Could you tell us about your role at Carbon Direct and how you got involved in sustainability?
I’m the Chief Operating Officer for Carbon Direct, which I joined two and a half years ago.
My background is in public policy and public health – I spent 15 years working on infectious diseases like HIV, malaria and TB in places like Rwanda, Namibia and Haiti, then later led government affairs for CDC’s COVID-19 response.
I completely randomly applied to Carbon Direct on a whim, thinking: “You work on complicated policy issues, you have smart scientists and you’re a growing organisation. I don’t know much about climate, but I’m good at learning.”
They took a chance on me and created a policy and strategy role that’s allowed me to grow since then.
What is the origin story of Carbon Direct?
Carbon Direct was founded in 2019 by Jonathan Goldberg, who comes from a commodities trading background.
He kept meeting scientists like Julio Friedman who convinced him about opportunities in climate and carbon credits.
When COVID hit, they approached Microsoft saying, “We have all these smart scientists. How can we support your climate ambitions?”
Microsoft became our flagship customer and very trusted partner.
