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Our Team

To create comprehensive sustainability solutions and navigate complex transitions, you need the right people who have done it before. 

Meet your partners in sustainable and responsible solutions.


Maia Chiara Rossi

(she/her)

Founder, Managing Director and Senior Expert

Founder and Managing Director Maia has guided Climate Horizons from inception to today, twists and turns included. Having worked in the sector before it was cool – and climate anxiety was discussed – Maia holds more than 20 years of experience across the spectrum of ESG and in climate finance, biodiversity, training and facilitation, and climate change strategies.

Her career trajectory has taken her to wherever ESG concerns are found, from global governments and companies, consulting firms, government agencies, intergovernmental organisations, IFC banks and financial services, development institutions, the construction sector, and the oil and gas industry. Appreciating the variations of life, Maia has squeezed in food entrepreneurship (don’t ask), two children, an ongoing PhD at the University of Bath, and a soft spot for grounding technical jargon in the real world whilst being on the UNDP Roster of Experts and a certified 14001 and 9001 auditor. 

She’s based between Italy and the United Kingdom.

Anthony Dane

(he/him)

Senior Partner & Just Transition Expert

Anthony is a South African decarbonisation, climate risk, and transition specialist entrepreneur with over 15 years of sustainability experience and technical expertise. 

In addition to a later-career specialisation in just transition planning, Anthony specialises in climate change strategies and scenarios and greenhouse gas emissions accounting, bringing into the team extra-special work experiences.  His global career has included collaborating with various governments and respective agencies, companies, and the private sector. 

Known for his ability to simplify complex, technical material and for saying the right thing at the right time in a workshop, Anthony is found in Cape Town, South Africa.

Jéssica Vandal

(she/her)

Project Lead

An early member of Climate Horizons, Jéssica is an accomplished Brazilian environmental and sustainability professional, Chevening Scholar, and a really, really good project manager.

Her five years in the industry have gathered experience in resource management, environmental management and auditing, ESG and sustainability strategy & reporting, carbon and environmental accounting, and climate finance, having worked in Sweden, Angola, and her native Brazil and speaking Portuguese, English, Spanish and nearly enough French. Did we mention accomplished? 

Based predominantly in Porto, Portugal 

Alessandro Colombo

(he/him)

Senior Project Manager

 Furthering our Portuguese presence, Alessandro is an experienced technical sustainability professional with over 10 years under his belt. Not only adept at energy transition, climate change adaptation and urban transformation consulting, Alessandro also brings strong project management expertise and a PhD in Public Policies to the table.

He can be found in Lisbon, Portugal.

Ines Miguel Cardoso

(she/her)

Climate & Data Analyst

Every team needs someone who loves data (and is a brilliant consultant with a degree in Psychology). 

Ines combines her Bachelor’s in Psychology, training in Computer Programming, and MSc in Sustainability Management and Innovation to accelerate social and planetary good at Climate Horizons; aka, she applies her savvy in data science and programming, ESG reporting, life-cycle assessments, corporate sustainability consulting, big data analytics and modelling, stakeholder engagement and research. 

A native Portuguese speaker, Ines is London-based.

Beatrice Pedretti

(she/her)

Consultant

Reinforcing our Italian contingent is Bea.

Adept in both academia and industry, Bea holds a Bachelors in Psychology and Communication, a Masters in Science Communication, a Masters in Sustainability Management, and is currently working on her Masters in Applied Cognitive Neuroscience alongside her professional career (talk about collecting accolades!).

After working on European cooperation projects and in the world of ESG ratings, she joined Climate Horizons with the intention of using her skills to make a positive impact on the planet.

She can currently be found in the mountains of Northern Italy.

Jashna Pillay

(she/her)

Consultant

Jashna is a talented sustainability professional with over 4 years of experience in the private and public sectors, across both Europe and South Africa.

Her strong background in environmental science and interdisciplinary research, along with her commitment to sustainable, equitable development make her a fantastic addition to the team.

