Vanesa is responsible for the administration and management of restricted fund grants, ensuring that compliance is met and robust systems and processes are in place. Vanesa was recently Finance and Operations Manager at Pro Bono Economics, a charity helping other charities to understand and improve their impact. Prior to this she was Finance and Operations controller at Trillion Fund, a loan based crowdfunding platform for renewable energy projects. She has also worked at IDOM, a global architectural and engineering consultancy firm, Quiet Revolution, a vertical axis wind turbine firm and Waste Watch, a sustainability charity. Vanesa holds a BSc (Hons) in Ecology, Conservation & Environment from York University and an MSc in Environmental Decision Making from the Open University.
Veronica Sabino has joined C40 as the Campaigns Project Manager in the Inclusion and Global Leadership department. She has extensive experience in project design, management and coordination, working in multicultural and complex global environments. She is based in London.
Prior to C40, Veronica worked at Amnesty International for 8 years, providing project management support across several departments. In her last role as Senior Executive Coordinator, she was responsible for coordinating, advising and enabling the strategic and operational agenda of the Secretary General and Leadership Team, as well as advancing critical projects of organisational priority.
Originally a sinologist with a background in Chinese language and culture, Veronica holds a MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, with a focus on international relations and human rights.
Victor Indasi is C40’s Programme Manager, African Cities for Clean Air. He is responsible for managing the programme’s work in C40’s 13 African cities. He works closely with city staff, the C40 Regions Team (Africa), the global Air Quality Programme, and C40 partners to evaluate the current landscape of air quality activities in C40 cities, identify barriers, city needs, and priorities, and contribute to the ongoing development of C40’s air quality strategy for Africa.
Prior to joining C40, Victor worked for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the continental intergovernmental organization ACMAD and the regional intergovernmental organization ICPAC. He has also consulted for various international organizations, including Conservation International, The Stimson Center, Environment for Development (EfD) and Aeolius Wind Systems (AWS). Victor holds a Bachelor of Science degree (University of Nairobi, Kenya), a Doctoral degree focusing on wind energy (Curtin University, Australia) and postdoctoral research experience in Climate Change (University of Cape Town, South Africa).
Victoria Gonsior (“Vicky”) serves as Senior Manager for Climate Action Planning. In this position, she manages the data pillar of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Joint Programme and supports, in collaboration with GCoM, CDP and various internal and external partners, the development of streamlined data access and tools for cities – particularly those with limited capacities – to enable and accelerate their path along the climate action journey.
Vicky is not new to C40, having previously worked as the City Advisor for Freetown in Sierra Leone, where she supported the city in developing its first CAP, with limited resources available. Before that, she was the C40 Focal Point and Policy Advisor to the Mayor of Freetown. Most recently, Vicky worked for The World Bank, supporting the development of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Country and Climate Development report by providing insights on urban climate action in cities.
She also has years of experience in various organisations and consultancies at the intersection of research and practice in international cooperation and sustainability, with a strong focus on the public sector and the subnational level. She has MSc and BSc degrees in economics, has been published in academic journals and with renowned publishing companies and is a trained and certified systemic coach. A number of additional training on mindfulness techniques and action and experienced-based learning methodologies enrich the skillset with which she delivers her work. She is based in Cologne, Germany, and surfs along the world’s coastlines, whenever an opportunity presents itself.
Viola serves as Project Manager in C40’s UrbanShift team. She is responsible for many vital functions to support the tracking, coordination, budgeting, events and outcomes of C40’s participation in UrbanShift.
Before this role, Viola was the C40 Projects & Events Officer for the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative (FSCI). She supported FSCI academies, forums, communication and knowledge management, and assisted cities in accessing vital finance to make their Climate Action Plans a reality. Previously, Viola worked with the C40 Measurement & Planning team as an intern.
Viola holds a Master in Sustainable Cities from King’s College London, where she focused her research on the benefits of urban nature on the human brain through neuroscience technology. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management.
Vishnee Sauntoo is the Director of Brand, Creative and Digital Content at C40. As part of the Communications and Events team, Vishnee leads the Brand, Creative and Digital Content team and is responsible for creating, maintaining and consistently optimising an ambitious brand, creative and digital content strategy for C40 to engage our audience and take digital communications to the next level.
