvert Investments has hired Amy Mathis as director of relationship management. Mathis has more than 19 years experience in financial services and most recently served as senior vice-president, head of client relations group, at Advisors Asset Management.
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has appointed Mark Dybul as its new executive director. Dybul is a former US global Aids co-ordinator who currently co-directs the global health law programme at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
Dong Energy has appointed two new executive vice-presidents in the wind power and energy markets. Samuel Leupold is the new executive vice-president of wind power. He was formerly executive vice-president of Swiss energy company BKW FMB Energie and has previously worked for Bühler, McKinsey and ABB Power Generation. Morten Hultberg Buchgreitz has been appointed as executive vice-president of energy markets, having come from the post of senior vice-president of group treasury and risk management in Dong Energy.
Corporate social responsibility and sustainability consulting firm BrownFlynn has announced the appointments of Cora Lee Mooney as senior consultant and Sara Martin as an analyst. Mooney has been with BrownFlynn since February 2011. In addition to leading the firm’s training practice, she also manages several of its national and global clients in the public and private sectors. Martin’s prior experience includes time spent as a project manager for organisations such as the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Help for Honduran Children Foundation and the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Martijn Wilder has been appointed the new chairman of Low Carbon Australia. He is currently a partner at Baker & Mackenzie, where he established and heads their global environmental markets and climate change practice
As well as its new chief executive, Charity Bank has appointed Patrick Minne as its new Northern Ireland manager. Minne joins the bank from his role as chief executive of A2B Access to Benefits, a social welfare organisation that helped raise more than £50m in unclaimed entitlements for people in Northern Ireland .
With thanks to Miriam Heale, Allen & York