Jashna can be found in Johannesburg, South Africa

Matt Hildyard

(he/him)

Consultant

Matt is a UK-based Consultant with Climate Horizons alongside studying for an MSc in Humanitarianism, Conflict and Development at the University of Bath following a successful undergrad in Politics with International Relations. 

As a former Lead Project Manager for a trauma-informed Minecraft server, Matt brings an empathetic intersectional systems thinking approach to the team and his work (yes, even for data verification and analytics!). A former UK Ultimate Frisbee national champion, Matt complements our team with an innate flexibility and interest in the intricacies of systems and behaviours.

He can be found in Stoke-on-Trent, the United Kingdom.

Giulia Corinaldi

(she/her)

Collaborator

Giulia is our ‘S’ of ESG expert (do get her started on gender and responsible business issues). 

With an impressive background (ahem, 20 years) in leading teams and projects in international philanthropies, Giulia excels in building diverse teams, stakeholder engagement, and tackling inequality and human rights issues. Originally from Milan, her clients include former Presidents and governments, High Net Worth Individuals, corporations, and activists.

As a former UK Chamber of Commerce Top Italians Under 40, Giulia brings an entrepreneurial spirit to our team; she played a crucial role in establishing the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (and acting as Interim CEO), the Inclusive Economies programme for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and is a  former Chair of the Board of Value for Women. Unsurprisingly, she’s passionate about mentorship, whole-career training and female empowerment!

Quite settled in London, United Kingdom

Anyse Pereira

(she/her)

Collaborator

Anyse is a biodiversity, indigenous and local knowledge specialist, advocate for STEM education (might be because she’s a former Mandela Washington Fellow?), and Climate Horizons collaborator. 

Holding a PhD in Tropical Plant Knowledge and Management and a background in biodiversity conservation, stakeholder and community engagement, project management, and research, Anyse has worked largely in the private sector and with UNDP and UNESCO. She’s passionate about science communication (and good at it!) and finding the sunshine in Europe. 

Based between Cabo Verde and the Netherlands.

Camila Estella

(she/her)

Collaborator

Camila is an English-Spanish certified translator and international Law graduate and provides part-time research, law, and translation services to Climate Horizons (English, Spanish, and Portuguese-speaking). 

Camila is a Legal Programme Officer in civil societies and pro-bono international legal services, with a background in entrepreneurship, translation, and interpretation. An avid volunteer, she specialises in the third sector and human rights in providing law and translation services. 

She is located in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Christina Schild

(she/her)

Collaborator

Christina is a South African-based communications and social consultant within Climate Horizons’ network.  

With an academic background in anthropology, Christina aligns her experience in communications and marketing with a background in research, environmental democracy, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement. She’s worked within the non-profit, academic, private and public sectors, plus a few seasons at sea (i.e. a lot of time spent typing and swaying) and currently supports Climate Horizons in communications, social media and project-based support (climate finance, anticipatory policy, sustainable development and stakeholder engagement). 

Based in Cape Town, South Africa (though more ocean than city over the weekend)

Fun fact: Christina & Jessica missed each other by one year at the University of Edinburgh when doing their respective Master of Science degrees there!

Kate Larsen

(she/her)

Collaborator

Kate A Larsen is a Chinese speaking business human rights and environmental in supply chains specialist with over 20 years of sustainability experience.

Kate has worked in leading brands such as Burberry and Charlotte Tilbury, with startups such as Cleanhub, for The World Bank and Human Rights Watch, and in China and Asia with NGOs, suppliers, factories, and workers. Kate has deep understanding of how to incorporate worker voice, and in engaging suppliers on labour, safety, environmental sustainability, and Scope 3 emissions reductions.

Kate brings passion for global footprint reductions and through a clean and just transition.

Kongkona Sarma

(she/her)

Collaborator

Kongkona is a sustainable investment expert integrating ESG concerns into strategies & investments, plus providing exceptional technical assistance and support to Climate Horizons on Just Transition, sustainable and climate finance projects. 

