In this Rising Leaders Fellowship podcast takeover, we explore leadership in the context of young professionals working in the climate space. From career transitions to extraordinary opportunities, what does it take to build a career in climate? Who should we learn from? And, what advice would our guests give to those starting out in their climate careers?
Host:
Alex Urwin – Alex is an Aspen UK Rising Leader and is currently Special Assistant to the CEO at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the largest philanthropic foundation in the world that is focused specifically on improving children’s lives. Prior to this, he was Senior Private Secretary and Speechwriter to the President of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), and a researcher in the Office of the UK Prime Minister.
Guests:
Nisha Krishnan – Nisha is Community Resilience Partnership Program Manager at the Asian Development Bank. Nisha focuses on issues at the intersection of environment and development, particularly on climate finance and institutions and related climate and disaster risk policies. With over 10+ years of experience in this field, she has worked for and with a number of organizations, including WRI, USAID, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and research programs at the Robert S. Strauss Center and Innovations for Peace and Development.
Gabe Malek – Gabe is Chief of Staff at Fervo Energy, a next-generation geothermal developer leveraging innovations in oil and gas technology to deliver 24/7 carbon-free electricity. He helps manage cross-functional special projects, including Fervo’s Inflation Reduction Act strategy. Prior to joining Fervo, Gabe served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Mark Carney, Co-Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and former Governor of the Bank of England. In this role, he devoted particular attention to GFANZ’s energy transition work, providing leading financial institutions with guidance on the managed phaseout of fossil fuels. Gabe began his career at Environmental Defense Fund, where he helped formalize and scale the organization’s investor engagement program. Gabe holds a BA from Yale University.
Elise Larkin – Elise is the Director of Global Economic Recovery at The Rockefeller Foundation, where she works on mobilising more and better quality finance for climate and development. Prior to this she held a number of roles in the UK government, most recently as Senior Environment Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. During the UK’s COP26 Presidency Year, she was Chief of Staff to COP President Alok Sharma. She also worked as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and as a Senior Press Officer for Prime Minister Theresa May, covering Brexit, economy and energy. [She also previously held positions in the UK Ministry of Defence, Department of Transport and the Department for International Trade. She has a degree in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge.
If you’re a young professional looking to develop your leadership skills, find out about our Rising Leaders Fellowship here.