Mankurwana Mahlase is the 24/7 Carbon Free Energy Manager within C40’s Energy and Buildings Programme. In this role, Mankurwana supports a pilot African city with technical assistance for developing a 24/7 carbon-free energy system.
Prior to joining C40, Mankurwana worked at the Palladium Group, where she was the South Africa-UK PACT portfolio manager. In this role, she provided support for a grant programme of over $10 million covering project management, programme reporting and stakeholder engagement. Mankurwana holds a Master’s degree in Environmental & Geographical Science from the University of Cape Town.
Marcus serves as Climate Finance Pipeline Development Manager for the C40 and GCoM Joint Programme. He has a strong background in climate finance, having gained over five years of experience across roles in research and consulting. Most recently, he worked at E Co., a small consultancy based in London focused on all elements of project design. He has led the design and proposal development of multiple projects now approved by the Green Climate Fund across a broad range of sectors and geographies. He has previously worked at the Climate Institute, where he was responsible for producing research papers and policy briefs.
Marcus loves playing and watching all sports and is a long-suffering Arsenal fan.
Cristina Argudo serves as C40’s Deputy Regional Director in Latin America, after having worked as Vice Chair Engagement Manager and City Adviser in Quito for the development of the city’s Climate Action Plan.
Before C40, Cristina was an environmental analyst in the climate change department of the Secretary of Environment in Quito where she worked very closely with sustainability and climate change city networks, tracking the city´s international commitments and facilitating access to technical assistance programs and finance for the implementation of climate action. Cristina has additional experience in project management and coordination working in international organizations such as the UNDP, and local NGOs.
Cristina holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh, a BSc in Biology and Environmental Sciences from Trent University in Canada and a graduate specialization degree in Cities, Climate Change and Leadership at FLACSO University in Ecuador.
Marian Urizar Zamora is the Senior Programme Officer of the Urban Climate Action Programme, Climate Action Implementation (UCAP CAI) for the LATAM region and is based in Mexico City. In this role, she supports the implementation and coordination of the CAI programme across the region: Bogotá, Guadalajara, Lima, Medellín and Mexico City.
Prior to joining C40, Marian spent several years working in international urban development and public policy. She coordinated the sustainable urban development portfolio and co-led the UK – Mexico Future Cities Programme of the Mexico Prosperity Fund for the British Embassy in Mexico City (UK FCDO).
In the private sector, Marian worked in the electric mobility and tech industry, where she conducted public policy and public affairs work, managed policy-led projects and supported the consolidation of a regional policy team. Marian has also worked as a consultant for clients, including the Inter-American Development Bank and UN Habitat.
Marian holds an MSc in Cities and Global Development from the University of Sheffield (UK) and a BA in International Relations from Tecnológico de Monterrey (México). She also holds PRINCE2 certifications in project management.
Mariana serves as ZEBRA Project Officer and is responsible for the many knowledge sharing activities, publications and events of the ZEBRA Partnership, as well as updates of the E-Bus Radar.
Prior to joining C40, Mariana worked for the UK Government in Brazil, acting as the programme manager for the Bilateral Future Cities Programme, a programme by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). She also worked for the UK Department for International Trade supporting the Defence and Security Industry in Brazil.
Mariana holds a BA in International Relations from São Paulo State University (UNESP) and is currently finalising an MBA in Sustainable Cities from Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ). She can speak Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
Marie-Josée Houénou is the City Adviser for Abidjan.
Before joining C40, she worked as a senior legal consultant on the implementation of the Nationally-Determined Contribution (NDC) in Côte d’Ivoire focusing on the legal, institutional and financial climate change framework. Prior to that, she supported francophone negotiators during international negotiations – Conference of Parties (COP), related to climate change and biodiversity, in the Francophone Institute for Sustainable Development (IFDD), in Quebec. She has been involved in environmental projects with World Resources Institute as a fellow, with UNESCO, the Ivorian Ministry of Environment, and NGOs.
Passionate about development and empowering communities, she implemented environmental activities related to public sensitization, women and youth engagement, climate change and green initiatives in Africa and other global south countries. These include the Green Pepite Community and the LCOY, local conference of youth on climate change which was accredited by YOUNGO, the youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
She holds a Master’s degree in International and Comparative Environmental Law, a Master’s degree in Business Administration, and a Bachelor’s degree in business law from Universities of Limoges and Poitiers in France. Marie-Josee is a recipient of the Mandela Washington Fellowship in Public management in University of Madison, and a beneficiary of the international volunteer program of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
Marina serves as Knowledge Manager for the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) and is responsible for the creation and delivery of training modules, tools, resources, and guides to support the mainstreaming of equity and inclusion (E&I) throughout the CFF’s work.
