Global Head, Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems
Andrew is also UNDP's Lead Natural Resource Economist, guiding UNDP programmes economic and market based approaches to global environmental problems. Andrew was charged with establishing GCP in 2009 and has since built up the team and programme. Andrew leads the programme with his global team and continues to develop new strategic initiatives and partnerships for GCP. Andrew is also a regular speaker at international conferences. Prior to joining UNDP, Andrew was a Senior Economic Consultant with Environmental Management Resources, a global consultancy working on a broad range of natural resource management and policy projects funded by international donor agencies and multinationals.
Nicolas currently focuses on leading the effective collaborative action and advisory support pillars of the FACS team. Nicolas has 25 years’ experience working on Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems. He has worked for the European Commission, FAO, UN-OCHA and various NGOs. In his last position, Nicolas was the Director of Standards and Assurance for the Better Cotton Initiative, a multi-stakeholder initiative focusing on the promotion of more sustainable production practices in this sector.
Pascal has more than 30 years international experience with multinationals and NGOs working on environment, governance and education, 7 of which with the UNDP FACS Team focusing on strategic planning, organizational learning, and knowledge management. He is the mastermind behind the UNDP FACS Community and is engaged in several Food and Agriculture Commodities programmes for UNDP. Before working with UNDP, Pascal was on the senior management team of Transparency International, leading program and regional teams in support of a network of 100+ independent national entities.
Christian is a senior development professional with a 20 years track record in international cooperation and a thematic focus on value chain development, sustainable use of biodiversity and food systems transformation. Before joining UNDP, Christian spent 10+ years with Switzerland’s economic development cooperation (SECO), including as director of Economic Cooperation and Development of SECO in Colombia. As an independent consultant, he advised bilateral and multilateral donors, private sector companies and NGOs along the project cycle (project formulation, evaluation and implementation advisory).
Vanessa has extensive experience in the areas of administration, procurement, and management. Prior to working with the UNDP's Green Commodities Programme, Vanessa worked in the private sector for different multinationals, including, for example, Philip Morris International, Citibank and Amadeus IT Group.
Davide leads the Communications team, providing strategic communication advice and oversight at both global and programme level. Prior to joining UNDP, Davide worked for over 10 years in the food, agriculture and health sector at EU level, designing and implementing public affairs and outreach campaigns at pan-European level for both private sector companies and NGOs. After various experiences including the European Commission and European Investment Bank, he worked as Head of Media & Corporate Communications for EUFIC, a leading non-profit inspiring people to live a healthier and more sustainable life.
Aleksandra is managing the operations of the Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS) Community by facilitating collaboration, learning, knowledge and resource-sharing among its 500+ members. During her time with UNDP, Aleksandra was the project manager of the 2021 Good Growth Conference and developed several management systems and internal communications processes for the FACS team and formerly the Green Commodities Programme. She also designed and coordinated a delegation visit for a group of stakeholders under UNDP Nepal’s Rule of Law and Human Rights Protection System Programme (RoLHR). Prior to joining UNDP, Aleksandra worked for five years in Germany for the leading coalition against corruption - Transparency International (TI) where she coordinated several projects and campaigns. Aleksandra studied both at University of Warsaw and Université catholique de Louvain and holds a Master’s degree in Psychology.
Alice is a Program Support and Coordination Officer for the FACS Team. Her work focuses on the intersection of inner development and food systems transformation in the Conscious Food Systems Alliance. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked in corporate sustainability as a researcher and consultant, supporting companies on strategy design, stakeholder engagement, and communications. She also has experience working with environmental NGOs such as the Yachana Foundation (Ecuador), the Pachamama Alliance (USA), and Ashden (UK). She holds a Masters degree in International Development and Food Systems from the Institute of Development Studies and a BA International Relations from the University of Leeds.
