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.
Isabelle is the Schools Reinventing Cities with Minecraft Manager within C40’s Urban Planning and Design team.
In this role, she works closely with cities and Minecraft Education to launch the first year of the Schools Reinventing Cities competition, which aims to empower young people to find tangible solutions for a more sustainable and resilient urban future. Solutions from this competition will be created within a virtual Minecraft representation of each city.
Prior to C40, Isabelle was working as an urban researcher at the Mori Memorial Foundation Institute for Urban Strategies in Tokyo. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography [International] from the University of Leeds and a Master’s degree in International Planning from UCL.
Alessio Baù serves as C40’s Head of Campaigns. He is a campaign and communications expert focused on public engagement, grassroots organising, digital media, creative content and social innovation, with experience both in the public and private sectors. He is also a C40 LGBTQIA+ staff representative.
Prior to joining C40, Alessio worked as Social Media Editor-in-Chief for the City of Milan, as Content Strategist and Campaign Manager for the Airbnb Policy & Communications team, and as a consultant for agencies, firms, electoral campaigns, and non-governmental organisations.
Alessio has a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities (University of Padova) and a first-level Master’s in Plants, Social Innovation & Design (University of Florence). He is a published author with a background in journalism, a board member of the Milan LGBTQIA+ association and passionate about rooftop gardening and train travel.
Earl is a Youth Engagement and Campaigns Manager at C40. He manages the ambitious initiatives of C40’s Youth Programme and supports the priority C40 missions, including the Good, Green Jobs mission. He manages the day-to-day operations of the C40 Youth Hub, C40’s platform for engaging youth climate leaders and supports Senior Campaign Managers in the delivery of various priority C40 missions, including by organising events, coordinating work across working groups, tracking progress, developing reports and presentations, managing partnerships and relationships with youth and civil society organisations.
He has been actively working in the field of urban sustainability for more than seven years. Before joining C40, Earl was a Senior Program Officer at the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), where he led the implementation of its global programmes and activities. His work included organising conferences and forums with organisations like UN-Habitat and ITU, designing and organising capacity-building programs for city officials with institutions like the Seoul Human Resource Development Center and Metropolis, managing knowledge products, and helping organise feasibility study projects and project implementation programmes. He was also responsible for managing, engaging, and expanding WeGO’s global network of members and partners, producing various publications, as well as delivering presentations and moderating discussions in international forums.
Earl completed his Master’s in Regional and Urban Planning Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and his Bachelor’s degree in Management from the Ateneo de Manila University.
Naomi is the Project Officer for Zero Emission Freight, working to support the Programme Manager in network activities and Technical Assistance projects. Prior to joining C40, Naomi worked as a Research Assistant to an environmental consultant on food and agriculture policy in the UK, with a particular focus on agroecology and grasslands as a nature-based solution to climate change. Naomi holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh and a BA in English Literature and Spanish from the University of Birmingham. She is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Prior to joining C40, Ilona worked for over eight years in foreign diplomatic Missions, most recently as the research officer at the Permanent Mission of Fiji to the United Nations. As a part of the Fiji delegation to the United Nations she was tasked with assisting the Ambassador and diplomatic staff on issues such as peacekeeping and humanitarian affairs, human rights and sustainable development. She also assisted in the coordination of official visits of the President, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Fiji during the annual UN General Assembly. Her experience has left her with a thorough knowledge of the work being done by the United Nations, its many organs as well as different Non and Inter-Governmental Organizations. In addition to her professional experience Ilona has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from Hunter College and a Master of Science in Global Affairs with a concentration in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance from New York University.
Donna Hume serves as Director of Political Strategy and Campaigns at C40. Prior to joining the C40, Donna was a Senior Campaigner at Friends of the Earth where she was responsible for leading the organisation’s climate change campaigning. She led a team of people that prevented any fracking taking place in UK for the past 6 years, including by securing moratoriums on fracking in Scotland and Wales, helped secure a commitment to UK coal power phase out by 2025, and worked with Friends of the Earth International on a global campaign to keep fossil fuels in the ground in 30 countries.
