Sallieu Kanu serves as Senior Manager, Youth Engagement and Campaigns at the C40 Co-Chair’s Office in Freetown. Sallieu possesses an extensive professional background and strong experience working with government leadership. He has a deep understanding of climate governance, backed by a wealth of years of experience as a Senior Project Lead for the clean cooking program at Freetown City Council, where he worked closely with C40 Co-Chair and Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr. He is passionate about advancing youth-led climate actions in urban areas, focusing particularly on the needs of poor and vulnerable communities.
Sallieu has successfully led and implemented multiple projects funded by organizations such as World Bank, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UN-Habitat, the European Union, Bosch Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. These projects have spanned areas including water, energy transition, COVID-19 preparedness and response, urban farming, waste valorization, and tree-tracking trading.
Furthermore, Sallieu has built and nurtured partnerships with a variety of stakeholders, compassing government partnerships, the private sector, youth groups and civil society organizations.
Sam is Digital and Social Media Manager at C40. As part of the Communications team, Sam works closely with the Brand, Creative and Digital Content team, as well as members of the wider organisation, to create a strong brand for C40. Keeping global reach and local relevance in mind, Sam is key in helping conceptualise, strategise, and create engaging content that connects with C40’s target audiences and key stakeholders.
Sam has over 10 years of experience in content. She began her career as a print journalist in 2010 before diving into the world of digital writing, and then expanding her skill set to include areas such as social media management. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication from Murdoch University.
As Creative Content Manager on the Joint Program between C40 and the Global Covenant of Mayors, Samuel is responsible for developing and delivering all visual content and assisting the team with delivering campaigns, events and media coverage.
With a background in advertising, Samuel has a wealth of experience in the public and private sectors, having helped build brands, campaigns and high-value assets in the UK and internationally.
Samuel holds a BA in Advertising from the École Supérieure des Arts de Saint Luc in Liège, Belgium.
Sandino Lamarca serves as Senior Engagement Manager, Data and Tools, within C40’s Climate Action Planning and Innovation team. He has extensive experience providing technical assistance to Brazilian municipalities in the creation, implementation, and monitoring of Climate Action Plans. Sandino has led the development of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories (GHG), conducted Climate Risk and Vulnerability Analyses, and supported the formulation of Adaptation and Mitigation Objectives for cities that are signatories of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) in Brazil.
He holds a Master’s degree in Renewable Energies and Environment from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco.
Sandra Sarahí Aguirre is the City Adviser for Guadalajara in the UCAP Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Programme. With a degree in International Relations focusing on International Cooperation for Development, she brings over seven years of experience in international development.
Before joining C40, Sandra was the Technical Manager of International Cooperation at the Institute for Planning and Development Management of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (Imeplan). In this capacity, she led international projects, forged strategic partnerships, and collaborated with organizations such as the UNFCCC, the European Union, C40 Cities, Metropolis, and USAID.
A highlight of her career was coordinating the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara’s participation in COP26. The UNFCCC recognized the metropolitan coordination efforts in developing the Climate Action Plan within a unique governance model and high technical standards driven by C40 Cities. The team received a Climate Action Award as Climate Leaders. At the same conference, the UKAID program was announced with Guadalajara as a beneficiary city, a partnership Sandra has actively nurtured.
Based in Bengaluru, India, Sanjana is the Manager, Engagement and Climate Implementation with C40’s South and West Asia Team. Before this, Sanjana worked as the Regional Officer for South and West Asia, where she led some key strategic projects.
She joined C40 after working as a Research Analyst with McKinsey for the Asia-Australia region where she worked with clients in technology, sustainability and public policy. She completed an integrated Masters in Development Studies, focusing on urban and environment, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in Chennai, India. She has also volunteered at her local FridaysforFuture chapter for over four years, as part of the youth climate movement, supporting local and global climate advocacy efforts. In her free time, she enjoys watching her comfort shows, reading, painting and occasionally, cooking.
Santiago works as a Data Scientist Officer in the Analytics Team at C40, where he supports the gathering, processing, and analysis of large-scale and cross-sectoral data relevant to climate action in cities. Through the scoping and implementing of novel statistical and mathematical methodologies, he also contributes to the Analytics Team’s mission of improving data capability within the organisation.
Prior to joining C40, Santiago was involved in multiple research projects related to social segregation and economic development in Colombia and briefly worked as a machine learning consultant in an applied mathematics firm. He holds a double degree in Economics and Government and Public Affairs from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.
As Head of Implementation in Latin America, Sarah is responsible for the rollout of C40’s UCAP Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Programme in five C40 cities in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Sarah has worked in the past 13 years in environmental sustainability and climate change both in the private and public sectors.
