@AidKonekt and @Konektid CEO @Mike Shanley was joined by Gillian Caldwell, Chief Climate Officer and Deputy Assistant Administrator at USAID, along with Greg Shanahan, Operational Climate Change and Sustainability Officer, to delve into the crucial subject of climate change. Our guests shed light on USAID’s investments in climate, and how partners can best be positioned in the market to support these crucial projects. 

  

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [02:39] Gillian discusses USAID’s climate strategy and what they have learned early on
• [09:00] Gillian talks about how she sees key partners working together and the their approach to climate mitigation and adaptation activities
• [14:07] Greg shares how USAID approaches sustainability internally in their operations
• [20:34] Discussion on how climate strategy and localization strategy work together, how important projects are being implemented and how focus groups involving partners have been valuable
• [31:23] Gillian and Greg highlight the strategies they see in the future and they answer questions from listeners about how targets and their progress are being shared, Power Africa, youth engagement, and will AI play a role in meeting climate strategies
• [48:15] Discussion on how the private sector can step up and participate in the adaptation 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Update on first year of USAID climate strategy implementation
• USAID is also focused on reducing the climate impact of its internal operations
• Climate strategy is implemented through the framework of USAID’s localization focus

 

RESOURCES:

Aid Market with Mike Shanley - LinkedIn

USAID - Gillian Caldwell - Website

Gillian Caldwell - Twitter

Climate Strategy - Website

 

BIOGRAPHIES:

 

Gillian Caldwell serves as the Chief Climate Officer and is responsible for directing and overseeing all climate and environment work across the agency. She also serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator, overseeing DDI’s Center for Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure and the Office of Environmental and Social Risk Management.

Ms. Caldwell has worked to protect human rights and the environment throughout her career. Prior to joining USAID, she served as the CEO of Global Witness, which has a focus on tackling climate change and deploys investigations into corruption and natural resource extraction to drive systems change worldwide. From 2007-2010, she launched and led 1Sky, a highly collaborative cross-sector campaign with over 600 allied organizations to pass legislation in the U.S. to address the climate crisis. Gillian also has extensive experience consulting in the areas of strategic planning and organizational development with over 70 non-profits, foundations, and universities.

Ms. Caldwell has a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University, where she was recognized as a Public Interest Law Scholar. She has received a series of awards recognizing her work as a leading global Social Entrepreneur.

 

Greg Shanahan - Senior management analyst / internal consultant and operational climate/sustainability team lead with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). I began my career as an educator, a role through which I immediately took on significant responsibility and rapidly grew my leadership and management skills in a fast-paced, dynamic, and people-centric environment. Following my interest in public policy and administration, I joined the U.S. Government as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) and have been a civil servant in several federal agencies, including USDA, ED, HHS, and USAID.

I'm passionate about solving complex problems in collaborative, multicultural, inclusive, and globally-minded organizations with a measurable social impact. I also enjoy helping others grow and work toward achieving their goals. I'm a high performer who drives results through strong interpersonal and cross-functional relationships, data-driven decisions, clear communications, and exceptional organization.

I enjoy traveling, learning new things, and spending quality time with family and friends in my free time.

Networking is a professional value of mine. I enjoy meeting new people, learning about others' career paths and interests, and helping others on their journeys. Please reach out if you're keen to connect.