With thanks to Miriam Heale, Allen & York www.allen-york.com

Appointment of the month

Mahesh Ramanujam is the new president and CEO of the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). Ramanujam, who started out as a senior software engineer, joined USGBC in 2009 and served as chief information officer before becoming chief operating officer. In 2012, he was also named president of GBCI. Prior to joining USGBC, Ramanujam was COO of Emergys, a business technology-consulting firm in North Carolina.
“My passion for sustainability is a reflection of the culture in which I was raised growing up in India,” says Ramanujam, a native of Chennai. “We had to do more with less and I saw first-hand how communities can be transformed through meaningful investments and true sustainability.”
Ramanujam believes that the USGBC was established to make a difference. “That’s why it’s not just a job for me, it’s a commitment to both making the world a better place and influencing others to do better,” he explains. “In my new role, I will continue to foster that mindset as we enter a new era by implementing technologies and strategies that will continue to revolutionise the built environment.”


Mahesh Ramanujam

Insurance firm Aviva has appointed a director to lead the inclusion and diversity strategy across the group full time. Jan Gooding, who will take on her new role as global inclusion director in January, joined the company in 2008 and is currently group brand director. Prior to joining Aviva, she worked for British Gas.

“Building a strong culture of inclusive diversity is central to Aviva’s future success,” said Sarah Morris, chief people officer at the company. “Inclusion isn’t just about gender or ethnicity, or sexual orientation or age. It’s about ‘people’ and making sure we recognise the diverse talents, experiences and perspectives of everyone at Aviva. It makes good business sense.”
On her appointment, Gooding said: “The business case has been evidenced again and again across the world: people perform better at work when they can be themselves. Varied and balanced voices lead to improvements in creativity, productivity and profitability in every sector.”

 
 Jan Gooding

 

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed Mark Chambers as director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. Chambers most recently served as the director of sustainability and energy for the government of the District of Columbia.

Katharine Tapley is the new head of sustainable finance solutions, loans & specialised finance at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). Tapley joined ANZ in 2001 and has been a senior member of the sustainable finance solutions team since its formation in 2014.

The African Development Bank Group has hired Jennifer Blanke as vice-president agriculture, human and social development. Blanke, a renowned development economist, is currently chief economist and member of the executive committee of the World Economic Forum.

   
   Jennifer Blanke

 

Paul Druckman has been appointed to the board of the Financial Reporting Council. He led the International Integrated Reporting Council as CEO for five years and is chairman of The Clear Group, an independent UK insurance broker.

Aris Prepoudis will become the new CEO of RobecoSAM, the sustainable investment specialist, in January. A Swiss national, Prepoudis was most recently CEO of Vescore, an asset manager specialising in sustainable and quantitative investments.  

Jenny MacMahon has joined professional services firm WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff as director of environment, Australia New Zealand. MacMahon, who will be based in Sydney, was previously with AGL Energy.

The International Tropical Timber Organization has appointed Gerhard Dieterle as its new executive director. Dieterle, who is currently with the World Bank, has 35 years of experience in national and international forest policies, environmental and development policies, sustainable forest management, landscape management and conservation.

Robert G. Eccles, founding chairman of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the world’s leading academic authority on integrated reporting, has joined Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, as visiting professor of management practice.

The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a US clean energy think tank, has announced the newest members to join its board of trustees: Todd Stern, former US special envoy on climate change; Mary Powell, president and CEO of Green Mountain Power; and Elizabeth Sall, founder and president of Urban Labs LLC.

UK investment trust Impax Environmental Markets has appointed Aine Kelly as a director. Kelly is an independent consultant specialising in impact investing.

The UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has elected three new members to its board: Eva Halvarsson, chief executive officer, Second Swedish National Pension Fund; Hiromichi Mizuno, executive managing director and chief investment officer, Government Pension Investment Fund (Japan); and Peter Webster, director of international affairs, Vigeo Eiris. Anna Georgieva has also joined PRI as ‪manager, investment practices – fixed income. She was previously with environmental data company Trucost.‬‬‬‬‬‬

Australian ESG research house CAER has named Julia Leske as CEO. Leske has worked with CAER for almost a decade, most recently as business development manager.

 

Emma Hunt has joined the advisory board of Anglo-German ESG quant fund Arabesque. Hunt, who is co-head of EOS at Hermes Investment Management, becomes the tenth member of Arabesque’s advisory board of world-leading figures in sustainable development, and quantitative and behavioural finance.
 

Claire Manuel  CSR  appointments 

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