Janki Rajpura is the Head of Programme Management Office at C40. She ensures robust project management practices and sufficient staff capacity across the organisation, including planning, reporting and risk management.
Before joining C40, Janki was a Senior Project Manager for international development research and evaluation projects across various thematic areas, including investment in cities, girls’ education, economic growth, livelihoods and violence against women and girls.
She is a PRINCE2 Practitioner, with an MSc in International Development (Conflict, Security and Development) and a BSc in International Business and Modern Languages (French).
Jazmin Burgess is C40’s Director for Inclusive Climate Action where she manages the team and strategic direction of C40’s work with cities on equitable, inclusive and fair responses to the climate crisis- including city policies and programmes, peer-to-peer learning, mayoral advocacy and leadership, and data and research. Jazmin has held previous roles at C40 as Deputy Director for Inclusive Climate Action and Head of the Global Green New Deal Initiative. Before joining C40, Jazmin worked for four years at City Hall in London for current C40 Chair Mayor Sadiq Khan as Head of Climate Change Mitigation, and as Senior Adviser to the Deputy Mayor for Environment, Shirley Rodrigues. Before City Hall, she spent eight years at the United Nations for UNDP and UNICEF on development and climate approaches at the country and HQ level in London, Hanoi, Geneva and New York where she worked on the process to negotiate and deliver the Paris Agreement, with particular focus needs of Global South countries.
Jazmin started her career working for the UK Government on refugee and migrant policy and at Amnesty International on gender campaigning. She holds a diploma in Climate Diplomacy awarded by the UN, an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Master’s in International Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Jenny is the Water Safe Cities Research Manager at C40 Cities, where she leads the writing and communication of key water adaptation research projects. Her mission is to help cities adapt to and mitigate water-related climate risks by equipping cities with the necessary tools and support to drive impactful actions. In her role, Jenny develops research plans, engages in report writing and content production, and coordinates the internal and external dissemination of research findings.
Jen has over seven years of experience in research, advocacy, and communications within the international development and human rights sectors, having worked previously at organisations such as the Resilient Water Accelerator, WaterAid, Amnesty International, and various smaller refugee organisations. Her work in water security, particularly in developing countries, has equipped her with a solid understanding and passion for addressing global water challenges.
Growing up in South Africa, she witnessed first-hand how the impacts of the climate crisis, including environmental degradation, pollution, water scarcity and food insecurity, have an adverse impact on realising human rights and undermine every effort to protect them. Finding solutions to these issues is what drives her.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Water Science, Policy and Management from the University of Oxford, and an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of St Andrews. You’ll find her running or climbing in the mountains or behind the decks in her spare time.
Jess Kavonic is C40’s Head of Implementation for Africa. In this role, she supports the African region cities in accelerating the implementation of the most impactful climate actions, and in facilitating learning from their peers across other C40 cities. She works closely with teams across C40 as well as other city and climate organisations in the region to ensure cities have access to the most relevant and effective technical assistance. Jess oversees all C40 led delivery programmes offering technical assistance in the region, working with the CSN, CAI, CAPI, Climate Finance and the Business teams.
With an MSc degree in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Cape Town, her work with local governments started at the City of Cape Town and later with ICLEI Africa where she spent seven years as part of the Climate Change, Energy and Resilience workstream.
She has a background in atmospheric science with more specialised knowledge of climate change and its relationship with a sustainable approach to development. In particular, Jess has managed an array of climate adaptation programmes in African cities, working to improve urban human well-being, build climate resilience, strengthen local sustainability and protect the urban natural asset base in cities through influencing development policies and planning systems.
Jessica is Head of Finance for Grants at C40. This role, within Corporate Services, oversees the restricted grant portfolio which is currently approximately 60 grants worth over $100m.
Jess spent three years at SouthSouthNorth, a climate resilience NGO, in Cape Town. Prior to that, Jess worked at Standard Bank Group in South Africa and the UK where she undertook various roles and also gained her chartered accounting qualification through SAICA.
Jess will be based in the London office, and is a South African and Irish dual citizen. In her spare time, Jess likes to do yoga, surf and run.
With over 10 years of experience in development and climate finance, Jessy brings a wealth of knowledge to her current role as the Head of C40 UrbanShift, a GEF-funded transformative initiative. Throughout her career, she has actively contributed to impactful projects, including climate finance initiatives and efforts to enhance energy access in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to her current position, Jessy served as the Regional Engagement Manager for the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), where she played a pivotal role in project preparation of climate-related infrastructure projects.
Through her current and previous work, she seeks to support the transition of African cities towards climate-compatible economies through integrated planning support, knowledge exchange, and access to global expertise and finance. Jessy’s passion lies in climate finance, recognizing its paramount importance in unlocking and accelerating the development and implementation of interventions to adapt and increase resilience to climate change in the region.
Committed to continuous learning, she pursued post-graduate studies at Yale’s Centre for Business and Environment and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Jing serves as the Sectoral Policy Senior Manager of Regions and Mayoral Engagement team at C40. In this role, she will work closely with C40 China member cities and national and local level research institutions, and oversee pioneer sectoral action development to deliver the C40 China Regional strategy linked to the C40 Business Plan.
