Laurel Hanscom is Chief Executive Officer of Global Footprint Network and its global operations, overseeing the organization’s business operations and strategy (since August 2018).

As CEO of Global Footprint Network, she is charged with finding ways to support the sustainability movement through this work. Whether it is by developing partnerships, promoting Global Footprint Network’s calculators and open data platform, or exploring ways to increase the relevance of our research, she strives to empower people with data.

In addition to driving organizational strategy, she oversees our programs and speaks publicly on sustainability. Her day-to-day engagements include: strategic planning, promoting organizational culture/values, board management, HR/operations oversight, and fundraising/project development.

Since joining Global Footprint Network in 2015, Laurel has been involved in all manner of activities, including helping produce the National Footprint Accounts and authoring scientific articles, to managing projects, to training people in Footprint accounting and lecturing on sustainability, to strategic planning and program design, to representing the organization .

Before joining Global Footprint Network, Laurel worked in the Office of Strategic Information, Research & Planning, at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, DC, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. Her two years in the Ecuadorian Amazon were preceded by a brief career as an environmental analyst at AECOM, specializing in socioeconomic and environmental justice impacts. She holds a BA and MA in geography from San Diego State University, where her research focused on climate change vulnerability and agriculture. Laurel enjoys efficient meetings, roof-top social gatherings, soccer, and really delicious pieces of candy.

Mathis Wackernagel is co-creator of the Ecological Footprint and President of Global Footprint Network. He completed a Ph.D. in community and regional planning with Professor William Rees at the University of British Columbia, where his doctoral dissertation developed the Ecological Footprint concept. Mathis also earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Mathis has worked on sustainability with governments, corporations and international NGOs on six continents and has lectured at more than a hundred universities. He previously served as director of the Sustainability Program at Redefining Progress in Oakland, California, and ran the Centro de Estudios para la Sustentabilidad at Anáhuac University in Xalapa, Mexico. Mathis has authored and contributed to more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, numerous articles, reports and various books on sustainability that focus on embracing resource limits and developing metrics for sustainability, including Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth; Sharing Nature’s Interest;  Der Footprint: Die Welt neu vermessen; Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget; and WWF International’s Living Planet Report.

Mathis’ awards include the 2018 World Sustainability Award, the 2015 IAIA Global Environment Award, being a 2014 ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductee, the 2013 Prix Nature Swisscanto, 2012 Blue Planet Prize, 2012 Binding Prize for Nature Conservation, the 2012 Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award of the International Society for Ecological Economics, the 2011 Zayed International Prize for the Environment (jointly awarded with UNEP), an honorary doctorate from the University of Berne in 2007, a 2007 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, 2006 WWF Award for Conservation Merit and 2005 Herman Daly Award of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics. He was also selected as number 19 on the en(rich) list identifying the 100 top inspirational individuals whose contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures (www.enrichlist.org). John Elkington identified Mathis among the “Zeronaut 50” Roll of Honor, i.e., leading pioneers who are driving the world’s most significant problems to zero. From 2011 to 2015, Mathis was also the Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of 1956 Visiting Professor at Cornell University.

David Lin leads Global Footprint Network’s research team, and contributes to the production, development, and improvement of the National Footprint Accounts. Prior to joining Global Footprint Network, David earned his Ph.D. and worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Systems Ecology Laboratory at the University of Texas at El Paso. His research focused on integrating models of ecosystem function with land cover change analysis in Arctic ecosystems. David is a native of California, and holds a BS in ecology, behavior, and evolution from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Debora has written her final master dissertation on “Tourism and Sustainable Development: toward a Tourism Net Impact Index” in synergy with Global Footprint Network, IUCN, WWF-Med and CAST Rimini. The research is a review assessment on social, economic and environmental indicators (Footprint included) aiming to work as a baseline to develop an integrated tool assessing tourism’s impact. Debora holds an international master degree in Tourism Economics and Management. She has former working experience in tourism: as a trainee for the European Institute of Cultural Routes (Erasmus +) and the Italian Institute of Culture in Shanghai (MAECI-MIUR-CRUI scholarship), as selling and reservation manager for a local travel agency promoting local tourism in Maldives. Having always been passionate about sustainability, she recently joined the Global Footprint Network to support the research team in the implementation of tourism-related projects and other projects in the Mediterranean region.

