We are happy to welcome a new team member to the Secretariat of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. In this short interview, Dr. Chloe Hill, who is joining the team as Strategic Content Advisor, shares information about herself.
Contact: chloe.hill@financeforbiodiversity.org
Discover her LinkedIn profile.
Where are you living?
I’m originally from the northwest of England. I left the shores of my homeland almost 20 years ago when I started living and working in different regions of the world – mostly across Latin America, Europe and Asia with some time spent in Africa and the Middle East – where I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to collaborate with many impact-driven organisations to deliver impact. I am currently living in northern Spain with my family.
What is your academic background?
I have a background in science, policy and economics with a BSc in Environmental Science and Agricultural Ecology from the University of Newcastle (UK), an MSc in Conservation Biology from Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) with fieldwork in Tanzania and a PhD in Environmental Governance and Sustainable Development from Loughborough University (UK) with fieldwork in Central America. I also hold a certificate in Agricultural Economics from SOAS University in London.
In order to complement my technical grounding in sustainability and develop a broader offering for the organisations I work with, over the past 10 years I have gradually been skilling up in areas that have more of a creative and strategic focus where I have received training in content and service design, strategic foresight, futures thinking, systems change, innovation strategy, storytelling, emotional intelligence and facilitation.
Where were you working before you came here?
For the past 10+ years I have been working in a consulting capacity where I have had the honour and privilege to work with a plethora of organisations and leverage my superpowers in strategy, communications, sustainability and futures to deliver real transformation and sustainable change inside and out. Organisations I have worked with include United Nations agencies, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Bank, the Dutch Environment Agency, the European Commission, the NDC partnership as well as various International NGOs (WWF, IUCN, GAIN) as well as sustainability-driven start-ups and SMEs. Before I started my consulting practice, I worked for the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Cambodia as their Regional Green Economy Technical and Communications Advisor covering the entire Mekong Region as well as a strategic advisor for the UN Environment Programme in Geneva and also the UN Development Programme in Panama.
What makes you excited about working at the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation?
Working with and for nature has always been my passion and my purpose and I feel very fortunate to have been able to collaborate with so many amazing organisations around the globe to help them deliver on their nature-drive goals and ambitions that help secure a more sustainable and resilient future. When I started my career in the mid 2000s I was working in the policy space at the very beginnings of the biodiversity finance movement, so now over 15 years later, I am honoured to join the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation in an internal strategic advisory capacity and have the opportunity to work alongside their incredibly talented team and support their much needed work with financial institutions advancing the nature positive agenda and the sustainability movement more broadly. I can’t wait to dig in and accelerate our impact together!
Where does your interest in biodiversity come from?
Nature has always been my sanctuary. The deep sense of peace, wonder and oneness it brings me is indescribable. This feeling goes back to my childhood days in 1980s England where I grew up in the countryside, always playing outside, climbing trees, feeling the moss on their bark, curious about the plants and animals, making dens. This early connection sparked a deep appreciation for nature, so much so that at the young age of 15 years old, I started gearing my studies and life experiences (from sleeping in tents in the jungles and plains of Tanzania, mapping the reefs of Indonesia, working in the cloudforests of Ecuador and doing my PhD research across the protected areas of Central America) towards a career in this field so I could eventually do what I do today: work at the forefront of the sustainability movement and help safeguard our precious natural world in every way possible. Now I am a mother, I am even more committed to this mission so that I can make sure that I leave behind a world with its nature not just restored but also thriving for future generations. This, I believe, is an obligation for all of us and I’m grateful to be continuing on this journey with the Finance for Biodiversity team!