Prior to that Donna held a number of other roles at Friends of the Earth: on overseeing campaign strategy and development, and in the political, economic and energy teams. During that time she supported the set-up of the organisation’s air quality campaign, built a 200 organisation strong coalition of businesses and civil society to support clean energy, and led a successful campaign to secure ongoing UK Government support for the solar industry. She has also worked at the Environmental Justice Foundation on a global campaign exposing unethical practices in cotton farming. Donna has a Bachelor’s degree in History from King’s College London.
As Climate Politics, Intelligence and Diplomacy Manager, Casimir supports the City Diplomacy team through policy analysis, intelligence sharing, and engagement with external partners, including the International Climate Politics Hub and the 2050 Pathways Platform. Through this work, Casimir helps advance C40’s diplomatic goals of promoting a green and just recovery from COVID-19, enhancing global climate ambition, and building a coalition of cities committed to the principles of the Global Green New Deal. Prior to joining C40, Casimir worked as a Policy Analyst Trainee with the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, where he devised and piloted a new engagement strategy aimed at better understanding member states’ multilateral aid priorities. Casimir holds joint Master’s degrees in International Security and International Relations from Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
As Senior Manager, U20 & G20 Engagement, Alina is the C40 project lead for Urban 20, an initiative which brings cities together to collectively inform the G20 agenda and negotiations. In 2022, she worked closely with Jakarta City Hall on Jakarta’s Chairship of the Urban 20, and in 2023 she leads on the relationship with the city of Ahmedabad and the G20 India Presidency. Previously, she also worked on C40’s COP26 engagement, the Cities Race to Zero campaign and C40’s EU advocacy strategy.
Prior to joining C40, Alina was Programme Coordinator with the Europe Programme at Chatham House, a leading international affairs think tank, where she supported the development and management of complex research projects. Among these are a project exploring the future of democratic governance and a youth engagement project working to increase young people’s understanding of and engagement with key political issues. Alina has previous professional experience in Brussels, including at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and at the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, a non-governmental civil society organisation.
Alina graduated from King’s College London with a degree in European Studies and holds an MSc in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh.
Ahmed Mokgopo serves as Youth Engagement and Campaigns Manager at C40. In this role, Ahmed supports the development and implementation of C40’s Global Youth and Mayors Forum.
Before joining C40, Ahmed worked as a Campaigns Specialist at 350.org where he led the South Africa teams fossil fuel finance and divestment campaigns. There, he managed 350.org’s efforts in urging the City of Cape Town to commit to divest from fossil fuels. Following Cape Town’s announcement to divest from fossil fuels in 2017, Ahmed headed up the development and implementation of a public finance campaign advocating for South African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to commit to policy that would exclude fossil fuel financing. The campaign enhanced 350’s visibility amongst senior public finance officials through media, public mobilisation and direct engagement. Through this campaign, 350.org became a key partner in stopping the development of the Thabametsi coal fired power plant which was officially cancelled in November 2020.
Before 350.org, Ahmed was a research assistant at Itad an international development consultancy where he supported a global programme evaluating the role of markets in poverty reduction. Ahmed holds a Master’s in Globalisation, Business and Development from the University of Sussex and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Aaron Kiely is responsible for the development and implementation of C40’s new flagship Global Youth Initiative, working with C40 mayors and young activists to create a Global Youth and Mayors Climate Forum capable of building a shared agenda to drive forward climate solutions, and engaging youth leaders in urban climate action.
Prior to joining C40, Aaron co-led Friends of the Earth’s climate campaign in the UK. He worked to grow and empower a network of 200 activist groups to campaign for socially just climate action both locally and nationally. He was involved in the successful legal challenge to halt expansion of Heathrow airport, and has campaigned on air pollution and fracking. He played a leading role in organising the largest ever UK climate demonstration ahead of the Paris climate talks in 2015.
Previously Aaron was elected to represent 1 million students of African, Arab, Asian and Caribbean descent at the National Union of Students UK. Aaron organised inspiring and successful campaigns that dramatically increased the number of Black representatives in the student movement, effectively challenged racism and halted deportations of international students. Aaron also has experience in local government where he has served as an elected representative.
Aaron has a BSc in Sociology and Social Policy from London Metropolitan University.