How we’re governed

Jo Dufay works as a consultant with organisations and individuals that try to make the world a better place.  She provides strategy advice, facilitation, process design and training for organisations ranging from the intensely local to the wildly global.
 

Jo comes to this work from a lifetime of commitment to social change, a deep respect for how organisations and processes work and with a care for inclusion of all voices.
 

In 2023, Jo was arrested at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, for blocking the take off of private jet planes. It felt like full circle from her early days as an activist in the early ‘80s at Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp in the UK, where she first learned the power of nonviolent direct action.
 

Jo has previously been Board Chair of Greenpeace Canada, and also a member of the Board of Greenpeace USA.  She’s also been Program Director with Greenpeace Canada and headed up several global campaigns with Greenpeace International. Over the years, Jo has trained hundreds of campaigners, in Greenpeace and elsewhere, drawing on her experiences with anti-nuclear work in the Middle East, protecting Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest and more.
 

Her other roles have included Campaign Director with Avaaz, and international Chief of Staff with 350.org, as well as Executive Director of a national feminist organisation in Canada.  She was the founding Coordinator of the Med Sea Alliance – tackling bad fishing practices in the Mediterranean.
 

Originally from Wales, Jo lived in Canada for nearly three decades. She  has also lived in several African countries and is now resident in the Netherlands.
 

David Tong is the Global Industry Campaign Manager at Oil Change International, a Washington DC-based research and advocacy organisation dedicated to exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy. In this role, David leads Oil Change International’s work to confront big oil and gas companies’ greenwash, working closely with allies across civil society. In particular, David coordinated the successful cross-sectoral ‘#FixTheWEO’ campaign to persuade the International Energy Agency to model a 1.5ºC-aligned energy scenario, resulting in the IEA’s landmark 2021 conclusion that there is no room for new oil and gas beyond existing fields for 1.5ºC.
 

He currently lives in Melbourne, Australia but grew up near the shore of the Waitematā Harbour in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). Ecological issues and Greenpeace in particular have always been important to him. A few months before he was born, a friend of his father’s witnessed French agents launching a rigid inflatable boat on a boat ramp near his home – on their way to bombing the original Rainbow Warrior.
 

Before joining Oil Change International, David led WWF-New Zealand’s climate programme, coordinating the civil society coalition supporting youth organisation Generation Zero’s campaign for the country’s Zero Carbon Act, which became law in 2019. From 2014-2016, he worked as a regular freelance contractor for the Climate Action Network International (CAN-International), and in 2015 established the New Zealand CAN node. 
 

Though now working in climate policy and campaigning, David is a former lawyer, and has worked as a judges’ clerk, a big firm commercial litigator, and a community lawyer. He has a Masters degree in Law with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland, specialising in climate and human rights law.
 

Before being elected to the Greenpeace International board, he was the chair of Greenpeace Aotearoa, and had served on that office’s board from 2015.to him. A few months before he was born, a friend of his father’s witnessed French agents launching a rigid inflatable boat on a boat ramp near his home – on their way to bombing the original Rainbow Warrior.
 

Before joining Oil Change International, David led WWF-New Zealand’s climate programme, coordinating the civil society coalition supporting youth organisation Generation Zero’s campaign for the country’s Zero Carbon Act, which became law in 2019. From 2014-2016, he worked as a regular freelance contractor for the Climate Action Network International (CAN-International), and in 2015 established the New Zealand CAN node.
 

Though now working in climate policy and campaigning, David is a former lawyer, and has worked as a judges’ clerk, a big firm commercial litigator, and a community lawyer. He has a Masters degree in Law with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland, specialising in climate and human rights law.
 

Before being elected to the Greenpeace International board, he was the chair of Greenpeace Aotearoa, and had served on that office’s board from 2015. He is also on the board of the Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Foundation.
 

Nikhil Aziz is Managing Director of Solidaire Network, which organizes donors and funders to mobilise critical resources for U.S. social justice movements at the intersection of racial, gender, and climate justice. Before joining Solidaire, he was Director of Land, Water, and Climate Justice (LWCJ) at American Jewish World Service, where he oversaw the LWCJ grantmaking program in 13 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, and supported US policy advocacy on climate justice. Prior to that, he was Executive Director of Grassroots International, which funds social movements for resource rights and climate justice in the Global South and does advocacy in the United States.
 

Previously, Nikhil was associate director at Political Research Associates, which studies the US right wing for the progressive movement. He continues to speak, teach and write on human rights, international development and social change.
 

Nikhil has served on the boards of Africa Today Associates, Massachusetts Asians & Pacific Islanders for Health, MASALA (Massachusetts Area South Asian Lambda Association), Resist, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the Human Rights Funders Network, and the Engaged Donors for Global Equity (EDGE Funders). He divides his time between New York City, US and Mumbai, India.
 

Nikhil has a Doctorate in International Studies from the University of Denver (USA) and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Claremont Graduate University (USA).
 

Hann Verheijen has 25 years of executive experience with global impact investors, including Triodos Bank, Oikocredit, and Cordaid. Today, Hann focuses on non-executive and advisory roles at meaningful initiatives. He holds non-executive board positions at various impact investment and endowment funds. Next, Hann has a long track record of chairing or participating in investment committees.
 