As the climate change advisor for the Secretary of Environment of the city of Bogotá, Sarah led and coordinated the formulation of the city’s CAP. Prior to this, she was the leader of the Building Energy Efficiency Accelerator program of the World Resources Institute in Bogotá and Colombia, while working at the Colombian Green Building Council. She also supported the Climate Change strategy for the Housing and Urban sector at the Ministry of Housing, Cities and Territory of Colombia and her first experience in the public sector was at the National Natural Parks office as a sustainable architect and project manager.
In the private sector she has worked as a bioclimatic and environmental sustainability advisor for architectural projects and founded an office for sustainable drainage and water recycling in Bogotá.
Sarah is an architect and holds a specialization in environmental engineering from Los Andes University in Bogotá and a MSc in sustainable design from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.
Sarah is C40’s Head of Grants. She leads a team supporting the organisation to set up and maintain grant management processes that aim to enable C40 to successfully deliver on contracts with our partners and suppliers and to contribute to our vision of equity-rooted climate action.
Sarah has 12+ years of experience in non-profit management and leadership working in a variety of roles supporting teams that design, fundraise for, manage, implement, and monitor sustainable development programmes on gender justice/women’s rights, climate justice, accountable governance, and conflict and fragility.
Having been on both the granting-in and granting-out ends of the funding spectrum, she has experience in setting up contract management systems that work to support the delivery of impact and at the same time uphold accountability to donors, regulators, as well as civil society partners and communities.
She has also authored and co-authored papers on social justice with a focus on gender equality and is passionate about racial justice and decolonisation.
Sarah is French and Lebanese. In her spare time, she loves reading, writing, learning new things, travelling, and eating her way through every city she finds herself in.
Sarah serves as Research Manager, supporting the Executive Director with research projects, speeches, articles and blogs. Sarah joined C40 after completing an MSc in Sustainable Resource Economics, Transitions and Policy at University College London. Her dissertation focussed on city-level energy projects. She also holds a BA in Middle Eastern Languages from the University of Manchester and has lived and worked in a number of global cities, including Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Alexandria. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys hiking and reading.
Seneca serves as C40’s Programme Manager, Air Quality and Climate Action Planning. In this role, she works to integrate air quality and air pollution-related health considerations into the C40 Cities climate action planning process. As part of C40’s Air Quality and Climate Action Planning Integration Project, she will be responsible for coordinating the technical air quality impact analyses for seven pilot city projects. Prior to joining C40 Cities, Seneca worked at South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as a researcher in the Climate and Air Quality Modelling group, where she worked on projects in both the research and consulting arenas, with a focus on the air quality-climate change linkages that exist within cities and air quality management planning. Previously, Seneca worked as an air quality scientist at the South African Weather Service, where she was responsible for managing data from monitoring networks in South Africa’ nationally declared air quality priority areas and reporting this information to South Africa’s National Department of Environment, Forestries and Fisheries. She was involved in the development and operation of South Africa’s Industrial National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory System. Seneca holds an MSc in Atmospheric Science and a BSc Honours in Geography from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Sheriff Sanusi has dedicated his professional experience to helping organisations meet their objectives by supporting them to build and make efficient use of Salesforce platforms. He is based in the United Kingdom but is originally from Nigeria, with a background in MSC Business Information Systems.
Prior to joining C40, Sheriff Sanusi previously worked within the financial sector, medical research industry and the agricultural sector (AGCO), where he helped to improve and enhance Salesforce platforms. Sheriff brings experience working on multiple Salesforce platforms, including sales cloud, service cloud and experience cloud.
Shilpa serves as Manager of Climate Implementation at C40 and supports the cities in the South and West Asia region in implementing climate action plans and scaling up non-C40 engagements. Her role also encompasses supporting engagement, mainly with Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Prior to joining C40, Shilpa worked with organisations such as Palladium Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), South Asia, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) supporting pivotal government initiatives focused on urban governance, innovation, and climate at the central and the local body level. With MoHUA and NIUA, she was part of the prestigious India Smart Cities Fellowship Programme, where she worked on various innovative initiatives for the Smart Cities Mission and supported the local urban bodies in the cities for climate action through the Climate Centre for Cities. Shilpa helped set the baseline for preparing the climate action plan for Pune city with GCoM. She also spearheaded and implemented various locally-led sustainable and climate initiatives with Palladium Consulting India for Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. Additionally, she has also volunteered with non-governmental organisations in the education and climate sectors.
Shilpa holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Anna University, Chennai, and a postgraduate degree in Advanced Construction Management from National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), Pune. Outside of work, she enjoys taking early morning strolls, reading books, practising dance routines, exploring new smoothie recipes, and dabbling with some amateur painting.
Shivani serves as C40 Senior Manager Waste and Methane based in Ahmedabad, India.
