Global Greengrants Fund UK

Anna joins Global Greengrants UK with 15 years’ of fundraising experience, most recently leading the Philanthropy team at youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint. With a keen interest in the changing landscape of philanthropy, Anna is excited to connect with philanthropists who want to see tangible impact, and to be an advocate for the participatory grantmaking model. She is passionate about protecting the natural world, and ensuring that everyone can preserve and enjoy their local surroundings. With an interest in learning from the past, Anna has a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Sussex. She lives in the Kent countryside with her rescue cat Jimmy and enjoys hiking, reading, and the outdoors.

Before Joining Global Greengrants Fund UK, Betelhem worked for The Sutton Trust for five years. Her previous work experience principally includes providing a range of accounting services to educational charities. She also has extensive accounting experience in social care and international aid.

Beth brings over 13 years’ of experience in programming, partnerships and grant-making in the social change sector. She spent nearly a decade with the non-profit global agency, Restless Development, that supports the collective power of young people to create a more just and equal world. She led a range of international programmes and partnerships and held senior leadership positions in the UK and Zambia. Most recently, Beth established and led Comic Relief’s Government Partnerships team, delivering funding programmes on a range of issues in the UK and Africa, including women’s rights, urban development, and trade, enterprise and employment. Beth cares deeply about social justice and protecting our planet today, and for our future generations, and is forever-inspired by the beauty of the natural world. She holds a BSc in Zoology from Bristol University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Development Management from the Open University.

Originally starting out as a public health engineer in Malawi, Bruce most recently supported the Business Pursuit team at Voluntary Services Overseas before joining Global Greengrants Fund UK. Prior to this he was responsible for impact evaluation, research, and policy programmes across 26 country offices with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), cementing his belief in the importance of the co-creation of rigorous evidence to inform policy decisions to achieve social justice. Before IPA, Bruce worked with the International Rescue Committee in a variety of roles at regional and country level, managing programmes in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Myanmar, North Caucasus, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Thailand, and Yemen. Bruce holds an MSc from the Institute of Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from McMaster University in Ontario, and lives in Somerset in the UK with this family.

Carmel has over 15 years of experience in providing significant professional support in Operational and Administrative Structure and Development. She created several tools to help past affiliates evaluate operational requirements more accurately and improve the forecasting of finances. Throughout her career, she has strived to maintain the highest performance standards and a diverse skillset. Her experience has also allowed her to streamline high levels of administrative operations, project implementation, research, event management and extensive monitoring and evaluation throughout multi-faceted environments namely the nonprofit sector. She has catered to major companies, nonprofit organisations, and international aid agencies. She measures her success by her continuous relationships she has developed over the years whilst providing extensive support to such portfolios as sustainable development, human rights and higher education. She is a Certified Business Professional in Project Management and her professional accomplishment has been driven by her passion for ensuring equality amongst diverse and challenged cultures and the desire to impact positive change. She wants to continue to engage and support influential decision-makers and thought leaders who are striving to implement positive change and international public policies that can champion growth and development.

Flavia joined Global Greengrants Fund UK with nearly 20 years of experience in the public, charity, and non-profit sectors and has transitioned through various finance roles during her tenure since 2019. Her passion continues to be centred on global grassroots movements that support social, environmental and climate justice causes. She has previously worked for the Tony Blair Institute (formerly Africa Governance Initiative), Open Society Foundation, Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency, Publish What You Pay, and Refugee Action.

With a background in high-value funding partnerships within the community development and humanitarian sectors, Greg specialises in developing collaborative partnerships for strategic impact. Before joining Global Greengrants Fund UK, Greg most recently worked for International Rescue Committee UK as Head of Trusts & Foundations. He has a strong personal interest in sustainable agriculture, climate justice and the food sovereignty movement, and holds an undergraduate degree from Oxford University and an MA from SOAS.

Joyce believes in the power of human agency and ingenuity. Her work exists at the intersection of human capital, mindset, and finance. She is a senior charity sector leader and an ACCA qualified accountant with experience working with finance, IT, governance, operations, and people teams. Having played a pivotal role in the establishment of the first Civil Rights organisation in the UK – the Black Equity Organisation (BEO), Joyce brings expertise in charities leadership including organisational culture, people strategy and financial leadership in the racial justice space through trauma-informed and assets-based approach, and Black disability justice. Her previous roles include Director of Finance, People and Facilities at SignHealth, a deaf-led charity and Director of Finance and Resources at Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Joyce also sits on the board of ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) as a trustee, treasurer and chair of finance and audit committee, and on the board of Aleto (A Legacy for Tomorrow) – a social mobility charity which gives opportunities to young people with high potential from tough backgrounds. Joyce is a regular contributor to IFL (Inspiring Financial Leadership) course - designed to enhance leadership and people skills of financial professionals in the charity sector. She is an active member of the Charity Finance Group (CFG) and one of its first recipients of the IFL award. Joyce is also an Aspen UK Fellow.

Michelle is a mission-driven non-profit sector professional dedicated to promoting inclusion and equitable access. With over a decade of expertise in project and partnerships management, she has facilitated and operationalised global educational and environmental initiatives for philanthropic and corporate foundations in humanitarian contexts. Michelle is passionate about fostering collaboration, innovation, and sustainable development to create meaningful change for disadvantaged communities.

Natalie is a non-profit professional with experience in grant making, operations, monitoring, and evaluation across a variety of different organisations in the UK and globally. Prior to joining Global Greengrants Fund UK, Natalie managed ProVeg International’s Grants Programme, to support non-profits and individuals worldwide working towards food systems change. Deeply motivated by environmental justice, food systems transformation, community building, and organisational development, she also serves on the board of several non-profits to support their growth and development toward being as effective as possible.

Dr. Nisha Owen is a conservationist with almost two decades of experience championing locally-led efforts to value and conserve the natural world for the benefit of communities and future generations. Having played an integral role in the rapid establishment and growth of charitable foundation On the Edge, Nisha brings expertise in charity leadership and organisational development, including exploring philanthropic best practices. Her previous roles at the Zoological Society of London included significantly growing their flagship EDGE of Existence Programme, and industry-leading collaborations with National Geographic and United for Wildlife, including developing the largest and only award-winning online learning conservation courses in the world. Nisha leads an IUCN expert group on the tree of life (IUCN SSC Phylogenetic Diversity Task Force), which engaged with the development of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s new Global Biodiversity Framework. Nisha also sits on the Conservation Advisory Panel of the World Land Trust and serves as Trustee for London Learning Foundation, improving the wellbeing of disadvantaged communities around London. She holds a MSc, and a PhD from the University of Leeds on human-wildlife conflict in south India.

Rowena (she/her) joins Global Greengrants Fund UK from a background in climate and social justice philanthropy. She has worked for the past decade within or alongside a variety of funders, particularly private trusts and foundations in programmatic, Board and consultancy positions. Rowena is excited to champion the unique power shifting approach that Global Greengrants takes to grantmaking and to bring in further funds to support Global Greengrants' network working across the intersections of social justice and environmentalism. She lives in North Yorkshire with her partner Sam and beloved cat Mrs Grace Purrsley.

Originally hailing from Mexico, Sergio has lived in the United Kingdom since 2016. He was working for the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) before joining us. He holds a BSc in Economics from the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM), an MSc in Economic History from the LSE, and a diploma to teach Spanish as a Foreign Language (DIPELE) from UNAM. He has an interest in languages and traveling and also speaks French, Portuguese, and German. His professional experience is within hospitality and philanthropy in Higher Education. He is passionate about causes that can improve well-being and the environment.