Before joining C40, Jing served as assistant secretary-general at a Chinese national industrial association, China Association of Building Energy Efficiency (CABEE). Her focus areas include policy research, analysis, advice, and development for building energy efficiency, green-eco district, and low-carbon city. She also fully supported C40 China Buildings Programme during that period. Before CABEE, Jing performed as a joint postdoc fellow of Tsinghua University and LBNL; her research focuses include climate policy and sustainable development. Before and during the postdoc, Jing also worked at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
Jing is a registered Associate Researcher with a PhD in Management Science and Engineering and an MSc in Construction and Project Management, both from Beijing Jiaotong University.
Jingjing Jiang serves as the Sectoral Policy Officer of the C40 China office, within the Regions and Mayoral Engagement Team. In this role, Jingjing mainly works on supporting Chinese cities in developing Green & Thriving Neighborhoods (Net Zero Communities), and she will also supports the team to explore other key sectoral topics in C40 China Region, such as transportation and adaptation.
Jingjing started her journey with C40 in July 2020 and worked as the Project Officer of CAP China Programme for two years, during which she provides a variety of support to Chinese cities of Qingdao and Hangzhou in developing their Climate Action Plans. She also leads the Inclusive Climate Action analysis and events organization for CAP China cities.
Jingjing holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Yale University and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University. Before C40, Jingjing worked as a Brand Consultant with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in China, where she worked on the coordination and implementation of public engagement campaigns about climate change and biodiversity conservation. Jingjing has also worked as a Chinese social media producer with Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC), where she facilitated the planning and organization of YPCCC’s side events during COP23 and helped to promote their work in China on social media.
John Baimba Sesay is the Senior Manager, Communications, for the C40 Cities Freetown Co-Chair’s Office. In this role, John plays a critical role within C40’s Governance and Communications teams, in showcasing the climate leadership of the C40 co-chair nationally and internationally.
John joined C40 in June 2024. Before that, he was with the United Nations Population Fund’s Sierra Leone Country Office where he was responsible for managing all media and communication-related work. John’s background in information dissemination, cultural diplomacy, and media relations enables him to oversee content creation for print media, broadcast media, and digital media and facilitate high-level media engagements.
John served as the Information Attaché for the Sierra Leone Embassy in the People’s Republic of China for six years. John holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree both in Mass Communications from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
Jonathan is the Strategic Communications and Engagement Manager for the Ports and Shipping programme at C40 Cities. He manages Ports and Shipping communications, campaigns, and external engagements.
Previously, Jonathan was Senior Communications and Events Officer at the International Growth Centre and a Research and Programme Officer at the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa—both at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has also worked for GIZ and the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative.
His thematic interests include participatory urban planning, climate adaptation and mitigation, political ecology, and decolonial approaches to development. Jonathan has a BA in Social Sciences from Jacobs University Bremen and an MSc in Environment and Development from the LSE.
Jophillene serves as C40’s City Advisor, Climate Change Mitigation for Dar es salaam City in Tanzania. His role involves engaging city officials in implementing the Climate Action Plan, focusing on Mitigation/GHG reducing actions and fulfilment of C40 Leadership Standards.
Prior to C40, he worked with Climate Action Network (CAN) Tanzania striving to engage the private sector, marginalized groups, civil society organizations, the national government and relevant stakeholders to advocate for climate actions in Tanzania. Recently, as a member of several National technical committees, Jophillene ensured reflection and alignment of climate change related international frameworks while developing the National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) 2021-2026; National Five Years Development Plan 2021-2026; the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the Bagamoyo District Renewable Energy Action Plan (2020-2025).
For more than 11 years, Jophillene worked with various organizations in Tanzania and Sub-Saharan countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Togo, Namibia, DRC, Djibouti and Zimbabwe to articulate social and environmental sustainability aspects. Jophillene holds a MSc. (Environmental Science and Engineering) from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology and a BSc. (Wildlife Science and Conservation) from the University of Dar es salaam.
Ricardo Cepeda-Márquez serves as C40’s Technical Lead for Waste and Water, where he is the senior expert covering the areas of solid waste, materials management, and urban water management, bringing attention and organizational coordination to the opportunities in GHG emission reduction in these sectors, including the importance of upstream interventions around prevention and reduction of waste, accelerating the transition of cities towards a sustainable materials management vision, the urgency to address methane emissions from landfills and wastewater and the importance of integrated urban water management in cities. Previously, Ricardo served as Head of the Waste & Water Initiative at C40. Before joining C40, Ricardo led the development of the Closure and Landfill Gas Utilization Project at Bordo Poniente, the now-closed Mexico City Landfill, a project that is estimated to reduce more than 20 M tons of GHG emissions in the next 25 years. Ricardo also worked as a Lead Engineer performing hydraulic safety analysis for oil pipeline systems for the Mexican Oil industry – PEMEX, and developing statistical analysis tools for rainfall and drought prediction for municipal planning.
