Aniruddha (Ani) Dasgupta is President and CEO of WRI, where he works to advance the institute’s global vision to improve the lives of all people and ensure that nature can thrive.

Dasgupta is a widely-recognized leader in the areas of sustainable cities, urban design and poverty alleviation. He developed his expertise in positions ranging from nonprofits in India to the World Bank, where he developed the Bank’s first Knowledge strategy.

He took the helm at WRI after seven years as Global Director of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, which is dedicated to shaping a future where cities work better for all people. Under his leadership, the Cities program grew to 400 staff members working in 150 cities, with a reach to more than 400 cities in total. He has established large, multi-stakeholder partnerships with city, national and corporate leaders around the world. Ani has helped create and lead innovative initiatives, including the New Urban Mobility alliance (NUMO) and the Coalition for Urban Transitions, as well as a new line of work around urban air quality. He also brought an increased focus on people and equity to the program.

Prior to joining WRI in 2014, Dasgupta served as Director of Knowledge and Learning at the World Bank, where he provided leadership in the Bank’s knowledge services for development. He also worked extensively in the World Bank’s Jakarta office as head of infrastructure, where he was deeply engaged in post-2004 tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, as an advisor to the government on housing and infrastructure reconstruction and as the head of the Bank’s housing and infrastructure team. His work at the Bank took him throughout Asia and Eastern Europe as a technical expert centered on community-based development, urban environment, disaster management, solid waste management, water supply and sanitation.

Originally from Delhi, India, Dasgupta developed an interest early in life in buildings and design. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture, with an emphasis on low-income housing, at the School of Planning and Architecture in India. Later, he was accepted at a special program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) focused on affordable housing. Dasgupta holds master’s degrees from MIT in city planning and architecture.

He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and has two sons.

Influencer, business leader, campaigner, Co-Author of “Net Positive: how courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take”, recently published October 2021.

Paul Polman works to accelerate action by business to tackle climate change and inequality. A leading proponent that business should be a force for good, Paul has been described by the Financial Times as “a standout CEO of the past decade”.

As CEO of Unilever (2009-2019), he demonstrated that a long-term, multi-stakeholder model goes hand-in-hand with excellent financial performance. Paul was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel which developed the Sustainable Development Goals and which he continues to champion, working with global organizations and across industry to advance the 2030 development agenda.

Paul’s new book, “Net Positive”, is a call to arms to courageous business leaders, setting out how to build net positive companies which profit by fixing the world’s problems rather than creating them. He Chairs IMAGINE, a social venture dedicated to systems change, and Saïd Business School, and he is Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact as well as a B Team Leader. Paul is Honorary Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, which he led for two years.

Fiona Reynolds is the CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI is a UN supported organisation, with more than 4,000 signatories who collectively represent over US $121 trillion in AUM. She is responsible for the PRI’s global operations.

Appointed in 2013, Fiona has 25 years’ experience in the financial services and pension sector. She joined the PRI from the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), where she spent seven years as CEO.

Fiona serves on the Board of the U.N. Global Compact, she Chaired of the Financial Services Commission into Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking and is now a member of the Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking Global Steering Committee. Fiona is also a member of the International Integrated Reporting Council, the Global Advisory Council on Stranded Assets at Oxford University, the Advisory Board for the Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road and the Steering Committee for Climate Action 100+.  She is also on the Investment Committee of the Laudes Foundation and the Advisory Board for BASF, and the Advisory Council of Bloomberg Green.

Fiona was named one of the 20 most influential people in sustainability globally by Barron’s magazine and has twice been named one of Australia’s one hundred women of influence by the Australian Financial Review.

Patrick Child is Deputy Director-General in DG Research and Innovation (R&I) at the European Commission. He leads the policy for implementation, impact & sustainable investment strategies. As a member of the Board of DG R&I, he follows in particular research and innovation in climate action and clean energy and mobility technologies as well as the R&I dimension of the post-COVID recovery and resilience strategy. He is the Commission representative of Mission Innovation (24 countries and the European Commission working to reinvigorate and accelerate global clean energy innovation with the objective to make clean energy widely affordable) and Chairs the MI Steering Committee. He is also the Commission representative in the International Group of Earth Observations (GEO) and lead co-chair of the Executive Committee for 2021.

Until April 2016, Patrick Child was Managing Director of the European External Service with responsibility for administration and finance, covering human resources policy, security and the budget.  Before he took up this post in 2011, he was director in the External Relations Directorate General in the European Commission responsible for the management of the network of Commission delegations.  He has previously served as head of cabinet for External Relations Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner and before that Chris Patten from 1999-2004.

With a background in the UK Finance Ministry, he joined the European Commission in 1994, where he started in the Economic and Monetary affairs Directorate General before becoming Commission press spokesman for economic and monetary union from 1995-1999.  Mr Child studied mathematics at Cambridge University.  He is married with two children.

Appointed by the Chilean presidency and the United Nations as High-Level Climate Champion for the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, to mobilize climate action in non-state actors around the world. Previously, he co-founded and led TriCiclos, one of the most recognized Latin American companies in circular economy and recycling. Inspired by 10 years of running traditional food businesses where he witnessed the waste generated by the private sector, he set out to offer a transformative service that would help the environment while being financially sustainable. Using his entrepreneurial and business knowledge, he redirected his efforts towards the ideals and passion for sustainability and the environment. Today, TriCiclos operates in 13 countries in Latin America, where its mission is to foster new designs and business models for a world without waste. TriCiclos was also the first company to be certified as a B company outside North America. Gonzalo co-founded Sistema B and is a board member of BLab global. He is currently an advisor to the National Water, Green Hydrogen, Electromobility and Circular Economy Committees.

Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya was appointed CEO & Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in June 2020.

As the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Ojiambo launched an ambitious new UN Global Compact strategy to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change.

During her tenure she has also promoted stronger business engagement with UN partners to deliver and finance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Ms. Ojiambo brings to the UN Global Compact more than 20 years’ experience in the public, multilateral and private sectors including as Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, Safaricom Plc in Kenya; and capacity development work in CARE International and United Nations Development Programme Somalia.  Throughout her career, she has cultivated and managed relationships with key business entities and civil society organizations and led the implementation of several public-private partnership initiatives.

Ms. Ojiambo holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Development from McGill University, Canada.

Launched in July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General created as a call to action to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Its ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 13,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 70 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.