Andrea leads the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) work of GCP. He holds a BA in International Economics and Politics, and a MSc in Management and Philosophy. Prior to joining the team, Andrea interned, worked and volunteered in different capacities with UN agencies, and local and International NGOs, working with global and country programmes, as well as community-based initiatives. While completing his graduate studies, Andrea started his career in the development sector with UNDP, and moved onto an assignment with the Water and Energy Cluster at UNOPS. Most recently, Andrea coordinated the M&E work of Action Against Hunger in Palestine, working across different programmatic areas such as food security and livelihoods, WASH, protection, education, shelter and disaster risk reduction. Right before joining UNDP, he led the final evaluation of a community empowerment, education and legal aid project in Western Georgia, with the Danish Refugee Council. Andrea grew up in a rural community, and through his personal experience, studies and work has learned to appreciate the complex environmental and socio-economic challenges associated with food and agricultural commodity systems.
Bianca is our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Analyst. Previously she was part of the Operations and Humanitarian team at Save the Children Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean supporting a project with M&E and country offices with KPI analysis and project management. She also interned on our team in Data Analysis and at the Mission of Panama to the United Nations. Before joining the development sector, she worked in the private sector in quality systems, data analytics and project management in national and multinational companies.
Charles advises on how ‘systems thinking’ approaches can increase the effectiveness of our work on sector transformation in food and agriculture in order to address critical climate, biodiversity and livelihood issues – particularly by strengthening multi-stakeholder collaboration for systemic change. He previously led the private sector engagement work for GCP. Prior to UNDP, he spent 15 years working as an entrepreneur and consultant across a range of sustainability challenges, following a decade in the finance sector.
Christina Archer is the Senior Private Sector and Partnerships Adviser in UNDP’s FACS team where she leads our work on engaging with the private sector to bring about the change needed for sustainable and equitable food systems. She has been working on issues linked to food and agriculture for over 30 years across Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa, ranging from food security and livelihoods strategy development, child labour in corporate supply chains, impact assessment, and establishment of corporate sustainable sourcing programmes. She has worked with a wide spectrum of non-governmental organisations, smallholder producer groups, government agencies, and small community groups, and in the last 15 years has focused on working with companies in the food and drinks sectors on their smallholder supply chains.
Greta is a UNDP FACS’ Programme Coordination Associate Officer, focusing on coordination and implementation of several initiatives under the FACS portfolio, including private sector engagement. Greta joined the team in 2021, and prior to that she worked with other international organizations on migration and transnational organised crime, as well as for in the consulting sector on sustainability reporting and auditing. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations, with major in International Economics and a Diploma in Global Business Management.
Expert in sustainable food systems. He served as Minister of Production in Peru. He is a member of the team of experts that is developing the report on strengthening urban food systems for the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. He has advised international organizations on global food systems. Previously, he was the executive director of Ethos, a Mexico City-based think tank that works on governance and sustainable development. He frequently writes and speaks internationally on the intersection of politics and food. He was a Professor in Global Food Systems at the Universidad Católica del Perú and the Universidad Pacífico del Perú in 2022. Harvard Master in Public Policy; Yale World Fellow; Stanford Fisher Fellow.
Lavinia is UNDP FACS’ Programme Management Officer, focusing on coordination and implementation for several initiatives under the FACS portfolio. Lavinia joined the team in 2019 when she initially worked on monitoring and evaluation, resource mobilization and private engagement, as well as programme management and administration. Prior to joining UNDP, Lavinia worked with the Italian Embassy in Australia and volunteered for several years in non-profit organizations focused on human rights and local community involvement. She holds a degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in International Relations.
Leif is Senior Commodities Adviser in UNDP’s Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS) team. He manages commodity projects in coffee, cocoa, palm oil, cattle and soy and oversees country interventions in half a dozen countries around the world. Leif advises project teams and UNDP Country Offices on sustainable agricultural production and supply chains, landscape and forest conservation and multi-stakeholder collaborative processes, and he maintains relationships with key donors to secure continued investment in FACS’ portfolio of projects. Leif has worked in the field of sustainable commodity production and trade for almost 20 years. Before joining UNDP, he was heading the Rainforest Alliance’s coffee program and managed the GEF-funded flagship project “Biodiversity Conservation in Coffee” implemented by UNDP.