Hann fully and naturally subscribes to Greenpeace’s vision of working toward a green and peaceful world, which has led him to serve on Greenpeace’s international Supervisory Board.
 

Hann lives within a sustainable community he created with a small group of like-minded families. In his spare time, Hann enjoys hiking in the woods, cycling in the mountains, and visiting modern art museums.
 

Helga Rainer has over 20 years of international and environmental development experience. Woven throughout her professional history, her work as a consultant, researcher, grant maker and organiser for environmental and development projects has made her an expert in developing policy, strategies, and programs.
 

Helga has efficaciously acted as an expert liaison between a variety of different stakeholders, including conservation leaders, policy makers, researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, corporations, and international donors. This has included informing access to water and sanitation for women in informal settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh, facilitating dialogue between local communities, private and public sectors on ecotourism in Uganda, as well as advising world leaders in Jeju, South Korea on transboundary conservation.
 

A passionate advocate of multi-disciplinary approaches, Helga has successfully leveraged multiple perspectives to inform shifts in how institutions engage with nature protection. In addition to numerous publications, she conceived and co-edited a novel interdisciplinary book series on non-human apes. Further building her transdisciplinary practice, Helga co-founded Borderlands Art, an agile space concerned with issues of environment, conflict and repair which uses exhibitions, events and research to foster critical inquiry and advocacy.
 

Helga has a Doctorate in Geography and Environment from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science, Policy and Planning from the University of Bath (UK). Helga sits on several non-profit boards which include 32oEast| The Uganda Arts Trust.
 

Shanice Firmin is a Senior Project Officer for Development, Infrastructure, and Climate Change at the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance with over 6 years of experience in the non-profit sector.
 

Shanice focuses her time on building community activism that critiques environmental impact assessments and unsustainable developments proposed by industry and government to secure livelihoods, social justice, and a healthy environment for the benefit of all. Shanice is a strong believer in meaningful public participation in environmental governance affecting change in climate legislation.
 

Through the ‘Action 24 – Active citizens for responsive legislatures project’ – she served as the KwaZulu-Natal province lead from 2017-2020. Shanice has developed ‘public participation in the South African legislature’ booklets to assist and equip communities with improved access to information and public participation in decision making enhancing the quality and the implementation of decisions.
 

Shanice has contributed to research and writing contributions that looked at ‘A Gendered Lens: Mainstreaming Gender into South Africa’s Climate Change Response’. She has also developed an ‘Action 24 Toolkit for Citizens’ Engagement with Legislatures’ that offers step-by-step guidance on how the public can engage, based on the realities observed. Shanice also frequents parliament to make presentations to the department of the Environment’s oversight committee on incidents and accidents.
 

When Shanice is not occupied with defending the environment, she is occupied with her two girls.
 

Dharini is a climate change campaigner and communications specialist, based in Bangalore, India, with 15+ years in global strategic communications, media relations, and network-building. She is currently Communications Director at the Global Alliance for the Future of Food—an alliance of philanthropic funders working towards a just and equitable transition from industrial, fossil fuel-dependent food systems towards agroecological approaches.
 

Previously, for almost a decade, she worked with Climate Action Network International as Global Communications Lead.
 

Bringing strong political and technical insights on the intersections of food systems, climate change, and nature, she has led civil society communications for seven UN climate negotiations (COPs), several IPCC sessions, UN General Assemblies, G20 & G7 summits, and supported multiple regional campaigns. With a focus on elevating grassroots demands in global policy spaces, highlights of her work include communications around the landmark IPCC report on 1.5°C, the campaign for a Loss and Damage Fund which came to fruition in 2022, supporting the Pacific Islands youth-led grassroots campaign for an advisory opinion on climate change from the World Court (ICJ), and global mobilisations to phase out fossil fuels with a Just Transition.
 

As a convenor and collaborator, she has facilitated diverse groups and networks to align on collective action using skills in facilitation, listening & persuasion, and conflict resolution. For several years co-led the ‘Croissant Conspiracy’ an unbranded, invite-only group of 300+ communicators working on climate change from across sectors & organisations.
 

Wai-chi Ho has over 30 years of experience in NGO management and board governance across the environmental, anti-corruption, and philanthropic sectors in the Asia-Pacific region. His career is defined by a deep commitment to social justice and organisational strategic development.
 

Wai-chi served as the Executive Director of Greenpeace China from 1998 to 2002. During this time, he was instrumental in establishing the organisation’s first foothold in Beijing, laying the groundwork for its environmental advocacy in the region.
 

Beyond his work with Greenpeace, Wai-chi has held senior executive and board positions for various local and international NGOs. His portfolio spans a diverse range of missions, including HIV/AIDS awareness, global poverty alleviation, contemporary art education, and fair trade.
 

In addition to his NGO work, Wai-chi has a distinguished background in public service. He joined the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 2011, eventually serving as the Director of the Community Relations Department from 2018 until his retirement in 2022. 

Wai-chi holds Master of Arts degrees from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom) and the University of Kelaniya (Sri Lanka).