Governance
The Green Economy Coalition is governed by a Steering Group which meets every two months to decide on strategic and management issues, and is coordinated by a small Secretariat hosted by the International Institute of Environment and Development in London, and by Finance Watch in Brussels. Learn more about Steering Group here, read about our Membership process here, or read our privacy policy.
The Steering Group
Adebiyi Odegbile
UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy
Mr. Adebiyi (Ade) Odegbile is a Programme Management Officer at UN-PAGE. Prior to joining the Secretariat, Ade coordinated UNEP’s delivery of PAGE workstreams in multiple PAGE countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, as well as managing other inclusive green economy-related projects. In the past, he worked for UNOPS, UNDP and UNIDO in East Africa, and has also worked in the private sector and for NGOs on diverse development challenges.
Aline Brandstatter
Policy Officer – Green economy, DG INTPA, European Commission
Aline is responsible for DG INTPA's green economy & environment mainstreaming programmes, and manages EU support to relevant initiatives, including the GEC. Aline previously worked on regional cooperation with the EU Delegations to the Southern Neighbourhood, and collaborated with several international collaborative economy businesses. She holds Masters degrees in political science.

Holger Schmid
Director - Switzerland/Sustainable Economy Programmes, MAVA Foundation
Holger is responsible for the implementation of the MAVA strategy for Switzerland, the Sustainable Economy Programme, and jointly manages MAVA’s overall project portfolio, including global projects. Holger previously worked for WWF in the Mediterranean and in Mongolia, and holds a Master’s degree in biology from Bayreuth University in Germany.

Juha Siikamäki
Chief Economist, IUCN
Now serving as the IUCN's Chief Economist, Juha previously worked at Resources for the Future (RFF), a non-partisan research organization based in Washington DC, most recently as Associate Research Director and Thomas J. Klutznick Senior Fellow. Juha has a broad publishing record with more than 60 publications covering general economics, general interest science, environmental and resource economics, econometrics, and ecology, focusing on exploring different aspects of conservation and ecosystem services.

Mike Wilson
Executive Director, Smart Prosperity Institute
Mike began his career as a lawyer, before moving into senior policy roles in the Canadian government working at the intersection of the environment, economy and innovation. Mike has a firm belief that 'green' and 'growth' can go hand in hand and a passion for making that happen.

Moustapha Kamal Gueye
Coordinator, Green Jobs Programme, ILO
Dr. Moustapha Kamal Gueye is Coordinator, Green Jobs Programme, at the International Labour Organization. Kamal's career spans senior roles at UN Environment, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan, and is currently a visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Peter Poschen
Professor – Environmental Governance Program, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Germany
Peter is now based in Freiburg,
Germany. He previously served at the ILO working in some 35 countries,
including as country director for Brazil (2015-2017), director of the
Enterprises Department (2009-2015) and coordinator of the ILO Global Green Jobs
Program (2005-2015). Prior to joining the ILO in 1986, he served as a volunteer
in Ethiopia.

Steve Bass
Senior Associate, IIED
Steve works with IIED and GEC on sustainable development, focusing on institutions, dialogue and diagnosis for inclusive green economies. He is known for poverty and environment work including ESPA, the WAVES project and the UN PEI. Previously, Steve was Chief Environment Adviser at DFID, and a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Tom Mitchell
Executive Director, IIED
Dr Tom Mitchell is the Executive Director of our parent organisation, IIED. Previously he was Chief Strategy Officer for Climate-KIC, shaping an agenda on transformative innovation. Prior to that he led the climate and environment programme at the Overseas Development Institute, supported UN policy on disaster risk reduction, and served as a coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Extreme Weather.

Zeenat Niazi
Vice-President, Development Alternatives
Zeenat Niazi, vice-president of Development Alternatives Group, has over 26 years’ experience in the social and environment development sector. In the last decade, her work has extended to design and coordination of low carbon development strategies for the central Indian region of Bundelkhand and coordination of climate change adaptation, action and communication, knowledge management and knowledge dissemination for promoting national and global sustainable development strategies.
The Secretariat

Oliver Greenfield
Convenor
As Convenor, Oliver provides the GEC’s network leadership, enabling people from diverse institutions to work and influence collectively. Before GEC, Oliver spent 7 years enabling stakeholder change leading WWF’s Sustainable Business and Economics work. He previously worked in corporate strategy advisor with Booz Company and the BBC World Service.

Chris Hopkins
Economic Policy Lead
Having joined the GEC in May 2014, Chris works across the green economy agenda on green structural policy, and is economic and technical policy lead on many GEC tools, platforms, and outputs. Chris worked for 5 years as a freelance journalist in the energy sector and holds BA and MA degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from the University of York.

Monica Inkpen
Programme and Network Manager
With over 14 years’ experience of programme management across a range of sectors, Monica leads on the GEC’s operational and programme management. She brings expertise on risk management, compliance, governance, financial reporting and business development. She is adept with both waterfall and agile management techniques, gained from formal qualifications and hands on experience from her work on projects across Nepal, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Palestine, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Myanmar.

Ben Martin
Comms & Publications Manager
Ben joined the GEC in May 2017 to help grow the reach and impact of our work, bringing experience of climate comms, publishing, editorial, and policy advocacy gathered during his years working with MPs around the world on climate & energy legislation. Ben has a MA in Social & Political Science from the University of Chicago, and a 1st class hons degree from Oxford University.

Jean McLean
Director of Engagement
Since starting her very own environment club at the age of 9, Jean has been committed to making the world a better place, and joined the GEC in March 2022 to head up our communications and outreach work. With a proven record of building teams, culture and structures, Jean brings experience built over her career at Elrha, Global Citizen, ActionAid and Save the Children to champion the role of people in creating and implementing the infrastructure to deliver systemic change.

Najma Mohamed
Policy Director
Joining the GEC in August 2019 from the International Labour Organisation, where she led work on green jobs and the just transition, Dr Najma Mohamed has previously worked for the UN Partnership for Green Economy and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Author of "Sustainability Transitions in South Africa", Najma’s role is ensuring our GEC policy work goes to the next level of clarity, working closely with our global network partners and our country hubs, and leveraging her knowledge of what economic policy works in country.

Mia Sejirmanova
Project Coordinator
Mia is working with the Programme and Network Manager to provide finance and administrative support. In addition she supports project leads on financial administration and management, as well as overseeing production and dissemination of project outputs and event coordination. Mia previously worked at the Climate Change group of IIED, providing administrative support across the group, and more directly to the Group and Programme managers with delivery of work across wide range of portfolios.

Stuart Worsley
Dialogues Director
Stuart joined the GEC in July 2017 as the Director for Country Dialogues, and leads the coalition’s dialogue work around the world. With 27 years working for development agencies, Stuart has extensive expertise in facilitating system wide change for development. He has lead organizations and programs that address change in agriculture, natural resources, water and sanitation. Stuart is co-author of "Navigating Complexity in International Development".

Zaiza Khan
Project Coordinator
Zaiza joined the GEC in July 2022, having worked with the team over the last 6 years while she was a part of the Shaping Sustainable Markets Group, within IIED. With this experience in group and project support, she will be working closely with the Programme and Network Manager and team leads on delivering project outputs, including working on financial reports and budgets, communications, events coordination, and contract and partner management.