Amanda Diep supports Global Footprint Network’s communication and outreach efforts and manages the organization’s website and social media channels. She holds an interdisciplinary master’s degree in weather, climate, and society from the University of Miami in Florida and a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from San Jose State University. Her prior experience includes working for the Alameda County Green Business Program, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Everglades National Park.

Alessandro Galli is a Senior Scientist and the Mediterranean-MENA Program Director at Global Footprint Network. As Senior Scientist, he contributes to research on the Ecological Footprint methodology and technical publications. His research analyzes the historical changes in human dependence on natural resources and ecological services through the use of sustainability indicators and environmental accounting methods. Previously, he worked as technical adviser on the Al Basama Al Beeiya (Ecological Footprint) Initiative in the United Arab Emirates with the Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS-WWF) and the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD).

Alessandro holds a Ph.D. in chemical sciences from Siena University. He is the lead author of the Mediterranean Ecological Footprint Trends report and co-author of several publications, including 13 articles in peer-reviewed journals; the article “Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent Declines” published in the leading journal Science; and WWF’s 2008, 2012, and 2016 Living Planet Reports. Alessandro is also member of the editorial board of the journal Resources: Natural Resources and Management. He is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the MedSea Foundation and was a MARSICO Visiting Scholar at University of Denver, Colorado, USA, in 2011 and a visiting scholar at Cardiff University, Wales, in February 2016.

Katsunori Iha is a research economist, responsible for tracking Ecological Footprints in global supply chains through the use of the multi-regional input-output model, which also applies to sub-national and personal calculator projects. Currently, he is working on developing the computable general equilibrium for Ecological Footprint (CGE-EF) model to assess the impact of different policies on nature. His next project will be building a platform to connect interdisciplinary scholars and leaders in Asian regions that are facing sustainability challenges. He holds an M.S. in economics, specializing in environmental economics, from Okinawa International University, Japan.

Laetitia Mailhes is passionate about bringing complex, critical stories and messages to the world with a view to causing a positive impact. In her role at Global Footprint Network, she focuses on developing strategies, relationships, and content that enhance the accessibility and relevance of the organization’s findings so they can become integrated in the public debate.

Laetitia boasts more than 20 years of experience in journalism, communications, and advocacy work. The Silicon Valley correspondent of the French Financial Times for 10 years, she also had her work published in business magazine Stratégies and French national daily Libération among others. She was also a regular contributor to various radio news programs in France and Switzerland. The co-author of two books about food systems, she has written extensively in English and French about sustainability issues. Her writing has appeared on GreenBiz, Care2, MomsRising.org, and more.

A Sciences-Po Paris graduate, Laetitia earned her M.Litt. in International Security and Conflict Resolution at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and her M.A. in International Journalism at City University, London.

Serena first connected with Global Footprint Network in 2010 during the Footprint Forum in Colle di val d’Elsa (Siena), Italy. Since then, she became a passionate Ecological Footprint researcher, focusing her work on resource and natural capital accounting methods, with a particular focus on carbon measurements and the distinction between humans’ use of stock vs. flows of natural capital. As a member of the research team, she contributes to research on the Ecological Footprint methodology and technical publications, as well as to Footprint applications at the national and local scale within a Mediterranean context. Serena holds a Ph.D. in Earth, Environment and Polar Sciences from the University of Siena.

Michelle Shaffer joined the Global Footprint Network team in spring of 2016. Prior to joining the organization, she worked for various arts and environmental nonprofits in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the Bay Area. Born and raised in Maryland, Michelle fell in love with California’s incredible outdoor destinations and put down roots in the Bay Area in 2009.  She holds a BA from Wagner College.

