David Bent
Trustee

David Bent is passionate about playing his part in a generation that puts the world on a sustainable footing. David has worked at Forum for the Future, an independent non-profit working globally to solve complex sustainability challenges, for the last 13 years, most recently as Director of Sustainable Business. He advised dozens of companies in the UK, USA and India on strategy and innovation so they can be more successful by creating a sustainable future.

His perspective is that we need to shift so our global natural and social systems are coping (rather than overwhelmed, as they are now), and also people have access to what they need to choose their own lives. David supports institutions that are acting as a global ‘innovation function’, whether as an advisor, an executive, or a social entrepreneur. He recently finished advising the Cabinet Office on inclusive economy. His current priorities include: researching a pro-sustainability industrial strategy as an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge; and, starting a ‘Gigatonne Lab’ to accelerate a rapid transition to a zero carbon world.

David has a Masters in Physics from Oxford, a Masters in Responsibility and Business Practice from Bath and is a qualified accountant, having spent 4 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He has been a tutor on the Post-Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Áine Clarke
Trustee

Áine leads the global forced labour benchmark KnowTheChain – a resource for companies and investors to understand and address forced labour and labour rights risks and impact within global supply chains. She also coordinates the investor engagement strategy for the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. Prior to this she led investor engagement on the Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI) at the UK based responsible investment charity, ShareAction. While there, she was seconded to the Project Task Force on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (EFRAG), developing the draft workforce standards for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Having worked as a public equities researcher after completing her Masters in International Political Economy (IPE), Áine has a keen understanding of both the fundamentals and broader power structures of capital markets.

Ivana Gazibara
Trustee

A foresight and systems change expert with more than 15 years of experience in sustainability strategy and innovation, Ivana leads the design and development of systemic investment prototypes at the TransCap Initiative. She has previously led Forum for the Future’s futures practice, where she incubated and ran The Futures Centre, the only open, participatory futures platform focused on horizon scanning with the purpose of advancing a sustainable future. Prior to that, she was part of SustainAbility’s emerging economies team, building the organisation’s practice in India and Brazil. Ivana sits on the Advisory Board for the LionTrusts Sustainable Future funds team. She has an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Toronto.

Aaron Hay
Trustee

Aaron joined the international business of Federated Hermes in 2018, and currently serves as Director of Engagement & Investment Strategy in Sustainable Fixed Income. This includes leading the engagement strategy and working with companies for the SDG Engagement High Yield Credit Fund, and collaborating closely with EOS, Federated Hermes’ stewardship platform serving $1.5tn in client assets-under-advice (AUA). Aaron has a decade of experience advising on corporate sustainability strategy and environmental and social challenges across private, public and NGO sectors. He consulted with Accenture Strategy, working with multinational clients in sustainability strategy, ethical supply chain development, circular economy and environmental valuation projects. Aaron was a senior advisor with Forum for the Future, a UK NGO that partners with businesses to use systems thinking and perspectives in long-term, sustainable business model design. He previously served in sustainability advisory in Canadian technology consulting and government settings. Aaron holds an Honours Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Ivey School of Business at Western University, Canada, and a MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London. 

Richard Howitt
Trustee

Richard is a strategic advisor on corporate sustainability, business and human rights. In a distinguished 22-year career as Member of the European Parliament, he was longstanding Rapporteur on Corporate Responsibility and key architect of the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive. Richard represented Europe in developing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in the update of the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprise and the creation and implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. He subsequently served as Chief Executive Officer of the International Integrated Reporting Council, involving many of the world’s leading mainstream and ESG investors and was convenor of the project to align the world’s major financial and sustainability reporting frameworks. Currently, he undertakes advisory work with companies and organisations and is Senior Associate at the public interest law firm, Frank Bold.  

Rebecca Kong
Trustee

Rebecca has been with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) since 2019 where she supports the Bank to effectively measure, assess and report on its social, economic and environmental impact. Prior to joining the EBRD, Rebecca spent a year in management consulting working exclusively with social sector and government organisations. She is passionate about directing finance towards innovative investments and businesses that can help create a more equitable and sustainable world. Rebecca holds an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and an Honours B.A in Economics from the University of Waterloo.

Camilla Parke
Trustee

Camilla’s current focus at Big Society Capital is supporting greater participation by individuals and communities in social investment. She also works on engaging corporates in social investment. Before joining Big Society Capital, Camilla participated in the social enterprise leadership programme On Purpose. Prior to this, she worked in the Innovation Lab at Nesta, and spent a number of years as a consultant advising clients on strategy, innovation, scenario planning and foresight.

Nina Roth
Trustee and Chair of the Council

Nina is a Director in BMO Global Asset Management’s Responsible Investment team. She joined in 2019, oversees social engagement efforts, and leads on ESG analysis and engagement for financials. Before joining BMO Nina worked at Germany’s development agency (GIZ), engaging emerging markets financial institutions and their regulators on sustainable finance. Nina also worked for UBS’s environmental and social risk (ESR) team in Hong Kong, Zurich, and New York, as well as for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, where she established the bank’s ESR framework. Nina holds a master’s degree in political science 

Vaidehee Sachdev
Trustee

Vaidhee leads Aviva Investors’ work on social issues in the ESG Liquid Markets team, with a focus on stewardship and integration on human and labour rights issues. Vaidehee worked in the NGO sector prior to joining Aviva Investors. This included developing a corporate reporting framework for workforce and labour practices at ShareAction, and delivering research on human rights abuses, corruption and minority groups for environmental and human rights organisations.

Maryann Umoren Selfe
Trustee

Maryann is a seasoned investment professional, writer, and executive with two decades in Private Banking & Wealth Management. Currently, Maryann Umoren Selfe is a Managing Director at Banque International à Luxembourg, Suisse where she serves as the Head of Investment Solutions. Prior to this, she spent 17 years at Credit Suisse in senior leadership functions focusing on European clients as well as covering Family Offices for the UK and Nordic markets as part of Credit Suisse’s Ultra High Net Worth Clients Group. Maryann is passionate about channelling capital into investments, business models, and entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental challenges, sustainably. Maryann is a British and Swiss national and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Cardiff University, U.K and is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. She is married with two children, lives in Zurich, Switzerland and loves alpine sports and teaching yoga in her spare time.

Frances Way
Trustee

Frances Way is Co-Chief Operating Officer at CDP. She joined CDP in 2007 to manage and expand the supply chain program and now oversees the delivery and strategy of all CDP’s programs. This involves working with both investor and company stakeholders on the issues of climate change, water and deforestation. Previously, Frances spent eight years in the finance sector, primarily in Dresdner Kleinwort’s Global Equities Division where she was responsible for communications between the European research and sales teams. Frances has an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, London.