Meet the staff
ICLEI has more than 260 staff in 22 offices around the world, offering expertise that positions local and regional governments to advance sustainable urban development along our five pathways.
ICLEI has more than 260 staff in 22 offices around the world, offering expertise that positions local and regional governments to advance sustainable urban development along our five pathways.
Gino Van Begin has been the distinguished Secretary General of ICLEI since 2013. Before that, he served as ICLEI Regional Director for Europe and as Deputy Secretary General. He has ensured ICLEI performs as a responsible, forward-looking, not-for-profit local and regional government organization serving its Members worldwide. Gino Van Begin graduated with a law degree from the University of Brussels as a lawyer and speaks Dutch, French, English, German and Russian. For more information, please visit his full profile here.
Emani works with all the offices in Asia, to ensure cohesion in implementation of ICLEI’s agendas and spearhead advocacy activities in the region. Emani has a background in environmental management and planning and more than twenty years of experience in climate change policy and planning, local governance, renewable energy, systems management and auditing.
Guilherme supports and guides all activities that fall under the ICLEI Resilient Cities strategy. He has more than 10 years of experience working with local governments and cities related organizations on projects supporting cities and states to improve their urban infrastructure and greening of major events. Guillherme previously worked for ICLEI on energy and greenhouse gas inventory-related projects. He has a background in international relations and global affairs.
The resilient cities team manages and connects to a variety of topics that fall under the broader umbrella of resilience. This includes urban risk, resilient urban logistics, financing the resilient city, climate insurance urban agriculture and food, smart infrastructure and other issues, in coordination with other World Secretariat and worldwide teams. They convene the Annual Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation held annually in Bonn.
Maryke directs the global low carbon strategy at ICLEI and is the Director of the Bonn Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting (carbonn Center). She oversees global programs and projects, working closely with national and subnational governments on integrated climate action. Linked to this, Maryke also supports ICLEI's global climate advocacy work. Specializing in local climate action, sustainable energy and energy security, she has over 20 years of experience in the field.
The low carbon team provides services to local and regional governments tackling climate change and air pollution, guiding their step-by-step approach towards carbon neutrality, energy security, and improved air quality - all leading to multiple and diverse benefits and sectoral impacts. This multi-disciplinary team guides low emission development and action planning, supports greenhouse gas emissions accounting and reporting, improves relevant standards, explores access to finance for cities and regions, and builds capacity on effective multilevel governance to achieve climate targets. To this end a range of services, tools and guidance is provided, including global platforms to report and seek access to finance, underpinned by climate advocacy to mobilize ambitious, necessary climate action around the globe.
Roman manages the smart cities and city-business collaboration practice at ICLEI. Enabling cities to navigate the smart cities space and to evaluate solutions to sustainability challenges through demand-driven interaction with the private sector. He also supports industrial legacy cities transitioning towards sustainability through the Urban Transitions Alliance. Roman has a background in sustainability science and East Asian politics.
The smart cities team guides local and regional governments towards looking at the big picture of digitization, circular economy and urban transitions management to sustainability - using resource efficiency, good urban governance, sustainability principles as a reflective lens to evaluate the benefits and risks of technologies and innovation for urban development. Their systems thinking approach ensures that the adoption of technologies and innovation in cities is people-focused, resource conscious, prioritizes environmental sustainability over business interests and leads to a safe, inclusive and sustainable future. The team also helps local governments navigate digital transition and other urban development trends by building strategies and developing leadership capacities in line with the SDGs and the Planetary Boundaries.
Tsu-Jui leads the Sustainable Urban Mobility / EcoMobility Team and coordinates ICLEI interoffice cooperation. He oversees the implementation of the projects and guilds cities to provide liveable, accessible and equitable urban mobility for both citizens and freight through the EcoMobility Alliance and the Ecologistics initiative. Tsu-Jui has a background in transport and city planning.
ICLEI’s EcoMobility team supports local and regional governments to provide safe, affordable, accessible, resilient, low-emission and overall sustainable mobility to fulfill the mobility needs of all people and securing a high quality of urban life while respecting the limits of one planet. EcoMobility gives priority to walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility and helps to reduce the dependency on privately-owned vehicles. EcoLogistics promotes the transportation of goods with minimized impacts on air quality, health, safety, and GHG emissions.
