Project Drawdown expands team to accelerate global deployment of capital to proven climate solutions
New staff strengthen Project Drawdown’s support for private-sector efforts to halt climate change.
Key Takeaways
- Lauren Gifford, Ph.D., and Elena Essa have joined the Project Drawdown team.
- The new staff members will help philanthropists, foundations, and mission-driven investors accelerate investment in the most effective and efficient climate solutions.
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Project Drawdown has welcomed Lauren Gifford, Ph.D., and Elena Essa to its private sector engagement team to expand efforts to mobilize billions of dollars toward proven climate solutions.
Working with Amanda Bielawski, Ph.D., Director of Global Strategic Partnerships, Gifford and Essa will create pathways for philanthropists, foundations, and mission-driven investors to accelerate investment in the most effective climate solutions identified by Drawdown Explorer. Their work will focus on developing partnerships, decision-support tools, and thought leadership that help guide large-scale capital toward high-impact science-based climate strategies.
“Mobilizing capital at scale is essential to effectively address the climate crisis,” Bielawski says. “Lauren and Elena bring deep expertise and strategic insight that will help connect funders with solutions that are scientifically proven to deliver the most effective and efficient climate progress.”
Lauren Gifford, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, Climate Philanthropy and Investing, joins Project Drawdown to guide philanthropies, investors, and institutions in aligning capital with science-based, high-integrity, and equitable climate strategies. Gifford previously served as Director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center and Assistant Professor of Carbon Management at Colorado State University. Beyond academia, Gifford has advised governments, foundations, NGOs, and Fortune 100 companies on climate finance and policy.
Elena Essa, Program Manager for Global Strategic Partnerships, provides strategic management of the program to build ambitious partnerships across the private sector to effectively scale climate solutions. She comes to Project Drawdown from RMI, where she led technoeconomic, policy, and strategic research across the Carbon-Free Electricity Program and Climate-Aligned Industries Program.
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About Project Drawdown
Project Drawdown is the world’s leading guide to science-based climate solutions. Our mission is to drive meaningful climate action around the world. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown is funded by individual and institutional donations.
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