The Team

Kevin Steele, Chief Executive

Kevin has campaigned on social and environmental issues for over 20 years.

He conceived the anti-poverty Trade Justice Movement which in 2002 ran the biggest ever lobby of the UK Parliament, and he led one of the two largest UK sections of the Jubilee 2000 campaign that won $21 billion of debt cancellation for the world’s poorest countries. He also led the Ethics for USS campaign which resulted in the adoption of ethical investment policies by a £23 billion stock market fund and the formation of the £4 trillion Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

He founded Global Entrepreneurship Week, which inspires people to turn their own ideas into reality and in 2009 involved 7 million people attending 32,000 events in 88 countries.

He was the campaign consultant for The Big Lunch (which catalysed 8,000 street parties for community cohesion) and the Keep Britain Working campaign (promoting new employment policy ideas). He was previously chief executive of the enterprise promotion body Enterprise Insight and the director of the social justice organisation People & Planet. Before this he worked for the British Overseas Aid Group, Which? and the Audit Commission.

From 2007 to 2009 Kevin sat on the Council on Social Action chaired by the Prime Minister, and on the government’s Talent and Enterprise Task Force. He chaired the Enterprise Campaign Coalition and was on the selection committee of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. He currently sits on the steering group of the Big Society Network launched by the Prime Minister, David Cameron in July 2010.

Jason Clark, Campaign Manager

Jason joined Climate Week in 2011 following the completion of his MA at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS where he specialized in global energy and climate policy with a focus on renewable energy and energy security. He has lived and worked in Leribe, Lesotho on community capacity development projects including womens’ empowerment SME’s and a scholarship program, with the G.R.O. Foundation Lesotho. Previously, he worked in marketing, design, and brand development in the ski and snowboard industry.

Hannah Sims, Campaign Manager

Hannah graduated from Oxford with a degree in History, and went on to do a publishing internship with UNICEF UK to gain experience in the third sector. The environment has always been her passion, however, so she moved on to an internship with Forum for the Future, working on their quarterly publication, ‘Green Futures’. After spending some time in New Zealand and juggling several part-time jobs, she joined Climate Week in 2011. Her role incorporates PR and media work, campaigning and project management.

Geoff Archer, Campaign Coordinator, Business

Geoff graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in Environmental Biogeoscience and has just completed a Master’s in Environmental Policy and Regulation at the London School of Economics. He has spent time grass-roots campaigning with the UK Youth Climate Coalition and worked on engaging the business community on issues of climate change at The Climate Group in London. Combining passion for tackling climate change with pragmatism, he is looking forward to making an impact during the Climate Week 2013 campaign.

Helen Baldock, Campaign Coordinator, Communities

Helen has experience campaigning within youth and student organisations and is a strong believer in campaigns generating real change. She graduated from Liverpool University last year with a degree in politics and completed a placement working for a MP in Parliament. Recently, she has worked on a project called ‘Green Sky Thinking’ which highlights current and future innovation to support a sustainable London. Helen also has experience working with community groups, supporting initiatives such as local food banks. She is excited to combine her experience and dedication to communities with a passion for the environment in this new role.

Casey Calista, Campaign Coordinator, Third Sector and Faith

Casey started her career in development, completing a two year posting in West Africa as a Public Health Co-ordinator with the Peace Corps. There she quickly learned the importance of the environment on people’s daily lives – thanks to encroaching desertification and its impact on community health. She read for a Master’s degree in International Relations at Kings College London, during which she worked organising political events in Parliament and consulting for a research charity. She temporarily returned to the United States to be closer to her family while she worked as Campaign Director for one of President Obama’s re-election committees. Now she is excited to have returned to London and have an impact climate change.

Matt Hawkins, Campaign Coordinator, Government and Politics

Matt graduated from Oxford with a degree in History in 2010 and then went on to complete a Masters in Public Policy at King’s College, London – during which time he carried out an internship with the Overseas Development Institute. He has recently been working in the transport sector but his passion for the environment led him to apply for the campaigns role at Climate Week. He is also a Green Party Campaigner and has carried out work with Move Your Money UK. In his spare time he enjoys cycling and singing – and looking after his two house rabbits.

Rebecca Hay, Digital Campaign Coordinator

Rebecca graduated from Oxford last year studying History and Politics. Whilst there she got involved in campaigning for UK Uncut and the Campaign against Climate Change. She has spent 8 months working with online group 38 Degrees where she gained experience in digital campaigning and also coordinating their climate change campaign. Prior to this she interned with the communications and public affairs team at London 2012. She is passionate about campaigning and making the power of digital media work for a good cause. Outside this her interests include cricket, cycling and attempting to play guitar.

Chris Lynch, Campaign Coordinator, Public Services

Chris has recently graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a masters degree in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. During this year of study he became convinced that action on mitigating the effects of climate change was incredibly important, this conviction in turn led him to Climate Week. Prior to this he has worked as a paralegal in a New York employment law firm. He has an interest in climate policy and particularly in the field of international climate change negotiations.

Sophia McNab, Campaign Coordinator, Education

Sophia is fresh from the halls of the UN Climate Talks in Doha, Qatar, where she was a UK youth delegate and campaigned for a fair and ambitious global climate treaty. Alas, the talks failed to deliver but they did confirm her passion for climate justice and determination to fight for it. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2012, with a History MA and experience coordinating the local branch of People & Planet. She believes in the importance of inspiring young people to take action against climate change and is excited to engage the education sector in Climate Week.

Rebecca Thomas, Campaign Coordinator, Education

A fresh and exciting new member of the team, Rebecca has joined Climate Week to assist in the smooth running of the campaign. After living in South-East Asia, she graduated with an honours degree in Zoology from the University of Newcastle. Following that, she became PA to the Managing Director of a boutique marketing recruitment agency where she soon started managing an intern programme and all Social Media for the company, before moving onto become a Campaign and Communications Intern at 10:10. Here she worked across a variety of campaigns to try and raise community awareness to combat climate change.