Loredana  Serban manages operations in the Geneva office. She has experience working with nonprofit organizations and the private sector in the areas of finance, operations, and program management. Originally from Romania, Loredana received a master’s in financial management and a BA in economics. She also serves as Treasurer for the Organization of Women in International Trade.

Leopold is a new researcher at Global Footprint Network. Originally from Belgium by way of Brazil and California, Leopold’s passion for the environment comes from his love for cities and transit. With a background in engineering and urban planning, he believes strongly that cities hold the key to a fair and sustainable future. Leopold holds an MS in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley and a BS in Environmental Systems Engineering from Stanford.

Robert Williams manages the Global Footprint Network computer network and IT department and is responsible for the computer programming that is required to calculate the National Footprint Accounts. He is also responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of the database systems, which hold the National Footprint Accounts data. Robert has a broad background in programming, database management and systems administration. He is also the owner of Cosmetto, an information technology (IT) consulting company, that provides custom IT services to small businesses in the Bay Area. Robert has certificates in Java and C++ programming from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a B.S. in computer information systems (summa cum laude) from Excelsior College.

Keith Tuffley is Global Co-Head of the Sustainability & Corporate Transitions Group at CITI bank. He provides advice to CEOs, CFOs, and Boards on transitioning their businesses towards a net-zero emissions and 100% sustainable future. He also advises on corporate strategy, innovation, M&A transactions, and sustainable finance solutions, to those companies that wish to take advantage of the opportunities created by the Sustainability Revolution.

Keith is also founder and CEO of NEUW Ventures based in Lausanne, Switzerland. NEUW is an entrepreneurial impact investing company, focused on the creation and financing of new businesses which reduce the human ecological footprint and accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable economic system. From 2014 to 2017 he was also CEO of the B Team, an NGO composed of over 28 CEOs of global companies, leading entrepreneurs, and civil society leaders, to drive a better way of doing business co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. He was an active participant in the Paris Climate Agreement process and the development of the latest UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Prior to founding NEUW, Keith spent over 20 years in finance, investment banking and the capital markets. He has advised major corporations and governments in Australia and globally on corporate strategy, M&A transactions, equity capital raisings, valuations and privatisations. Keith served as Managing Director, Head of Investment Banking, and a Member of the Management Committee and the Board of Goldman Sachs in Australia. He was also based in London with Goldman Sachs as Head of the Industrials Sector Group across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Keith is a Director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and a Member of its Chairman’s Panel, a Director of Bush Heritage Australia, a Governor of WWF-Australia, Co-Chairman of Galactic Unite, and a Board Member of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.

Keith has completed Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Laws and Masters of Laws degrees at Sydney University; the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD, France; and the Goldman Sachs Non-Profit Leadership Program at Harvard University. He is currently conducting research at Cambridge University as part of its Sustainability Leadership Program.

Mathis Wackernagel is co-creator of the Ecological Footprint and President of Global Footprint Network. He completed a Ph.D. in community and regional planning with Professor William Rees at the University of British Columbia, where his doctoral dissertation developed the Ecological Footprint concept. Mathis also earned a mechanical engineering degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Mathis has worked on sustainability with governments, corporations and international NGOs on six continents and has lectured at more than a hundred universities. He previously served as director of the Sustainability Program at Redefining Progress in Oakland, California, and ran the Centro de Estudios para la Sustentabilidad at Anáhuac University in Xalapa, Mexico. Mathis has authored and contributed to more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, numerous articles, reports and various books on sustainability that focus on embracing resource limits and developing metrics for sustainability, including Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth; Sharing Nature’s Interest;  Der Footprint: Die Welt neu vermessen; Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget; and WWF International’s Living Planet Report.

