IISD Announces New Executive Team

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is pleased to announce the formation of a new Executive Team that will support the achievement of our 5-year strategic plan, usher the institute through a period of exciting growth, and ensure an integrated approach to our work.

Chaired by the President and CEO, the Executive Team comprises IISD's most senior leadership and includes Martha Casey, current Vice-President, Operations and Business Transformation; Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, who is promoted to Vice-President, Global Strategies, and Managing Director, Europe; Anne Hammill, promoted to Associate Vice-President, Resilience; and Matthew McCandless, promoted to Associate Vice-President, Water, and Managing Director, Manitoba.

Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder first joined IISD in 2009 as a senior international lawyer working in our Investment Program after prior roles with the Center for International Environmental Law, Georgetown University Law Center, the United Nations Development Programme in Vietnam, and the Swiss Department of Justice. In her new role, Nathalie will continue to lead on IISD's work on sustainable economies while taking on an institute-wide responsibility for leading new strategic initiatives that span all of our programs. She continues to serve as the senior leadership presence for IISD in Europe and is based out of our office in Geneva.

Anne Hammill joined IISD in 2002 as a project manager after prior roles at the Global Environmental Change and Human Security Project and the University of Victoria. Anne leads the Institute's work on climate change adaptation and the links between environment, conflict, and peacebuilding, while also directing the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Network, whose secretariat is hosted by IISD. Anne is currently based out of our Toronto office.

Nathalie and Anne are also jointly serving as Acting Senior co-Directors of IISD's Energy program.

Matthew McCandless initially joined IISD in 2006 as a project officer after engineering roles at WSP/GENIVAR. He has been the Executive Director of IISD-Experimental Lakes Area since it was formed in 2014 to help bridge the worlds of freshwater science and policy. In his role as Managing Director, Manitoba, he will also be responsible for IISD's presence at our headquarters in Winnipeg.

Martha Casey has been with IISD since May of last year, overseeing the institute's global administration and ensuring operational excellence to support our continued growth. She was formerly CEO of Volta, Canada's East Coast Innovation Hub, and prior to this served as Chief of Staff at Dalhousie University. She also has years of leadership experience in the U.S., notably in the Departments of Finance and Consumer Affairs for the City of New York as well as in the office of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.  

"Nathalie, Anne, and Matt have spent a cumulative half-century as part of our IISD community, collectively shaping our institute into the leading global think tank that it is today, while never losing sight of our Canadian roots," said IISD President & CEO Richard Florizone. "Together with Martha and our board of directors, I am excited to see this new Executive Team continue IISD's long tradition of ground-breaking research and policy advocacy, shaping a better world."