Vishnee has more than 20 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector in the UK, working on international development, health, gender, ageing and humanitarian issues. Before joining C40, Vishnee was Head of Communications for Age International, supporting older people worldwide and leading Communications for humanitarian crises such as the recent Turkey-Syria earthquake and the Ukraine conflict. Vishnee has previously worked for the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, Save the Children, the British Heart Foundation and No Smoking Day.
Vishnee has a Governance and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion background and is a Trustee for the CharityComms Board of Trustees.
Vivian serves as Senior Technical Advisor for Air Quality and Health. As part of the Air Quality team’s technical assistance program, Vivian is responsible for coordinating in-house modelling, analysis, report writing, and public communication in support of the cities’ air quality planning and policy development, as well as strengthening connections within C40 and with key C40 partner stakeholders.
Vivian is an air pollution epidemiologist with over 13 years of research experience, focusing on air pollution/environmental health, urban health, chronic diseases and well-being, and “big data” quantitative research methods. Before joining C40, she worked at Vital Strategies, a global public health organization, where she made the case for addressing air pollution from a public health perspective, increasing commitment and capacity of key stakeholders to strengthen air quality management to promote public health, and informing the public about the risks of air pollution. She also has hands-on public health experience, working as an epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Boston, USA, and as a Principal Scientist at the National Environment Agency in Singapore.
She holds a BSc in Biology from the University of Washington (Seattle, USA), a Masters in Public Health from Boston University (Boston, USA), and a PhD in Public Health from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (China). She is currently based in Singapore.
Wanjiku Ngare is a Senior Manager in the City Finance Programme at C40. She is responsible for overseeing a portfolio of special projects and partnerships, supporting sectoral finance staff, program management, and supporting internal team strategy development and operations.
Wanjiku is a passionate urbanist with experience in management consulting and project finance. Prior to this role, she was an operations senior associate at Instiglio Inc and an associate management consultant at Dalberg Advisors. She worked on cross-sectoral projects for diverse clients, including large foundations, multilateral development banks, and bilateral development finance institutions. Her work spanned from identifying and addressing barriers in scaling the deployment of pico to microgrid solar in East African countries; to identifying key constraints to economic development in Kosovo. She began her career as a Project Finance Analyst at Sol Systems LLC, a leading renewable energy financier and developer in the United States.
Wanjiku holds a Bachelor’s in International Affairs from Georgetown University and a Master’s in Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Wenwen Chen serves as Operations Manager, China Office. In this role, she is responsible for managing the Corporate Services deliverables within China.
Prior to joining C40, Wenwen worked as a Program Operation Manager for Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management. Before that, Wenwen served as Vice Director for the International Cooperation Department of the Dragon Design Foundation, where she led the Sino-EU collaborations and activities on sustainable design and green technology. She also worked for the first local Fair Trade organisation in China earlier in her career.
Wenwen holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture and Ecology from South China Agriculture University and an International MBA from Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, including one semester exchange programme at ESSEC Business School.
Wilberforce Chege serves as C40’s TUMI E-Bus Manager for Africa, India, and Indonesia. In this role, Wilberforce works to support the deployment of electric buses in emerging markets, ensuring readiness for 100,000 e-buses by 2025.
Prior to joining C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Wilberforce’s worked with GreenCape Sector Development Agency in South Africa as a Senior Energy Analyst and Sector Lead, working on providing technical assistance and advisory on Sustainable Mobility and Energy Storage to cities, local governments, municipalities, and private sector clients and SMMEs. His previous career roles have included Technical Director, Project Manager, and Civil and Transportation Engineer, delivering on projects across Africa, Europe, and the Americas. He is also the author of several publications in Electric Mobility and Sustainable Transportation.
Wilberforce holds a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Transport and a B.Sc. (Eng.) Civil Engineering degree from the University of Cape Town, with the research component conducted at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. He is also a Master of Business Administration (MBA) candidate with Project Management specialisation at the University of Edinburgh Napier in Scotland, UK. Wilberforce is a Net Zero Accredited Professional (Carbon, Water, Waste, and Ecology) by the Green Building Council of South Africa and was shortlisted as the Graduate Engineer of the Year finalist by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) in 2020.
