Current and past collaborators
Sebastian
Board Member
Sebastian has extensive experience in engineering, brand and marketing strategy as well as start-up investment.
He has grown up spending half of his life in Europe and the UK and half in Asia (Japan, Taiwan & PRC), speaking some of the languages but more importantly through the languages has gained insight into these cultures. In order to mitigate the scale of climate breakdown, Sebastian actively nurtures and manages investments with his family in moving towards regenerative solutions in food, energy, business models and finance. He believes all these require a new story for humanity which will be key to shift at scale and in time.
Surbhi
Strategic Partnerships
Surbhi leads Strategic Partnerships for Ripple Research. Leveraging her multi-disciplinary background in engineering, marketing, and public policy, she combines analytical thinking with collaborative leadership to foster cross-sector relationships that drive social impact. She has spent the last 10 years working with early-stage startups and multi-national companies, providing advisory support to encourage long-term organizational success and growth.
With a strong interest in socially inclusive sustainable development, Surbhi believes that identifying and addressing broad-based systemic challenges is the key to addressing complex global issues.
Rufo
Board Member
Rufo is a British actor and poet based in Paris, known for blending his experience in film, theatre, and television with a strong commitment to social impact and environmental stewardship, particularly focusing on issues related to fossil fuel divestment and agroecological investment.
He is an alumnus of University of Iowa, and University of Oxford where he studied English Literature. As an author, Rufo's work has been published and recognised worldwide. He has served on the editorial board for various literary magazines, has taught creative writing at NYU Paris and was nominated twice for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. He has been part of several experimental cinematic projects that have premiered at notable film festivals, further solidifying his cross-disciplinary influence.
Ravi
Managing Director and Co-founder
Over the last 16 years, Ravi has worked with and advised Fortune 500 companies, multilateral and bilateral organizations, universities, government agencies and startups on strategy and social-impact in Asia, Europe and Africa. He has held various positions at UBS Investment Bank, World Intellectual Property Organisation, One Acre Fund, Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency and the Economic Policy Analysis Unit of the PM's Office in Ethiopia.
He has significant strategic and operational expertise in technology, smallholder agriculture, education and capacity building and investment promotion in light-manufacturing and clean technology. Prior to Ripple Research, Ravi also launched and scaled an award-winning edtech startup in Africa. He holds a Bachelor's in Computer Science Engineering and an MBA from Université de Genève and IIM-A.
Durgesh
Policy and Research
Durgesh is a research associate at Ripple Research and holds a Master's degree in Development Studies from TISS Mumbai and BTech in Information technology from SRM Lucknow.
Before joining Ripple, he worked with the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), for a 3-month field research project as a research associate. He also worked with AIIMS Rishikesh on a CSR project, designing proposals for emergency mobility vehicles. A strong inclination to work on data-driven approaches and his interest in the intersection of policy, governance and technology brought him to Ripple.
Jack
Board Member
Jack’s international career in the energy sector involved extensive exposure to global leaders and issues. His current focus is on raising awareness and consciousness of the challenges facing humanity and what is needed to address these global issues effectively - in line with Einstein’s famous dictum “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
Pragnya
Policy and Research
Pragnya leads Policy and Research at Ripple Research. A lawyer by training with a Master’s in Public Policy, she has collaborated with diverse actors, including governments, legislative bodies, grassroots groups, and international organizations. She was part of the prestigious LAMP Fellowship and has earned recognition as a Climate Leader by the Women4Climate programme under C40 Cities and Fondation L'oreal's Women Climate Collective.
Pragnya believes that good solutions come from listening first, and then applying robust evidence and data to drive clear, actionable outcomes.
Florian
Board Member
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Auret
Co-founder
Auret van Heerden has been working on sustainability issues in global value chains for over 40 years. He started in South Africa as a two-term president of the National Union of South African Students, continued as the head of the Special Action Programme on Export Processing Zones (EPZs) at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva, and then as President and CEO of the Fair Labor Association in Washington DC.
He is now based in Switzerland and works with public and private sector clients in the apparel and footwear, electronics, food and extractive sectors. Auret teaches on leadership and exec-ed programmes in China, Switzerland and the USA, and serves on a number of non-profit Boards, including CSR Turkey and the Fair Wage Network.
Binoy
Board Member
Binoy is a businessman, born in London, who has lived in UK, Japan and Dubai, and who also has strong ties to Kenya and India. His interests include advising companies on cross-cultural issues in M&A transactions, supporting charitable initiatives in education and healthcare, and the sound of table tennis balls.
Amy
Strategic partnerships
Amy is a strategist, researcher and writer focusing on the nexus between sustainable business, fashion, innovation and technology. She works as a consultant for a variety of organisations ranging from environmental think tanks and research advisory firms, through to sustainable tech start-ups in the energy and fashion space.
In addition to being a Forbes contributor, Amy is the founder of Sustainable & Social, a platform dedicated to deconstructing complex climate issues for a millennial audience. Alongside her Master’s degree in International Business from Universitá Bocconi which focused on sustainability and CSR, she is certified by Cambridge University for Sustainable Supply Chain Management.