Shivani is an environmentalist with experience in Industry and Government Departments such as the Climate Change Department of the Government of Gujarat and the Gujarat Urban Development Mission. She was a part of the first Gujarat State Action Plan on Climate Change development team and has worked on NGT (National Green Tribunal) and NITI Aayog projects pertaining to the Urban Development Department viz., River Action Plan, Composite Water Management Index, etc. Worked with Smart and Amrut mission cities of Gujarat to monitor project progress, reforms, and other innovative initiatives. She has worked on projects by the Climate Change Department of the Government. of Gujarat, such as the calculation and report preparation of lifestyle-based carbon footprints.
Shivani has worked in academics as a visiting faculty member at Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), Gandhinagar, The M.S. University of Baroda and Gujarat University, Ahmedabad.
Shivani holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Visva-Bharti Central University, Santiniketan, West Bengal and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the M.S. University of Baroda.
Shreya Nair is the Manager of Mobility at C40 Cities, supporting cities in the South & West Asia region within the Laneshift Programme. This initiative focuses on developing a roadmap for electric highways connecting major metro cities in India. In her role, Shreya engages with business and industry stakeholders to advocate for targets and commitments toward transitioning their existing transport needs to zero-emission options.
Before joining C40, Shreya gained experience at organisations such as Mumbai First, BSAG McLarty Associates, and PRS Legislative Research. Her work encompassed governance, legislative research, policy advocacy, and stakeholder management across various levels of city, sub-national, and central government. She has also contributed to national election campaigns and served as a legislative research assistant to a member of the Indian parliament.
Shreya holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Governance from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from St. Xavier’s College, India. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring parks and gardens around her city and developing new recipes to cook.
Shuang serves as the Senior Manager of Communications and Strategic Engagement in C40’s China office, to develop the communications function and strengthen the engagement with member cities. In this role, she advocates C40’s impact on external partners and stakeholders, identifies communication opportunities and approaches, leverage two-way communications of cities’ best practices between China and the global audience. Before joining C40, Shuang worked as Program Manager of Giti Group United in Diversity Foundation for 8 years.
She engaged cross-sector leaders to jointly step forward and take on sustainable development challenges through “Innovative Dynamics Education and Action for Sustainability (IDEAS)” leadership programmes with Chinese government, MIT Sloan and Tsinghua University. She also led communication and partnership engagement work from China side for major events hosted by the foundation, identify pathways for the foundation for pre-development of programmes, advocate programme outcomes to relevant government partners. Previously, Shuang worked in the WWF China office for policy research and advocacy, focusing on promoting the Ecological Footprint concept and Green Economy to policymakers as well as wide stakeholders. Shuang holds an MA in International Development from University of East Anglia and a BA from China Agricultural University.
As Head of the Chair’s Office, Silvia works with the Chair of C40, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, her team in Paris, and the C40 Executive Director team to set the Chair’s strategic vision, implement the Chair’s priorities and coordinate Steering Committee engagement. Silvia manages Chair-level external communications and leads the Women4Climate initiative, designed to advance and support the emergence of the next generation of female climate leaders in C40 Cities.
The former director of green Think Tank Fondation de l’Ecologie Politique-FEP (France), Silvia has worked for several years at the French WWF office as the Institutional Relations Manager, responsible for the National Energy Transition Bill. Silvia graduated in International Relations from the University of Trieste (Italy), and holds a Masters degree in Urban Sociology from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences/EHESS-Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris, France).
Simon serves as Technical Lead for Transport at C40. In this role he provides technical expertise on transport and helps embed transport and urban planning programmes in cities’ climate action plans.
Prior to joining C40 Simon worked within the Transport Strategy team at Transport for London (TfL) on the development of air quality and environmental policy for the Mayors Transport Strategy and London Environment Strategy. He led the policy development for the T-Charge, the early introduction and expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone, the Mayor of London’s scrappage scheme for microbusinesses and charities, and TfL’s Zero Emission Zone guidance.
Simon holds an MSc in Transport Planning and Management from the University of Westminster and a BA in History from the University of Warwick.
Simon Sambou serves as C40’s City Adviser for Dakar. In this role, he is responsible for providing technical assistance in updating the city’s climate action plan to deliver mitigation and adaptation outcomes and inclusive low-carbon development in line to the Paris Agreement.
Simon has previously worked as a lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (ISE) and Climate Action Facilitator at the Group of Action and Initiative for an Alternative Development (GAIA). He was responsible for carbon assessment and monitoring at the Project for Sustainable and participatory management of traditional alternative energies (PROGEDE 2). Simon has also worked with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) as a Program Officer coordinating the USAID’s Learning Agenda Project “Climate Information Services Research Initiative (CISRI)” in Senegal where he worked closely with local municipalities and as Climate Change Technical Advisor for the development of Green Climate Fund program. He holds a Masters degree in Geography, a MSc degree and PhD in Environmental Sciences from the Institute of Environmental Sciences of Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD).