Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE was Mayor of Freetown from May 2018 to February 2023 and was recently re-elected to serve for a second term. A finance professional with over 25 years of private sector experience in strategic planning, risk management consulting and project management, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr adopted an inclusive, data-driven approach to addressing challenges in the city. She championed the four-year Transform Freetown plan, which detailed 19 concrete targets across 11 sectors and covered issues ranging from tackling environmental degradation to facilitating the creation of jobs for youth. Annual Transform Freetown reports, which document progress made against targets, can be viewed here.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr’s notable achievements include: the construction and operation of Freetown’s first-ever wastewater treatment plant; the digitalisation and expansion of the city’s property rate system, the creation of over 3,500 jobs for youth and women; the planting and tracking of over 800,000 trees as part of the #FreetownTheTreeTown 1 million trees target; and securing the ongoing feasibility study for the introduction of a cable car system for the city.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr’s public sector engagement began with her work during the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic and her subsequent role as Delivery Team Lead for the second phase of a multi-stakeholder programme to drive socio-economic recovery in Sierra Leone post-Ebola. Mayor Aki-Sawyerr was featured by Time Magazine in the Time100 Next 2021 List and by the BBC in the BBC 100 Women 2020 List. She is a Chartered Accountant with an MSc in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics and a BSc Hons in Economics from Fourah Bay College. She is married with two children.
Zachary Tofias serves as the Director of the Food and Waste Programme at C40. His work supports C40 cities’ transition toward regenerative resource management and reducing emissions through more sustainable consumption. The Food and Waste Programme is helping cities accelerate a worldwide transition to more effective municipal solid waste management, and the implementation of comprehensive solutions that reduce carbon emissions and increase resiliency throughout the urban food system.
Zach has been with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group since 2007 in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative. Over the course of this time, he has been City Director in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, created and led the Climate Positive Development Programme, was the head of Urban Planning and Development, and recently was the Interim Director of Adaptation.
Since 2007, Zach has worked around the world with leading cities and the private sector on developing locally relevant solutions for replicable models of making cities more sustainable. Zach has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cornell University and a Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College.
Zarina serves as Head of Implementation in Africa, within the Regions & Mayoral Engagement Team, and leads in the region the C40’s UCAP Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Programme. In this role she works with seven C40 African cities to develop ambitious and robust long-term climate action plans that are compatible with the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Prior to this, Zarina worked as a C40 City Adviser to Durban, where she supported the City to develop their Climate Action Plan. Before joining C40, Zarina worked at the National Business Initiative (NBI) South Africa as a project manager for climate change mitigation, where she managed work on the CDP climate change and water programmes in South Africa. She also worked with companies to build capacity and provide best practice guidance on greenhouse gas reporting. Previously, Zarina also worked as a Programme Officer for environmental, water and energy projects at the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), where she managed a low-carbon cities project, focusing on the City of Durban.
Zarina holds an MSc in Environmental Science and a BSc Honours in Environmental Management from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Zermina is the Director of Strategic Communications, Media and Partnerships at C40 Cities, based in London, UK.
In this role, she sets the strategic direction for C40’s communications and media efforts and high-impact partnerships. She is responsible for shaping and executing communications strategies around C40’s milestones and global events.
Zermina also serves as C40 Co-Chair and Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Press Secretary, leading efforts to amplify his leadership on climate action and demonstrate the tangible outcomes of his work as co-chair on the world stage.
Before joining C40, Zermina held positions across local and national government, where she built and led teams delivering high-profile public campaigns and policy communications. She holds a degree in Law and is fluent in four languages.
Zoe leads C40’s Zero Emission Vehicle Network, which supports 20+ cities to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles and roll out charging infrastructure, whilst still creating cities that prioritise walking, cycling and public transport. She also works closely with colleagues to deliver C40’s Zero Emission Area programme and support cities to achieve their commitments under the Green and Healthy Streets Accelerator.
Before C40, Zoe has held roles in a variety of local non-profits, working on issues from healthy food provision, to refugee action, to domestic abuse support. She holds an MA in Conflict, Security and Development, specialising in sustainable development and environmental migration, and a BA in English, both from the University of Exeter, UK.
Zoë Chafe, PhD, MPH is Head of Air Quality and Health Technical Programmes at C40, where she leads C40’s Clean Air Network, the Air Quality Data & Analytics team, and technical working groups. From 2019 to 2022, Zoe led C40’s CAP-AQ project, which created tools to integrate air quality management with climate planning. Zoë works with governments, organisations, and individuals to build an equitable, safe, and healthy future by identifying opportunities to improve air quality.
Zoë has two decades of experience working at the intersection of climate change, air quality, and public health, with a focus on household energy. Her previous work includes contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report, the Global Energy Assessment, and World Health Organization reports on energy use’s air quality, health, and climate impacts.
Zoë holds a PhD (Energy and Resources) and MPH (Master of Public Health) from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and Cornell University’s Atkinson Center Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Zöe is based in London and leads the City-Business Engagement team, supporting C40 Cities to engage with businesses at a local, regional, and global level to support the implementation of their climate action plans. The City-Business Engagement team leads the City-Business Climate Alliance programme and supports efforts to develop public-private collaboration.
Before joining C40, Zöe managed a capacity-building programme for the UK Government, providing technical support to national and local governments across 16 middle-income countries, raising climate ambition and reducing emissions. Prior to this, she led climate for the Urban Systems team at Innovate UK, bringing innovative businesses together with cities. She also worked on research and innovation policy for UKRI USA at the British Embassy in Washington DC. Zöe holds a BSc in Physical Geography from King’s College London and also studied at the University of Chapel Hill in North Carolina.