Team

Program Development - LATAM

Angélica Varela

Professional in ecology, with a postgraduate degree in International Cooperation and Project Management for Development and a specialist in environmental planning and conservation of natural resources. More than 15 years of experience in managing development projects with international cooperation. Specific experience in productive projects, such as production in agroforestry systems of cocoa and coffee with rural communities and in strategic ecosystems in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, in addition to practical experience in other agricultural projects. Experience in the management of the technical and financial side of projects with international organizations and governments for rural development, alternative development, and conservation of natural areas.

CEO

Hank Cauley

Hank has a mix of corporate, academic, and NGO experiences over his 35-year career.  He has started or turned around seven organizations/major projects. Typically, he has worked to find common ground on social, environmental, and business issues.  He thrives in an environment requiring urgent, thoughtful action that documents results.

Farmer Outreach Coordinator

Jasmine Gibson

Jasmine is an environmental justice advocate with a background in stormwater infrastructure and horticulture science. Using her background as an integrated force, Jasmine brings attention to communication barriers and the social exclusion of green infrastructure in POC communities.

Africa NbS Project Analyst

Jonathan Abelheim

Program Manager – Africa NbS

Khulile M. Lamula

Khulile is a South African citizen, living in Durban. She is a skilled program manager with over 20 years of demonstrated experience in the development and management of complex nature-based solutions, and community-based programs in South Africa. She brings expertise in local economic development in the environmental sector, including SMME and co-operative development and incubation, and business skills training and capacity building in both urban and rural settings.

Creative Director

Lisa Cloete

As the Creative Advisor and Lead Storyteller, Lisa comes to N4J passionate about restoring and protecting our natural world and with a wide range of experience in the creative world of storytelling. She has worked in the art industry, publishing, education, and literary fields. She has also worked in Communications for an ocean-based NGO and runs her own small social media campaign for beach clean-ups in her city in South Africa.

Executive Vice President – Global Partnerships

Michael O’Brien-Onyeka

Michael brings a wealth of expertise and more than 25 years of experience to this position. Most recently, he was the Senior Vice President – Africa Field Division at Conservation International. In addition, Michael has held senior positions at Greenpeace Africa, Oxfam, the National Democratic Institute, the African Child Policy Forum, and Amnesty International.

Program Analyst

Michael Weiss

Michael has spent much of his life advocating, organizing, and working towards environmental justice. He has experience leading teams and initiatives on statewide and local policy change as well as stakeholder engagement across diverse audiences. He is informed by an education in Sustainable Development and a passion for economic democracy, climate justice, and decoloniality. Michael lives in western North Carolina and enjoys rock climbing and woodworking.

Chief People Officer

Missy Rosen

Results-driven HR professional in leading tactical and strategic consulting to create organizational development strategies to support key business objectives.  Background includes leadership and development of globally positioned teams.

Director, Africa Nature-based Solutions Program

Nicci Mander

Nicci is an environmental scientist with over 25 years of experience working at the nexus of nature, climate change, and social justice across sub-Saharan Africa. She’s provided strategic-level advisory services and planning support to several African governments, as well as designed, developed, and managed the delivery of large-scale community and climate change-focused programs in both urban and rural settings.

Director of Farmer Inclusion

Patrick Brown

Director, Funding Indigenous-led Conservation

Robin Barr

Robin brings nearly twenty years’ international experience establishing and facilitating successful teams, programs and projects for community empowerment and environmental conservation across international value chains. She has deep experience related to implementation of free, prior, informed consent (FPIC) processes and co-creation of development projects with communities and companies across SE Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Her work has included facilitating company-First Nation partnerships and IPCA development in British Columbia.

Managing Director - Canada

Steven Nitah

A former tribal chief and negotiator for the Łutsël K’é’ Dene First Nation and a specialist in Aboriginal and Treaty Constitutional Rights, Negotiations, and Relationship Building with indigenous peoples.

Director of Administration

Sunny Bain

Sunny has more than 28 years working as an Executive Assistant and 21 working as a Professional Virtual Assistant in her own business supporting her clients virtually.  Typically, she works with entrepreneurs and small business owners handling, among many things, office administration.

Chief of Staff

Tess Zakaras

Tess has over 12 years of experience in global development, focused on private sector engagement, partnership development, and natural resources management. She has designed, built, and managed cross-sector partnership initiatives with donors, international and local companies, and civil society organizations; developed new partnership tools and training materials; and written extensively about impact-driven collaboration.

Managing Director, USA

Zoraya Hightower

Zoraya has worked on environmental and social justice issues for over ten years – from renewable energy finance in Kosovo and fishery sustainability in the Philippines to curtailing no-cause evictions in Vermont. Zoraya also works as an equity consultant with the Creative Discourse Group and serves on the Burlington Vermont City Council after winning a seat as the first woman of color in 2020.