Advisory panel
Our Advisory Panel members provide Diversity in Sustainability (DiS) with strategic advice, representing the wisdom of many lived and professional experiences to help us build an intersectional and intergenerational approach to our organization. These individuals have experience in human rights, social justice, politics, responsible investment, diversity, equity and inclusion, education, Indigenous relations, environmental law, civil rights, communications, sustainability consulting, organizational development, and coalition building.
Christine Bader
Christine Bader is the author of The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil. She lives in McMinnville, Oregon, where she serves on the city’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee; teaches in Linfield University's master of science in business program; and coaches girls high school rugby. Her past positions include director of social responsibility at Amazon; manager of policy development for BP in Jakarta, Shanghai, and London; advisor to the U.N. Special Representative for business and human rights; and contributing writer for The Atlantic. She is also a half-Filipina, TED talker, and mother of twins.
Read more about Christine in her Colour Commentary profile.
Dr. Priya Bala-Miller
Dr. Priya Bala-Miller is the Founder and CEO of Palmyra Partners. Palmyra Partners was created to catalyze innovative partnerships that dismantle barriers for justice, equity and inclusion in natural resource governance and sustainable development. Priya has worked on sustainable development for two decades across three continents, in collaboration with NGOs, UN Agencies, the private sector, academia and trade unions. She holds a PhD in Political Science, and brings specialist expertise in gender equality, human rights, resource governance and sustainable finance.
Read more about Priya in her Colour Commentary profile.
Talynn English
Talynn English is a recent graduate from the University of British Columbia with a background in Political Science and Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice. Her involvement in Diversity in Sustainability is driven by the belief that sustainability work is entangled with other areas of justice including racial, gender, and economic justice; and therefore requires an intersectional systems-change approach to address gaps. Talynn finds joy in engaging with community grassroots organizing and building relationships through art and food.
Veena Jayadeva
Veena Jayadeva is a sustainability leader with 20+ years of impact experience at international organizations, nonprofits, and the private sector. Veena is currently Head of Enterprise ESG at Guardian Life, supporting the company’s strategic priorities and leading their expanding environmental, social, and governance efforts. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Information and Operations Officer and was formerly Guardian’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Prior to Guardian, she served as Vice President at Grameen America and Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). She spent the early part of her career in international development, microfinance, and CSR in the United States and India at organizations including the World Bank, United Nations, and International Monetary Fund. Veena holds a M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management, a M.A. in International Economics and a B.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, and participated in Columbia Business School's Senior Leadership Program for nonprofit executives. Veena is a member of the Board of Directors of Global Impact, the Board of Directors of BRAC USA, and the Corporate Leadership Council of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities.
Katie Kross
Katie Kross is a sustainability educator, career expert, and thought leader who is passionate about inspiring more professionals—and more diverse professionals—to enter sustainability, climate, and clean energy careers. She directs educational and extracurricular programs for students as the managing director of the Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and is the author of Profession and Purpose: A Resource Guide for MBA Careers in Sustainability. Katie has a BA from Davidson College and an MBA from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Farron Rickerby-Nishi
Farron is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia and the University of Oxford who lives and learns on unceded Coast Salish lands. Farron’s work and research centre on climate justice, environmental governance, political ecology, and sustainable food systems. As a Japanese-Canadian woman and activist, Farron is motivated to approach systemic issues through community empowerment, intersectional thinking, and equity-oriented solutions. Farron is drawn to Diversity in Sustainability as she believes that capacity building and uplifting diverse voices are critical for addressing complex challenges. Farron loves art and nature and can often be found hiking, foraging, creating music, and painting.
Sabrina Shadie
A life-long dedicated equity champion, Sabrina works to the principles of ‘People Care, Earth Care and Fair Shares’. Her multi-award-winning consultancy provides Ethics and Equality Strategies to enhance and elevate organisations.
Her background in community engagement, inclusive education and behaviour management in the UK public and voluntary sectors, has enabled her to create safe and inclusive learning environments. Her commitment to nurturing development and growth of diverse individuals and changing wider organisational cultures has led her to invest her time in regional and national taskforces.
Sabrina advises several diversity focused networks, including the national LINK EDI working group (a collective of the UK’s environmental charities), on implementing their shared inclusion strategy. Using her education and coaching background, Sabrina invests in young professionals from diverse backgrounds through developing inclusive partnerships, showcasing learning and instigating equity approaches to engagement and EDI strategies.
Moses Williams
Moses is currently the Regional DEIB Manager (EMEA Region) for ERM, the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion has featured heavily in his roles, from studying Politics & International Relations in university and getting involved with various political and non-political initiatives on and off campus. Moses then worked as a police officer in London, spending a large portion of his time implementing and leading DEI initiatives for the force, creating and running an ERG, and focusing on policy, outreach, recruitment, strategy, and training.
He became the force representative for the National Black Police Officer’s Association sitting as an NEC member and becoming the first chair of the REACH network. Moses then went to Entain, launching the company's first employee network for women and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. In his spare time, Moses loves to eat, spend time with family and friends, play sports and watch movie.
Carissa Wong
Carissa Wong is an international environmental lawyer with expertise in alternative dispute resolution and the intersection of equity and the environment. She assists First Nations in facilitated discussions supporting land claim negotiations in the Northwest Territories, and is contributing author to the book “Children’s Rights and the Environment” published by Cambridge University Press. As an Associate Fellow with the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, she has published and spoken extensively on water resources and Indigenous customary law. As a Director of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers in Ontario, she is founding Chair of its Women’s Committee. In 2019 she was named an Emerging Leader at the Action Chinese Canadians Together Summit.
Zubair Zakir
Zubair Zakir is founder and CEO of Anthropocene.io, a London-based specialist advisory firm. Over the past 16 years Zubair has advised hundreds of public, private and non-profit organisations across the value chain of carbon markets globally. A self-described ‘tree-hugger in a suit’, Zubair has worked with governments as well as Indigenous tribes, to design and deploy policy and finance mechanisms toward climate mitigation and development outcomes.
As a second generation British-Pakistani Muslim with ADHD, and proud uncle to 22 nieces and nephews, he is conscious of the need to share lived experiences which help eliminate barriers and ease the path for others to follow.
Zubair holds a Bachelors degree in Geography from Kings College, London, a Masters in European Business Management from ESCP-Europe and has undertaken executive training and further postgraduate studies at London Business School and Harvard Extension School. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London and the Royal Society of Arts.
Advisory Panel Alumni
We would like to thank and acknowledge the contributions of our Advisory Panel alumni:
Rosie Towe
Kevin P.C.J. D’Souza
Andrew Gonzales
Rekha Grennan
Shefaly Gunjal
Charlotte King
Beth Knight
Sandip Lalli
Kiana Michaan
Image credit: Caleb Woods