In the provision of financial inclusion, climate finance, impact measurement and bespoke technical support, Kongkona has worked with the private sector (Financial Institutions, MNCs) and public sector (governments, donor agencies) in Africa and Asia, as well as the likes of the British International Investment (BII)’s portfolio of Financial Services Group (FSG) investees across various asset classes- Debt, Equity, Funds & Intermediated Credit to ensure impactful development investments.

Lauren Burnhill

(she/her)

Collaborator

Lauren is an expert advisor to Climate Horizons on sustainable finance, gender and social inclusion, and financing for inclusive growth and resiliency. 

Her work focuses on designing and successfully implementing strategies, policies, products and metrics for achieving financial, social and environmental goals across multiple asset classes, sectors and geographies, with emphasis on inclusive micro, small and medium-enterprise (MSME) finance. She serves on the Boards of Just Share South Africa and Shared Assets UK and is an independent Investment Committee member of the Helenos Fund, an ICFA and an executive coach and speaker. 

Based in Porto, Portugal.

Lauren Hermanus

(she/her)

Collaborator

Lauren is a Climate Horizons collaborator, South African sustainable development researcher, and practitioner. 

The former Deputy Director of the Green Economy for the Western Cape Government (South Africa), Lauren is a specialist in the green economy, urban resilience, energy innovation, project management and implementing Complexity Thinking in development. Her work has spanned the public and private sectors in leading policy, partnerships, strategy and programme development. 

Based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Luke Moore

(he/him)

Collaborator

Luke is a South African climate change specialist – and supplier of superb banter – with nearly 15 years of experience in mainstreaming adaptation (within 40-plus developing economies). 

His expertise and thematic focus lie in climate finance and readiness, particularly strengthening adaptative capacity and resilience in climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, health, infrastructure, and development aid. Across this, Luke has drawn from his social science background by working at the science-policy-society interface to frame the project interventions within local ecologies, political economies, and social contexts.

As an independent consultant since 2020 and associate with several international organisations, Luke has supported clients and partners in the private, public, research, NGO, and multi-lateral sectors to deliver impactful multi-disciplinary projects, programmes, and research. 

Happily based in Cape Town, South Africa (when not travelling for work or fishing)

Yamila Belén Pierdominici

(she/her)

Collaborator

Yamila is an Attorney at Law and a certified Translator and Interpreter (English – Spanish) who provides project-based and translation support to Climate Horizons. 

A current teacher assistant in Environmental Law with the University of Buenos Aires, Yamila has experience across environmental law and related technical documents, workshop facilitation, consultancy, sustainability reporting, academia, and research. She currently volunteers for the Institute of Studies and Public Policies Development and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rebecca Hayter

(she/her)

Collaborator

Rebecca has been creative always. With her ADHD, she tends to hyper-focus on illustration, graphic design and branding. She visited factory farms once. Her dad sometimes hunts, but not much anymore, she doesn’t think he actually enjoys it. She believes that the plant-based diet is the solution to most, if not all, worldly issues. Sometimes she messes up and eats something with dairy but it’s difficult living in an omnivorous world. Bex loves creating things with her hands, things that she thinks are beautiful. Others seem to think they’re beautiful too, which makes her happy. She believes teaching is the most important job in the world but would never have the patience herself. She thinks that the word and idea of ‘inconvenience’ is dangerous. She thinks that censorship is extremely dangerous and inconvenient. A little mangy puppy from the Hogsback forest, in South Africa, adopted Bex and they live together now, in harmony. Her name is Looter. Bex fears the day Looter leaves her. Bex has the most supportive and wonderful family – they are everything and all that matters to her. She has a combination of her mum and dad’s sense of humour and social tendencies, her mum’s fierceness, her dad’s chin. Her dad resembles a gorilla. Her sister is a teacher, who turned Bex into an aunt. The ocean is where she feels the most amount of freedom. She has a feeling her passion is music. Bex used to play trombone. One day she’ll pick her up again, Bex promises. She loves to sing, but when she do, she moves her face weirdly for that jazzy tone. She knows her purpose is using her skills to create positive change in the world, especially making those who can’t speak for themselves happy.

You will mostly find Bex in Cape Town, South Africa.

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