Mathis’ awards include the 2018 World Sustainability Award, the 2015 IAIA Global Environment Award, being a 2014 ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductee, the 2013 Prix Nature Swisscanto, 2012 Blue Planet Prize, 2012 Binding Prize for Nature Conservation, the 2012 Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award of the International Society for Ecological Economics, the 2011 Zayed International Prize for the Environment (jointly awarded with UNEP), an honorary doctorate from the University of Berne in 2007, a 2007 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, 2006 WWF Award for Conservation Merit and 2005 Herman Daly Award of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics. He was also selected as number 19 on the en(rich) list identifying the 100 top inspirational individuals whose contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures (www.enrichlist.org). John Elkington identified Mathis among the “Zeronaut 50” Roll of Honor, i.e., leading pioneers who are driving the world’s most significant problems to zero. From 2011 to 2015, Mathis was also the Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of 1956 Visiting Professor at Cornell University.

Susan Burns is co-founder and former Director of Finance for Change at Global Footprint Network. Over the last decade, while serving as CEO, Susan has built Global Footprint Network into one of the leading and most respected scientific organizations in the world addressing global ecological limits. She now leads the Finance for Change Initiative, advising governments and financial institutions on incorporating ecological risk into financial risk analysis and government policy.

Prior to launching Global Footprint Network, Susan founded the pioneering sustainability consulting firm Natural Strategies, advising such companies as Mitsubishi Electric, Genencor, and Lowes. She has over 18 years of experience working with more than 50 corporations and other organizations on a variety of sustainability-related issues from forest policy to business strategy. Susan led the development of the screening methodology for Portfolio 21, the US’s first mutual fund dedicated to environmental sustainability. She has spoken widely on the subject of sustainability, human development, and corporate responsibility, having delivered keynote and other lectures at over 100 national and international events.

In 2007 Susan, along with Mathis Wackernagel, won the Skoll Award on Social Entrepreneurship. She was selected as honorable mention on the en(rich) list identifying the top inspirational individuals whose contributions enrich paths to sustainable futures (www.enrichlist.org). John Elkington identified Susan in 2012 among the “Zeronaut 50” Roll of Honor, i.e., leading pioneers who are driving the world’s most significant problems to zero. Both Susan Burns and Mathis Wackernagel are 2014 ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductees. Susan holds a B.S. in environmental engineering.

Julia Marton-Lefèvre was the Director General of International Union for Conservation of Nature until January 2015. IUCN is the world’s largest conservation/environment membership organisation. As Director General she was also CEO of IUCN’s Secretariat of over 1000 persons with offices in some 50 countries.

Prior to her eight years at IUCN, she was Rector of the UN-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) with its main campus in Costa Rica. UPEACE is a graduate-level international university providing education, training and research on issues related to peace, conflict, and environmental security. Earlier offices held by Ms. Marton-Lefèvre include the Executive Director of LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) International, a programme established by The Rockefeller Foundation to bring together and train mid-career leaders from all parts of the world and from several sectors to improve their leadership skills around the issues of sustainable development.  Ms. Marton-Lefevre also served for many years as the Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU) with its headquarters in Paris.  ICSU is non-governmental membership organization of national academies of science and international unions of scientific disciplines.

Her present board memberships include the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Oxford University’s  James Martin School, the Global Institute of Sustainability (Arizona State University),  the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Turkana Basin Institute,  the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Ms. Marton-Lefevre has received the prestigious AAAS Award for International Cooperation in Science, the ProNatura award  by the government of Hungary, the  Presidential citation from the Republic of Korea, and has been honored as a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur  by the government of France and as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre de Saint-Charles by HSH Prince Albert of Monaco.

Alexa works towards deep systems change through the creation of transformational leadership and learning programs, guiding participants into mindsets of regenerative thinking, collective intelligence and emotional wisdom. As the co-founder of Atlas Unbound, she creates, leads and facilitates immersive experiences into the wilderness in Mexico, guiding CEOs, entrepreneurs, leaders and change-makers in learning and innovating from the wisdom of nature’s systems.