Joselyn is C40’s Transport Project Manager, Zero Emission Freight program in Latin America. She has more than 10 years of experience working as an expert in the design and evaluation of public policies, with emphasis on urban and transportation planning, women’s empowerment, and social impact.
Before joining C40, she held several positions in non-governmental organizations including WRI, the Iberoamerican University, and the federal government of Mexico. She has assisted several Latin American cities in their transition to electric public transportation by participating in the planning of projects like the BRT and cable car systems, which were financed by international agencies like the World Bank and GIZ.
Joselyn holds a PhD in Public Policy from the Center of Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), a Master’s in Urban Studies from the College of Mexico (COLMEX), and graduated as a Sociology major from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Joshua West is a Project Officer for C40’s Zero Emission Freight programme, working to help cities overcome barriers to electrifying and decarbonising the freight sector.
Joshua supports city-business collaboration, good, green jobs, and electrification and management of 2 and 3-wheelers, and more widely contributing to the strategy and work plan for the Zero Emission Freight programme in North America and Europe.
He brings over seven years of experience, having held senior sustainability positions across micro-mobility, non-profit partnerships, and higher education institution sectors.
He led TIER’s involvement in the UK government-funded e-bike programme ‘Making Cycling E-asier’ in 2023 and has previously delivered initiatives aligning to air quality, healthy streets, freight, and active travel themes for Cross River Partnership, such as ‘Clean Air Villages’ on behalf of the UK government, and ‘Healthy Streets Everyday’ on behalf of the Mayor of London.
Joshua has a BSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Plymouth and currently resides in Manchester, UK.
As Senior Manager for Inclusive Climate Action (ICA) Forum and Fund, Josu is responsible for the delivery of the ICA Forum peer-to-peer learning mechanism, offering tailored support to member cities as they tackle some of the most difficult and controversial climate and social barriers to deliver a fair and just transition. Josu also oversees the ICA Fund, which provides cities with resources to pilot new and innovative approaches to inclusive climate action that deliver urban innovation for frontline communities.
In his previous roles at C40, Josu led C40’s Global Green New Deal pilot in Europe, providing technical support to Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, Milan, Paris, and Warsaw to address the current energy crisis and tackle energy poverty. He also served as a City Adviser to Barcelona as part of the first phase of the Global Green New Deal pilot.
Before joining C40, Josu worked for Cuso International as the Inclusive Value Chains Regional Program Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. Earlier in his career, Josu served as Homelessness Partnering Strategy Project Officer in Vancouver at Vancity Community Foundation, and as a Social Researcher at Simon Fraser University and Pere Tarres Foundation.
Josu completed his BA in Sociology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and holds a Master’s in Sustainable Community Development from Simon Fraser University, as well as a Master’s in Citizen Participation and Sustainable Development from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Juan Felipe Caicedo serves as Urban Planning and Design Project Manager in Latin America for C40’s Green and Thriving Neighborhood Programme. His role is to support cities across the region to identify and implement neighbourhood-scale projects with clear climate and well-being benefits.
Before joining C40, Juan spent eight years working with Financial Institutions, National Governments and Cities throughout Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. During this time, he developed his expertise in formulating urban planning policies and structuring sustainable urban infrastructure projects in key sectors such as urban mobility, urban public space, water and sanitation.
Juan holds a degree in Political Sciences and a master’s in Urban Governance from Sciences Po Paris. He is passionate about Latin American culture and speaks Spanish, French, English and Portuguese. In his spare time, you can find him on his bike, exploring the mountains around Bogotá.
Julia serves as Policy, Data and Analysis Senior Manager, delivering data analysis projects for the Inclusive Climate Action team. Previously, Julia worked in the Knowledge Management team at C40, expanding C40’s data and analysis work, externally and internally, with analytics partner Qlik.
Prior to joining C40, Julia worked at the Spanish Medicines Agency. She also contributed to environmental and sustainable development projects with international non-profit organisations, such as Action Against Hunger and Greenpeace.
Julia has an MSc on Environmental Management at London Kingston University, focused on climate change, and holds a Degree in Pharmacy and a Diploma in Public Health.
Julie Ciardullo is the Head of Joint Programme Strategy, where she is responsible for driving strategic development and implementation of the C40 x GCoM Joint Programme. Before joining C40, Julie spent 10 years working for the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, where she was most recently appointed the Director of Climate Resilience. Prior to that, she was a Senior Policy Advisor and the Director of the Office of the C40 Chair during Mayor Eric Garcetti’s term as Chair of C40.
Julie began her career as an attorney, practising corporate law at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in New York City, and later, served as a fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from UCLA.
Julieta is C40’s Executive Office Project Manager for the C40 Inc Board, its Finance and Audit Committee and the UK Board, working on the C40 Internal Communications strategy and various special projects requiring coordination from the Executive Office. Julieta initially joined C40 supporting the 2022 C40 World Mayors Summit delivery and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Her work experience is related to sustainability, working for the City of Buenos Aires with a special focus on healthy mobility, city development and the implementation of cooperation projects with international organisations and strategic stakeholders in the public and private sectors.
She holds a degree in International Relations (USAL – Buenos Aires) and is working on a Master’s Degree in Urban Economics (UTDT – Buenos Aires).