Our Team

Climate Safe Lending Network Team

Network building is a team effort. Meet our talented team of change-makers who are transforming the global bank lending system to align lending with the goals of the Paris Climate Accord and a just transition.

Network & Strategy Team

James has served as a member of several national and international advisory groups on sustainable finance, such as Club of Rome, Global Alliance for Business Values, and the Global Steering Committee for the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. He was also one of the founding developers of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking launched in 2019. James currently serves on the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Advisory Panel and UK Transition Plan Taskforce. He has authored several reports and papers on sustainable finance and impact investing and is also a regular speaker at events and conferences on sustainable business and positive impact finance. James is also a tutor with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership for their Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business.

As Climate Safe Lending Network’s Managing Director, Kimberley Jutze provides leadership and team support for all facets of the Climate Safe Lending Network and its initiatives including: strategic direction, fundraising, stakeholder engagement, Network and team management, facilitation and operations management. She works closely with CSLN’s Executive Director and team to ensure progress against project objectives, timelines, and targets.

Her specialty is helping networks and other multi-organizational collaborative groups increase their productivity, engagement of members, and access to funding. Drawing on her organization development and human systems skills, Kimberley partners with networks to develop the strategies, structures, processes, and relationships that move diverse groups to collective action. She excels in forming trusting, collaborative relationships with nonprofit and socially responsible business leaders.

Prior to joining the Climate Safe Lending Network, Kimberley worked in the nonprofit sector for over 20 years in program management and mission support roles. She has also consulted with social justice networks, like National Justice for Our Neighbors, socially responsible business associations, like B Local: Mid-Atlantic Region, and social enterprise accelerators, like Ashoka Changemakers, to help them determine their strategic direction, clarify roles and responsibilities, and create supportive structures and processes for achieving collective goals. Her skill sets include: network building, meeting design and facilitation, team building, strategic planning, fundraising, and project management.

Kimberley has written a case study for the 10th edition of Organization Development and Change, is a regular contributor to SEE Change: The Magazine of Social Entrepreneurship, and was a Nonprofit Radio guest in November 2015 for a show on collective impact. Kimberley has a Master of Science in Organization Development from Pepperdine University and a Master of Arts in International Politics from American University.

As Global Network Activation Specialist, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson leads outreach and engagement efforts for the Climate Safe Lending Network as it seeks to deepen its influence on the equitable transition to a net-zero carbon economy. She brings her experience in strategy design for climate resilience and social impact, as well as environmental sciences and diversity and inclusion. In parallel, Michaela balances her engagement in global conversations on climate and the environment with practical hands-on work in regenerative agriculture and organic urban farming.

Prior to joining Climate Safe Lending Network, Michaela worked with Camber Collective, a social sector strategy consulting firm dedicated to improving climate resilience, public health outcomes, economic opportunities for the poor, and maximizing the effectiveness and funding of the philanthropic sector. Michaela graduated from Stanford University with an MS in Sustainability Science and Practice, a BA in International Relations, and a minor in Modern Languages.

Brought up in Philadelphia, Lizzie Flower moved to the UK in 1995 to complete a degree in History of Art from the University of Manchester.  Prior to that she had worked for the Lotus Development Company in Cambridge MA and started up a small catering company to satisfy, in part, her love of food and entertaining.  She currently lives on a small farm in rural Suffolk UK and works as a Personal Assistant to James Vaccaro.  Her role within CSLN is that of Project Administrator.

Policy Initiative

James has served as a member of several national and international advisory groups on sustainable finance, such as Club of Rome, Global Alliance for Business Values, and the Global Steering Committee for the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. He was also one of the founding developers of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking launched in 2019. James currently serves on the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Advisory Panel and UK Transition Plan Taskforce. He has authored several reports and papers on sustainable finance and impact investing and is also a regular speaker at events and conferences on sustainable business and positive impact finance. James is also a tutor with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership for their Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business.

Learning Lab Initiative

Jon Dennis is the Head of Climate Safe Banking at the Finance Innovation Lab. This role overseas the delivery of the Climate Safe Lending Network’s Climate Safe Learning Lab and Climate Safe Lending Fellowship, alongside other strategic objectives seeking to accelerate the alignment of mainstream finance, including banking, with the 1.5C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

Prior to joining the Lab, Jon worked for WWF UK where he held several senior roles focused on sustainable finance policy and research. He led a successful campaign advocating for mandatory net zero transition plan disclosure for COP26 and represented WWF on the UK Government’s Transition Plan Taskforce. As part of this work, Jon engaged directly with large financial institutions on aspects of climate, including a formal partnership with the global insurer and investor Aviva, where he co-authored a number of influential policy position papers. Before WWF, Jon worked as a researcher at the climate change think tank E3G, focusing on UK and EU sustainable finance policy and regulatory agendas. Between 2013 and 2017, Jon gained foundational experience in the finance sector at the global investment manager Schroders.  

Jon holds a masters in Environmental Management & Policy from Lund University (Sweden) and a Bachelors in Geography from Southampton University. His masters thesis explored the role of venture capital financing in supporting cleantech innovation in the Nordic region.

Jacqueline Lim is an Associate Fellowship Manager responsible for designing and launching the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship in conjunction with the Climate Safe Lending Network and the Finance Innovation Lab.

