CORE
MEMBERS
Co-Founders
James Vacarro
Executive Director, Climate Safe Lending Network
James has over 20 years senior management experience in sustainable banking and investment. He advised on share offers and bond issues for leading charities and businesses, managed equity investments, and has been a non-executive director for a broad range of environmental and social businesses. James led many new initiatives and business ventures including setting up Triodos Bank's UK investment business comprising corporate finance and crowdfunding services, venture capital fund management and fund distribution.
Frank Van Gansbeke
Executive Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College
Frank Van Gansbeke is Executive Scholar in Residence at Middlebury College, where he teaches finance related courses deeply slated into sustainability and global finance. Frank has attained more than 30 years of global Senior Executive experience within the Corporate Finance and Capital Markets fields.
Frank is founder and managing partner of Goose Creek Ventures, LLC, advising, and angel investing in early-stage companies evolving in FinTech and sustainable development. Within this capacity, Frank mentors and is also a board member of several for profit and non-profit companies with a global footprint.
As representative of BBW, Frank participated at the launch of Bridgetown Initiative at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Barbados in July 2022. In May 2024, Frank initiated and curated the Beyond Bretton Woods conference at Middlebury College with support of the College and in cooperation with Middlebury College faculty and event partner See Change.
Frank is a regular contributor to Forbes online, where he covers issues on the nexus of digital finance, sustainability, and global markets.
Governance
BBW holds monthly meetings throughout the year to prepare and introduce recommendations to the International Financial Architecture Review (IFAR) process.
The governance structure has the following bodies:
Steering Group
Dr. Swayamprabha Das – Associate Vice President, Development Alternatives
Chris Hopkins – Economic Policy Lead, Green Economy Coalition
Juan Jardon-Pina – Senior Associate, The Predistribution Initiative
Sara Murawski – Project Manager, Sustainable Finance Lab
Delilah Rothenberg– Co-Founder and Executive Director, The Predistribution Initiative
Frank Van Gansbeke – Co-Founder of BBW and Executive Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College
Ambassadors’ Circle
Ralph Chami – Former Senior Executive at the IMF, Professor at Williams College, and Co-founder BleuGreenFuture
Sandrine Dixson-Declève – Co-President, Club of Rome
Owen Gaffney – Chief Impact Officer, The Nobel Prize
William Hynes – Climate Economist, World Bank
Joseph K. Ingram – Former Special Representative to U.N. & W.T.O., World Bank
Jonathan Isham, Jr. – Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, Middlebury College
Augusto Lopez-Claros – Executive Director, Global Governance Forum
L. Hunter Lovins – Founder and President, Natural Capitalism Solutions
Vinod Thomas – Former Director General, Asian Development Bank
Steve Waygood – Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Aviva Investors
Mick Sheldrick — Activist, Author, Co-Founder Global Citizen
Fadhel Kaboub — Associate Professor of Economics at Denison University (on leave), President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, and Expert Advisor to Group of 77
Prof. Dr. Stefan Brunnhuber — Trustee World Academy of Arts and Science: www.stefan-brunnhuber.de
Expert Advisory Board
Jack Byrne – Dean of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability, Middlebury College
Hubert Danso – CEO and Chairman, Africa Investor (Ai) Group
Tom Jess – Rethinking Finance Program Manager, Club of Rome
Indy Johar – Executive Director, Dark Matter Labs
Rajiv Joshi – Associate Dean of Climate Action, Columbia Climate School
Steven Keen – Economist and Author, Debunking Economics
Saundharaya Khanna – Manager, Development Alternatives
Georgios Kostakos – Executive Director, Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS)
Ian Lynch – Managing Director and Program Director, Integrity Initiatives International
Stuart Mackintosh – Executive Director, Group of Thirty
Darius Nassiry– Director, Climate Finance Advisors
Aleksandar Simić – Researcher, Sustainable Finance Lab
Franklin Steves – Senior Policy Adviser, E3G
Thomas Tayler – Head of Climate Finance, Aviva Investors
Uli Volz – Founding Director, SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance
Student Support Group:
Ken Deng – Student, Middlebury College
Lillian Caldwell — Student, Middlebury College
Lomus Pudasaini — Student, Middlebury College
Rohan Agrawal — Student, University of Oxford