Her professional career spans from the realms of immersive experience design to creative strategy, consulting, storytelling and innovation, specifically applied to sustainability and climate-related projects. Alexa is also a passionate writer, photographer, communicator and strategist, and has hosted several exhibitions of her work curated around themes of nature connection and surrendering to the beauty of the wild. Her focus is on creating inspiring content relating to conservation and the climate crisis.

Sandra Browne is the Chief Operating Officer of Industrial Logic, Inc. She also served as Global Footprint Network’s COO from 2011 to 2018, where she created HR processes for recruiting and performance management, aided the creation of a revised strategic plan, and implemented systems for tracking operations and finance analytics to enable timely, data-driven decisions.

Sandra has 20 years of experience as a business operations executive for technical and scientific organizations. She earned her MBA from UC Berkeley with an emphasis in organizational behavior and strategy. Throughout her career Sandra has focused on creating high-performance cultures that are financially stable and data-driven.

Prior to working at Footprint Network, Sandra managed company-wide operations for several consulting companies, including a multi-office transportation engineering firm and a global agile software development company. She was also the VP of Engineering for a software consulting firm, where she managed custom software development projects for enterprise clients.

Sandra’s interests include global travel and volleyball. She lives in California with her husband and two children.

Rosanna Marie Neil serves as Policy Counsel at the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) and helps to lead NAMA’s ocean, fisheries and food policy work. Her advocacy work involves managing relations with congressional offices and collaborating with allies to address a range of issues, including industrial fish farming and economic impacts of fisheries policies on independent fishermen.

Previously, Rosanna directed a nonprofit program called the Sustainable World Initiative, where she was actively involved in advocacy at the United Nations on international environmental policy, and played an influential role in shaping the global development agenda. Earlier in her career, she worked in private practice for several years, specializing in commercial litigation, international trade, international arbitration, and antitrust and competition, while maintaining a robust docket of pro bono cases. She also completed a year-long public interest fellowship at a civil rights organization.

Rosanna earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Howard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. During her legal studies, Rosanna was deeply engaged in international human rights and gained substantial clinical experience, including civil rights advocacy in Argentina, aboriginal rights advocacy in Australia, and anti-apartheid litigation in South Africa.

Ivo Knoepfel advises foundations, individuals and businesses in implementing investment strategies that contribute tangibly to environmental and social impact goals.  In his role as founding partner of advisory firm onValues, he has been a trusted advisor of leading families and institutions for over 20 years, building on his pioneering contributions to the development of sustainable finance in the 1990s and impact investing at the beginning of the century.

As board member of the PeaceNexus Foundation, Global Footprint Network and the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth at University of Zürich he provides strategic advice in areas as diverse as peacebuilding, development within planetary boundaries and innovative sustainable finance education.  Climate change has also been a focus area of his work.  As Climate Change Advisor of the Swiss Re Group already in 1995 he held what was probably the first position in the financial sector dedicated to the issue.  He contributed important innovations in sustainable finance by developing the Dow Jones Sustainability Index during his time at Sustainable Asset Management (today part of Robeco) and early impact investing strategies in microfinance during his time at responsAbility.

Ivo Knoepfel has led or contributed to a range of collaborative initiatives aimed at strengthening the financial sector’s commitment to sustainability. Notably, he was responsible for coordinating the financial sector’s contribution to the UN Global Compact, and in that role coined the term ESG investing. He was also an advisor to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in developing guidelines for investments in particularly sensitive areas such as microfinance, commodities and farmland.  He has also contributed to launching Swiss Sustainable Finance and published a large number of reports and articles on sustainable and impact investing.

He holds a Masters and a PhD degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and wrote his PhD thesis on the environmental life-cycle analysis of energy systems.  This was followed by post-graduate studies in environmental law, economics and science at the University of Zurich. He is a certified international investment analyst and Swiss portfolio manager by training and has recently concluded post-graduate studies in applied philosophy that provide new inspiration for his advisory work. He likes to spend time in nature and sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.