Senior-Associates

Paul Michael Pelken is an experienced registered architect, academic, and innovator with a consistent 20 year track record of award winning and patented developments in design, architecture, and engineering.

Francesco is Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town and Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University, where he previously held the Chair of Sustainability Science and led the Resource Efficient Built Environment Lab (REBEL). His academic expertise lies in life cycle assessment, embodied and whole life carbon, and the circular economy.

Russell Picot is Chair of the Trustee board of the HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Fund and a Director of LifeSight, Willis Towers Watson’s UK DC Master Trust Board where he chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

Tomas Wyns is a Doctoral Researcher at the IES. He is working on European and international climate policy, in particular the design of the EU Emissions Trading System, post-2020 industrial and innovation policy and enhancing global climate action under a 2015 international climate agreement. Tomas has a Master's degree in Physics and is specialised in international relations and conflict management.

Mashudu Ramano is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of the Mitochondria Energy Company. Mashudu is an entrepreneur in transition to sustainable entrepreneurship, an aspirant futurist and an adherent, advocate, agent, promoter and student of sustainability, symbiotic existence and transdisciplinary studies and director of companies with extensive experience in listed and unlisted companies in South Africa.

Swenja is an expert on climate resilience, adaptation, disaster risk management and sustainable finance, with a special focus on the role of the private sector and insurance. She currently works as Head of Adaptation Research at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, is Associate Principal at Vivid Economics, and runs Surminski Consulting.

Lisa is an entrepreneurial venture capitalist with a track record of building high-growth businesses. She has an operations and organisation design background including building and operating factories for Unilever in South Africa and practicing lean operations with McKinsey in North America and Europe.

Khumo is a businesswoman who is invested in financial services and hospitality. She sits on Boards as an independent non-executive director. She is a Clinical Psychologist. She spent most of her corporate career in the mining industry as an Executive in the Human Capital and Sustainability space. She was an Executive Director of Royal Bafokeng Holdings for seven years before venturing into her businesses. She is passionate about education and Executive Coaching.

Mary-Jane Morifi is currently the Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at Tiger Brands responsible for Corporate Communications and Media Relations, Stakeholder and Government Relations, Sustainable Socio-Economic Development and Sustainability, Enterprise and Supplier Development and the Tiger Brands Foundation.