Prior to joining C40, Marina was the Technical Director of Despacio.org in Colombia, where she led consultancy projects that promote urban development and sustainable urban transport in Latin America. She co-founded the Mujeres en Movimiento – Women in Motion (WIM) Initiative in 2018 and has coordinated it since then to strengthen women’s leadership through training, network building, and research. She has also worked in Brazil at FGV Projetos and ISER on regional and participatory urban planning.
Marina holds an M.Sc. in Urban Management from the Technische Universität Berlin, and a BA in International Relations from PUC-Rio.
Marinder serves as the Global Operations Manager in C40’s Corporate Services team and is based in the London office. She manages special projects required across C40’s global operations. Previously, Marinder supported C40’s legal team by reviewing contracts, policies, and C40’s procedures as a grants and contracts officer.
Before joining C40, Marinder managed grants in the educational and cultural sector at the government initiative, UK-German Connection, where she worked with teaching professionals across Germany and the UK on funding for educational projects, many of which focused on sustainability. Previously, Marinder gained experience as an English teacher in London schools and in Germany.
Marinder graduated from Oxford University with a BA Hons in English language and literature, has a Masters in Teaching from UCL, and a GDL and LPC from BPP.
Mariola supports cities to promote the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and to design and implement zero-emission areas and other vehicle restriction policies, such as Low Emission Zones, Congestion Charging or Zero Emission Delivery Zones. With her team, Mariola aims to create cities prioritising people over cars, where most of the journeys are made by walking, cycling or public transport, and the remaining essential vehicle trips are zero-emission.
Mariola’s professional background is in strategy consulting. Before joining C40, Mariola worked as a Senior Manager for Dalberg Global Development Advisors, advising governments, multilateral organizations, UN agencies and foundations on urban issues, such as mass transportation, from a social and economic development angle. Before Dalberg, Mariola worked as a Senior Associate at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) supporting Fortune 500 private sector companies in strategy design and implementation.
Mariola holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia University (New York) and a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Business Administration from ESADE (Barcelona).
Markus Berensson serves as the Head of Mitigation Research at C40. In that role, he leads a team that actively supports urban climate action by analysing opportunities for cutting GHG emissions while simultaneously generating wider benefits such as reducing air pollution, improving health and creating good green jobs.
Before joining C40, Markus was a Political Advisor in Stockholm City Hall and a Senior Political Advisor in the Stockholm County Council, where he was involved in a wide range of reforms within the energy sector, urban planning and sustainable transport. Markus holds an MSc degree in Sustainable Urban Development from the University of Oxford.
As Global Leadership Manager, Marta supports the Inclusive Climate Action team in global advocacy efforts, showcasing mayoral leadership on equity and inclusivity. In her previous position as Women4Climate Manager, Marta supported cities in launching mentorship programmes and worked towards building a strong community of women delivering urban climate action. Prior to joining C40, Marta worked at the Women’s Environmental Network (Wen) as a Campaign Officer supporting their Environmenstrual campaign that raises awareness about plastic and harmful chemicals in mainstream period products. Marta graduated in International Development from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Her thesis looked at the nexus between public participation in urban greening projects in San José, Costa Rica and environmental justice.
Martha is Senior Technical Manager for Climate Action Planning, focussing on emissions mitigation. She provides expert assistance to cities with developing new climate action plans and evidence.
Before joining C40, Martha was a senior policy officer at the Greater London Authority. She prepared London’s annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory, developed new analytical tools and insights to support climate budgets and environmental strategy, and led the development of workshops and tools to advance social justice and equality goals in city programmes. She previously worked as a climate policy research consultant, supporting NGOs, industry advocates and local governments with climate action plans and strategy. She is a freelance writer, with a particular interest in the links between housing and climate crises.
Martha has a Masters degree in Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
Martina serves as Regional Engagement Manager for LATAM at C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF). She was previously the City Adviser for Buenos Aires, Argentina, as part of C40 Climate Action Planning Programme, where she successfully delivered a Paris Agreement compatible Climate Action Plan for the city.
Prior to joining C40, Martina was Deputy Chief Resilience Officer at the Buenos Aires City Government, where she coordinated and managed the development of the first Resilience Strategy for the city. Martina also worked at a national level, as Coordinator for International Organisations at the Secretariat of Civil Protection, Emergencies and Catastrophes of the Argentinian National Government, where she was responsible for managing internationally funded projects related with disaster risk reduction to implement in Argentina affected regions.
During her master’s studies in London, she developed a humanitarian consultancy project in Ethiopia. She holds a Degree in International Studies by Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Buenos Aires) and a MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she attended as a Chevening Scholar awarded by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Matheus serves as Senior Manager for Climate Action in C40 Cities’ UrbanShift team. His role is to build capacity and support UrbanShift cities to commit to more ambitious targets and accelerated climate action. He is leading the development of a City Academy module and regional training sessions on Integrated Climate Action Planning.