Tori supports the Strategy and partnerships team through knowledge management and transfer to enable city-to-city exchange. Her work focuses on strategic planning, multi-stakeholder planning processes, network management and social innovation. She has a background in environmental policy with expertise in climate change, food systems, governance and urban planning. Tori worked as a consultant serving clients from local municipalities and national governments to private universities and research institutions.
The strategy and partnerships team facilitates dialogue among the World Secretariat, Regional Offices and key stakeholders, linking thematic expertise around the world, deepening alliances and driving the development and delivery of new relationships and initiatives. Together, we actualize the shared vision of our global experts and local and regional governments.
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Yunus leads the global policy and advocacy team at ICLEI. Since 2013, he has led global advocacy towards international bodies and multilateral agreements. Yunus helped establish the Bonn Center for Local Climate Action and Reporting – carbonn – and served as the Director of the Secretariat for the World Mayors Council on Climate Change. He has a background in environmental engineering.
The global advocacy and policy team seeks to build an international policy environment that strengthens subnational government capacity and supports urban sustainability and climate action. Through their efforts, the team has helped reshape the global sustainability landscape where subnational governments are recognized, engaged and resourced.
Jisun supports coordination of ICLEI's global policy and advocacy on climate change. Jisun is actively coordinating ICLEI’s engagement at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She conducts advocacy, represents the ICLEI network in climate negotiations, and has regular communication with the UNFCCC in support of ICLEI's focal point role of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA).
Eva leads membership and governance at ICLEI, guiding membership policy and communications and supporting engagement with ICLEI governance bodies. Eva has experience in human resources and talent management, conference planning and training facilitation. She has a background in economics and business management.
The global membership and governance team engages direct outreach to Members and Members‐to‐be and leads the development and implementation of membership plans for current Members and prospective Members. The team coordinates of all details of membership meetings and receptions.
Ariel Dekovic is a nonprofit marketing and program development expert with a strong track record of organizational management and community engagement. For over 15 years, she has worked strategically to raise the impact and brand awareness for global organizations in such diverse fields as sustainability, food policy, water management, arts and education. Ariel has an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a BA from Vassar College.
The global communications team is responsible for leading and coordinating communications across ICLEI offices. The team plays a key role in strategic communications alongside the global advocacy and policy team. The team uses communications to reach a diverse global audience and is responsible for brand positioning, multimedia production and media relations.
Joseph leads the ICLEI Global Capacity Center. He manages the strategic development of data and knowledge management systems used by the global organization, and advises on the development and use of sustainability indicators and performance reporting systems. Joseph has also coordinated several of global conferences at ICLEI. He has a background in environmental governance.
The ICLEI Capacity Center serves key organizational functions for the World Secretariat and the entire global organization, including global data and knowledge management and research. The Capacity Center also coordinates local ICT services to all offices and organizes key global events.
Sunandan leads the global projects team and coordinates the biodiversity work. He manages and supports the implementation of key projects funded by the International Climate Initiative run by the German government. He previously worked in the ICLEI South Asia Secretariat and developed the urban resilience program. Sunandan has a background in ecology with over 20 years of experience across a range of sectors from rural to urban domains.
The Global Projects team supports, raises funding for, manages, and implements multi-office projects with the aim of profiling ICLEI globally as a hub of expertise. In addition, it explores and develops new, cross-cutting, emerging thematic areas and related fund raising opportunities.
Since our founding, ICLEI Secretary Generals and Deputy Secretary Generals have directed the organization and guided our development into the leading global network we are today.
Former executive managementJoining ICLEI means connecting to more than 1,500 local and regional governments as well as technical experts and a diversity community of partners worldwide. ICLEI Members actively engage with their peers through conferences, workshops, webinars and online platforms and take advantage of our connections with businesses, financial institutions and other implementation partners that help strengthen innovation and resourcing.
Got any questions? I will be happy to assist. Please contact me at iclei(at)iclei.org
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Associate Partnership is available to non-governmental organizations, universities, state and national government agencies and not-for-profit research institutions. The purpose of Associate Partnership is to facilitate dialogues between local governments and these partners, to provide knowledge transfer in line with ICLEI's Mission and Charter, and an avenue for which partners can support ICLEI's work and mandate.
HARNESS the power of the ICLEI Network!" Governments need to give (the sense of) direction, as Business leaders we don't make the wind, we sail the boats. So policy should set the winds in the right directions if you want the boat going fast to the right harbor."Philippe Joubert Senior Advisor, World Business Council
on Sustainable Development
Got any questions? I will be happy to assist. Please contact me at iclei(at)iclei.org