Jacqueline is also an independent advisor, facilitator and coach working with individuals, organisations, networks and multi-stakeholder groups to inspire and navigate the path to leading equitable and transformative change. As a trained systems coach and practitioner, she brings a deep understanding of systems approaches and tools, and is committed to embedding a deep equity lens across her work. Her expertise spans designing and delivering impactful engagement and learning experiences that facilitate growth, deeper purpose, systemic perspectives and collaborative relationships. 

Organisations she currently collaborates with, or has recently worked with include Liminal, Systems Innovation, She Leads Change, Newton Fund, and the Technology Innovation Agency (South Africa). She is also currently a member of the Expert Group on SDG Investments in Cities convened by the OECD. Previously, Jacqueline led and managed multi-stakeholder projects aimed at systems change at London-based think tank and advisory firm Volans. She started her career in the Singapore Government as a Government Scholar serving as a social worker with young offenders and subsequently as social policy lead working with disadvantaged families. She holds an MBA from the Judge Business School (University of Cambridge), and a Bachelor’s Degree in social work and sociology from the National University of Singapore.

Natalie co-leads the Climate Safe Lending Fellowship in conjunction with the Climate Safe Lending Network and Finance Innovation Lab, where she is an Associate. The Fellowship brings together intrapreneurs in finance and equips them to drive climate positive action.

Alongside this work, Natalie runs Fledge Consultancy, helping purpose-driven founders to embed social and environmental impact at the heart of their start-ups, so that as they grow, so too does the difference they make to society. She is also an ICF accredited coach and regularly facilitates online training.

Natalie brings to the Fellowship skills in programme management, alongside expertise in impact management, in particular from her work with the Social Tech Trust, for whom she develops and delivers support to tech-for-good initiatives as part of programmes such as Microsoft AI for Social Impact.

Previously, Natalie co-designed and led programmes aimed at enabling people working within corporates to create social impact whilst developing their leadership, and at building philanthropists’ understanding of social change and strategic giving.

Design Team

For thirty years, Alisa Gravitz has led Green America, the national green economy organization. Green America develops marketplace solutions to social and environmental problems with a key focus on tackling climate change, building fair trading systems, accelerating corporate sustainability, and growing the green economy. Alisa brings her years of experience and knowledge of sustainability to the Center team. She is deeply involved with the development of strategy for the Center and co-chairs several of the Innovation Networks. 

Alisa is a nationally recognized leader in the social investment and solar industries. She authored Green America's acclaimed Guide to Social Investing and the popular Guide to Community Investing. She co-convened the Solar Circle and co-authored several solar thought-leadership papers including the Solar Opportunity Assessment Report (SOAR), the Solar High-Impact National Energy (SHINE) Project, and the Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study: Reaching 10% Solar by 2025.

Alisa's board service includes Ceres, Positive Future Network, Network for Good, and the Underdog Ventures Foundation. She was on the founding boards of Business for Social Responsibility and the Social Investment Forum. Prior to Green America, Alisa worked on renewable energy and energy efficiency for the Carter administration, and small business and economic development issues in both the public and private sectors. She earned her MBA from Harvard University and her BA in economics and environmental sciences from Brandeis University. 

Jesse Griffiths is CEO at the Finance Innovation Lab, leading the Lab’s work to build a financial system that serves people and planet. Prior to joining the Lab, Jesse was Director of the Development Strategy and Finance Programme at ODI, an international think tank, where he led a research and policy team working on how to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prior to that, Jesse was Director of the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), a network of 50 European civil society organisations (CSOs) working for transformative changes to global and European policies, institutions and structures to ensure an environmentally sustainable financial and economic system that works to eradicate poverty and ensure human rights for all. Before that he was Coordinator of the Bretton Woods Project, a watchdog of the World Bank and IMF, and worked for ActionAid UK on development finance policy. He has also worked for the Department for International Development (DFID) and various other non–governmental organisations, on both development finance and international environmental policy.

Jesse is chair of the board of trustees of Jubilee Debt Campaign, and a trustee of Tax Justice UK. He has a Masters in Finance and Economics from SOAS, a Masters in International Politics from Aberystwyth University, and a Bachelors degree in Politics and Parliamentary Studies from Leeds University.

Leslie Harroun is a creative and dynamic nonprofit leader with entrepreneurial spirit, vision, and an open mind. Leslie is an Executive in Residence and Senior Fellow for Strategic Initiatives at The Democracy Collaborative. Previously, Leslie was the Director and Secretary at Partners for a New Economy where she directed innovation and reform in the banking sector, enterprise structure and governance. Leslie came to Partners for a New Economy from the Oak Foundation, where she developed and managed its North American, European and select global climate change portfolios, as well as its early marine conservation portfolio.

As Global Head of Advisory, Reporting & Engagement at ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Tjeerd Krumpelman has over 15 years of experience in the banking industry. Tjeerd started his career as a private banker and investment advisor at ABN AMRO and was promoted to Head of Investment Team and Director of Preferred Banking. Tjeerd is responsible for ABN AMRO's sustainability reporting. This team advises on developing and implementing sustainability strategy within business lines of the bank, manages relationships with key-stakeholder groups, and reports and communicates progress on sustainability through an integrated report as well as by participating in various benchmarks.