Prior to this role, Matheus was the C40 City Adviser for Salvador, Brazil, working from within the city hall to coordinate the development of the city’s first ever Climate Action Plan. Before joining C40, Matheus worked as Head of Future Cities for the UK Government in Brazil. He led the design and delivery of a £16 million Prosperity Fund program in smart transportation and water management, in collaboration with international partners such as the World Bank and UN-Habitat. He also worked as a project manager in areas such as climate-smart cities planning, sustainable mobility, urban infrastructure, solid waste management, and sustainable social housing in several Brazilian cities.
Matheus has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a Master’s degree in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics.
Matthew Stafford is the Content Officer for C40’s Knowledge Hub, where C40 captures and disseminates many of its key learnings, best practices, and unique insights into the political economy of climate change in cities.
Prior to joining C40, Matthew worked at Marchmont Communications, a London-based communications agency working with organisations tackling the most pressing international development and sustainability challenges. In this role he provided strategic communications, media, advocacy, and external engagement support to a range of international organisations and UN agencies throughout the world.
Previously Matthew was a freelance news writer for a start-up website where he covered developments in global politics, business, and technology. He holds a BA in History from the University of Cambridge.
Megan is C40’s Fossil Fuel Phase-Out Project Officer within the Inclusion and Global Leadership team. Her work focuses on combatting mis- and disinformation from the fossil fuel industry.
Before C40, Megan worked as an Oceans Researcher at the Environmental Justice Foundation, researching the link between human rights abuses and oceans/biodiversity degradation. She has held further positions at UNESCO and the Rights Lab, and holds a MSc in International Relations from the University of Nottingham, and a Master’s in Environmental Policy from Sciences Po Paris.
Mehrnaz joined C40 in 2018 to help set up the flagship Inclusive Climate Action Programme. In 2021 she transitioned to the Climate Action Directorate and currently is the Head of the C40 Cities Finance Facility where she is responsible for strategy development, program design and funder engagement for major urban climate action programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, exploring ways to finance a just transition. She has 15 years of experience working on the nexus of climate change and socio-economic development in cities. Prior to joining C40, Mehrnaz spent over a decade working in the public, private and third sectors as a designer and a global urban development specialist, focusing particularly on matters related to climate change and planetary health, equity and inclusion, urban health, and urban economics.
Mehrnaz trained as an architect and holds an MPhil in Urban and Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Cambridge, and her PhD at UCL focused on city and science diplomacy, and emerging forms of international urban governance to drive action toward planetary health. She holds several advisory positions with WHO, WRI, Google, Wellcome Trust, NGOs, and foundations. She has been a regular lecturer at universities in the UK and internationally helping design and deliver a number of executive and higher education courses.
Michael O’Neill is Project Manager for C40’s Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods programme. Michael supports cities in using urban planning and urban design approaches at a neighbourhood scale to reduce emissions while also improving people’s quality of life, health and well-being.
Before joining C40, Michael worked as a Policy and Project Advisor at the City of Toronto, where he led the development of the City’s first standalone neighbourhood parks plan, which aims to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality greenspace within a 15-minute walk of their home. He also managed applications for sustainability and resilience-focused grant funding, coordinated his team’s relationship with the City Council, and co-developed an internal learning series on Indigenous topics in park planning. Before that, he worked as a transportation planning consultant, contributing to projects ranging from the development of complete street policies to plans for new subway lines.
Michael holds a Master of Urban Planning from McGill University and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography from the University of Alberta.
Miranda serves as a Programme Officer with C40’s Air Quality team. Based in New York City, she supports the overall coordination and delivery of the programme, ensuring the air quality work is connected with other C40 programmes and networks, and working with external collaborators.
Before joining C40, Miranda worked at various organisations where her work focused on the intersection of public health and the built environment. This included collecting data and research on housing factors and the impact that housing upgrades could have on disease prevalence and creating an interactive map of the City of Camden, NJ, to examine the quality and availability of green spaces and other community features. After college, she worked as an intern with New York City’s Office of Climate Policy and Programs.
Miranda holds a degree in Public Health from Tulane University and a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Cities and Communities from Harvard University.
Nadav Bigelman is an urban planner specializing in transportation planning and policy analysis. Nadav has over a decade of experience in community organizing, nonprofit management, and conducting research for various human rights organizations.
Nadav holds an MS in Urban Planning from Pratt Institute in New York City and an MA in Public Policy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Recent research has focused on urban forests and green infrastructure in New York City, through analyzing street tree canopy coverage, its relation to socioeconomic indicators, and its impact on urban heat island effect.