René Castro-Salazar, Costa Rica

Minister of the Environment and Energy, Costa Rica

Doctor in Design, Harvard University; M.P.A., Harvard University; Civil Engineer, Universidad de Costa Rica

Dr. René Castro-Salazar is a sustainability innovator Dr. René Castro-Salazar is a sustainability innovator having promoted environmental services payments in Costa Rica, negotiated the first Carbon Trade mechanisms in the world, and led innovative debt-for-nature negotiations with several countries. On August 1st, 2011, Dr. Castro was appointed Minister of Environment and Energy,a position he previously held during the administration of José María Figueres Olsen (1994–1998). During his first day in office, Dr. Castro issued a moratorium of oil exploration during the next three years. Previous to this position he was appointed by Laura Chinchilla, by then president-elect of Costa Rica, as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served in that position from inauguration day (May 8, 2010) until August 1st, 2011.

His portfolio of previous work includes international consultancy in Latin America and Europe with the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and other development institutions and private firms; working on sustainable tourism and energy in Costa Rica, the Galapagos Islands, Montenegro, Serbia and Belize.

He has lectured at Harvard University, CATIE, ETH in Zurich; MIT, YALE, and other prestigious universities. He is the author of a number of books and articles on environmental and infrastructure issues.

Joan Pennington, Ireland

EVP HR & Communications at Perstorp

PhD in Organic Chemistry from Cambridge University; First class (Hons) degree in Chemistry from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University; Diploma in Marketing and completed a general management programme at Ashridge

As a Leadership Specialist Dr. Joan Pennington develops strategic relationships, defining and implementing strategy in the pharma sector in the UK and with key global clients. Dr Pennington has worked with a number of key global clients including, ABN Amro, Anglo American, Astra Zeneca, BAE Systems, IBM, Microsoft, Novartis, Pfizer, Zurich International. Her experience in the public sector includes, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Learning and Development Agency, local government and a UN agency.

Dr Pennington has led a number of projects to enable organisations in both public and private sectors to develop their leaders’ ability to shape and implement their strategies and effectively perform their roles. In addition she has partnered senior executives through their change programmes, leading on culture change and business planning. She has wide-ranging international experience working in Africa, Europe, USA, SE Asia, South Africa and South America.

Kalman Mizsei, Hungary

Chairman of the Roma Policy Board at the Open Society Institute

Ph.D. in Economics, Budapest University of Economics; Specialization in macroeconomics

Throughout his career Dr. Kalman Mizsei has combined vision and leadership with a strong, practical knowledge of political developments, both in the region and globally. Prior to joinging the Open Society Foundation, Dr. Mizei served as the EU Special Representative for Moldova from 2007- 2011. Between 2001 – 2006, while serving as Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (RBEC), Dr. Mizsei led RBEC during a demanding period as the region continued to engage in a difficult transformative process as it faced complex social, economic and political challenges.

Dr. Mizsei has had a varied career serving both in government and in the private sector.  From 1997 to 2001 he was engaged by the AIG Global Investment Corp. as Director of Direct Investments, Infrastructure, Central & Eastern Europe and Chief Investment Officer for Central and Eastern Europe bringing a strong background in economics, public policy, business and financial affairs of the region.  Before 1997 he has served as Chairman of the Hungarian Export Import Bank, Ltd. and of the Hungarian Export Credit Insurance Ltd.  As Vice President for Economic Programmes of the Institute for EastWest Studies as well as in other important positions, Dr. Mizsei has acted as a senior advisor to governments of the region on their economic transition and reform as well as on privatization, debt relief, governance, banking and bankruptcy reform.  He served as Deputy Director of the Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and was a major participant in the East and Central European Transformation Project sponsored by the United Nations University.

Will Day, United Kingdom

Sustainability Advisor at PwC

Prior to taking on his current role Mr. Day has been the UK Commisioner at Ramphal Commission On Migration and Development, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission (UK), Special Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership.

Committed to play main role as Sustainability Advisor, Mr. Will Day is also faculty member of the Prince of Wales’s Business and Environment Programme, and he is participating in CPI’s other Senior Executive Education programmes on sustainability, held in the UK, Capetown, Nairobi, Abuja and Salzburg.  He is also Chairperson of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP).  He sits on the Board of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI): and was until recently the Chairman of the BBC Children in Need Appeal and an independent assessor for the public appointments process of the DCMS.

Will Day worked with Save the Children and OXFAM in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia in the early 1980s.  He was involved in the establishment of Comic Relief, a fundraising and grant making organisation, and as its first Grants Director was responsible for setting up its grants programme for Africa.  As well as involvement in the production of Comic Relief’s television and radio documentaries, he spent time as a producer and presenter for the BBC World Service for Africa.  He became Director of Opportunity Trust, a micro credit NGO and part of the Opportunity International network, and was appointed CEO of CARE International UK in 1996.

Jim Shultz, USA / Bolivia

Executive Director of The Democracy Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government: Masters Degree in Public Administration - emphasis on economics and political communication; University of California at Berkeley: Bachelors Degree in Political Science

Mr. Jim Shultz has trained thousands of community leaders on five continents in the skills of public advocacy.  Recent country work has included Tanzania, the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, the Balkans, Thailand, Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, and the US.  He developed, as a consultant to the British development agency (DFID) and the World Bank, the basic plan for the international Civil Society Budget Initiative and as a consultant to the Ford Foundation, a variety of civil society budget monitoring efforts in Latin America.

Jim Shultz has written extensively on democracy, globalization and human rights issues for publications across the US, Canada and the UK.  He has led a wide variety of citizen campaigns, both domestically in the US and internationally.  Prior to the Center’s move to Bolivia in 1998, he founded the California Budget Project, a nonprofit analysis and advocacy organization on state budget issues.  He also provided advocacy training and consulting for hundreds of organizations ranging from immigrant day laborers to the leadership of the California PTA.  He served as a facilitator and leader of a variety of California statewide civic action coalitions, in health care and other policy areas.