María manages global communications for the UNDP's Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS) and the Good Growth Partnership, focusing on digital communications, audiovisual production and design. Prior to joining the UNDP, María worked at the Corporate Fiber and Materials Benchmark, at Textile Exchange, and collaborated with International non-profit organizations focused on sustainable development and human rights. María holds a double degree on International Relations and Journalism, from Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, and a Master's degree on Digital Marketing.
Matthew is a Senior Private Sector Advisor, Food and Agricultural Commodity Systems (FACS) with UNDP where he develops and manages partnerships with the private sector to strengthen sustainable commodity production and support the transformation of global food systems. He has a master’s degree in international environmental policy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Prior to UNDP, Matthew worked for over 5 years at the World Wildlife Fund where he supported engagements with the private sector on sustainable agricultural supply chains. He has also worked as a consultant in a diverse set of roles for the Global Environment Facility, UNEP, UN Women and the Government of Jamaica. Matthew is an amateur coffee roaster and was invited by the Jamaica Tourist Board to demonstrate coffee roasting at the 2019 and 2020 Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festivals. He is a dual U.S. and Jamaican citizen and lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife, son, three dogs and a cat.
Noemi is the Community Manager of the Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA). She focuses on relationship-building among several stakeholders in the agri-food sector and in the field of consciousness and inner development. She holds a Degree in International Law and a Master’s Degree in Development Economics. Prior to joining CoFSA, Noemi worked with NGOs, supporting Livelihood and Climate Resilience projects in The Gambia and Solomon Islands. She is a yoga and meditation teacher, and a musician and story-teller. She is enthusiastic about discovering self-healing practices - that can support one's own evolution and growth - and interested in experimenting with new ways of working that enable deep connection with partners.
Sandra is responsible for developing, promoting and organising membership services such as South-South exchanges events (jurisdictional dialogues), coaching on personal Agility and the establishment of country-based Communities of Practices for more effective national-level dialogue. She also co-design and organise the FOLUR gender learning programme and she is actively engaged in the FOLUR gender working group. She has been a member of the FACS Community since 2016 when she was leading the Sustainable Fisheries Platform in Costa Rica and was team member of the UNDP's Global Sustainable Supply Chain for Marine Commodities. Sandra has more than 20 years of experience working in Latin America for NGOs, UN and as international consultant on multi-stakeholder effective collaborative action, fishery management, policy work and advocacy, both nationally and internationally, ecoregional and marine protected areas planning. Before joining UNDP, Sandra worked for the World Wildlife Fund on terrestrial and marine conservation projects and also operates her own consultancy company.
Sarah is a programme analyst and coordinates FACS initiatives focusing on food systems and food systems resilience. Prior to joining the UNDP FACS team, she worked at the FAO Office of Evaluation in Rome, where she managed project, programme and SDG evaluations, predominantly in Latin America and Africa. With two years of hands-on experience in field project implementation, she served as a technical advisor on a WASH project funded by Luxembourg Aid and Development in Cabo Verde. In this role, she managed Monitoring and Evaluation activities and organized awareness raising campaigns. Sarah, a dual citizen of Luxembourg and Spain, holds a Master's degree in public policies from SciencesPo Paris.
Simon has extensive experience of strategy work with international organizations and Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives. He has worked with the Alliance for Water Stewardship, Better Cotton Initiative, ISEAL Alliance, Textile Exchange, 4C Association, SAN, Pesticide Action Network UK, the Organic Cotton Accelerator, Cotton Made in Africa and the Social and Labor Convergence Project. A qualified performance coach and business mediator, Simon previously spent 25 years as a broadcaster before becoming Communications Director at Classic FM, the UK’s national classical music radio station. With a first degree in Geography from Cambridge University, he graduated in 2005 with an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice at the University of Bath.
Thomas Legrand is the Lead Technical Advisor for the UNDP-convened Conscious Food Systems Alliance. Holding a Ph.D. in Economics, Thomas has 20 years of experience working on sustainable land use, climate change, sustainable finance, leadership, and how to cultivate inner capacities for systemic transformation. He is the author of the globally acclaimed book Politics of Being. Wisdom and Science for a New Development Paradigm (2022). He lives near Plum Village, the monastery of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in the South West of France, his country.
Locations