William serves as Declaration Manager for C40’s Green and Healthy Streets Declaration. In this role, William coordinates C40 support towards Green and Healthy Streets Declaration signatories and tracks the implementation of the Declaration in cities, helping to accelerate implementation and achieve effective, ambitious and measurable outcomes on decarbonising transport in cities.
Prior to his current role, William was Benefits Research Officer in the Knowledge and Learning Directorate, where he supported cities with making the case for climate action through demonstrating the wider social and economic benefits. He also supported on a number of additional research projects, including The Case for a Green and Just Recovery released by the C40 Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, and Coal-free Cities: The Health and Economic Case for a Clean Energy Revolution.
Wilmar is C40’s Programme Manager for Energy. He is a sustainable energy specialist with experience leading initiatives funded by multilateral organizations, international cooperation agencies and national governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.
For more than 10 years, Wilmar has managed multi-stakeholder processes involving national and local governments, NGOs, donors, and financial institutions. Working as a public official, consultant, researcher and programme manager, he has managed policies and structured and developed projects and studies to promote a low-carbon energy transition in the region.
He has led initiatives for energy access for rural families, use of renewable energy for agribusiness, design of energy efficiency standards for buildings, implementation of energy management systems, design of decarbonization scenarios and energy planning, and energy-efficient street lighting, among others.
Wilmar is a Colombian Energy Engineer, with postgraduate studies in Energy Sources Management, and holds an MSc in Energy Policy from the University of Sussex.
Wyda is a Programme Officer for the UKAID Climate Action Implementation Southeast Asia team. She supports programme management, planning and coordination across the Climate Action Implementation team and with other global C40 teams. Wyda holds an M.Eng in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.
Wyda has worked with various consulting firms on spatial planning and has broadened her experience on the social aspects of the palm oil and timber sectors through her work with the Earthworm Foundation. She has experience assisting more than 50 palm oil and timber producers in meeting sustainability standards, focusing on the social aspects.
Before joining C40, Wyda worked as NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat Development, and No Exploitation) policy implementation lead in one of POSCO International’s subsidiaries, a Korean multinational corporation based in Indonesia.
Xian Zhou serves as the Regional Officer in C40’s China office. In this role, she helps coordinate and facilitate the delivery of the Central East Asia regional team covering member cities across the specified regions.
Xian has rich experience in working in a multi-cultural and cross-functional environment, including diplomatic missions and representative offices of foreign government agencies in China. Before joining C40, Xian worked as a Senior Immigration Officer for the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, where she built cooperative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to develop trust and mutual understanding of relevant policies and procedures. Before that, she worked for Lesotho Embassy to China focusing on partnership development and executive support. Xian also planned and managed high-profile events at China World Trade Center. Xian holds a Master’s Degree from Beijing Institute of Technology.
Yana serves as Project Manager within C40’s Ports and Shipping team. She coordinates the Green Shipping Corridors work of C40, aimed at decarbonizing global maritime transport, reducing emissions from ports and ships, and promoting green infrastructure development and broader sustainable shipping practices.
Before joining C40, Yana worked in an environmental non-profit in Brussels, lobbying the EU for the adoption of ocean protection legislation. For many years, her work in Europe was centred around EU and French advocacy, campaigning, as well as citizen empowerment and mobilization. She is the co-author of 3 studies on eco-anxiety.
Yana holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a Master’s in European Affairs. She speaks English, French, Russian and Dutch.
Yasmin serves as a Programme Officer for the C40 x GCoM Joint Programme, a collaborative initiative funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. In this role, Yasmin provides vital project management support, facilitates effective communication, and ensures the tracking of key programme data and monitoring and evaluation efforts.
Prior to joining C40, Yasmin worked on the Rooted in Trust project for Internews, a global USAID-funded program that responded to rumours and misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic in traditional communities in the North of Brazil. As a Project Officer, Yasmin focused on M&E and reporting, stakeholder liaison, and logistics and event organization. Previously, she also contributed to GEF-funded projects related to sustainable development while working at the UNDP in Brazil.
Yasmin holds a double degree in International Relations and Political Science, as well as a double Master’s degree in International Development and Risk Management from the University of Coimbra in Portugal and Sciences Po Bordeaux in France. Her Master’s thesis provides a historical analysis of the neocolonialist logic in French cooperation towards former colonies in Africa.