Michelle Chan is the Vice President of Programs for Friends of the Earth. Previously, she led Friends of the Earth U.S.’ economic policy team, which works to reform international trade rules, get money out of politics, promote sustainable finance policies at financial institutions, and green U.S. tax and budget policy. She is the president of BankTrack, and the current vice president of the Amazon Watch board. She has served on the boards of Ceres, the Council for Responsible Public Investment, the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment; and was a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Advisory Committee. In 2002 she received the SRI Service Award for outstanding contributions to the field of sustainable and responsible investing.
Dave Hirsch is the International Coordinator for Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), a position he has held since 2012. He oversees the work of FoEI’s International Secretariat and works closely with FoEI’s Chair and Executive Committee to facilitate decision making and support their role in steering the day to day and long term functioning of the federation. He is currently based in the Netherlands and previously lived in Washington DC, where he worked for Friends of the Earth United States for 16 years. He held several different positions for the organisation, including Managing Director, but also worked for the organization for several years on national transportation policy. In this work he fought against funding for new road construction projects and for increased funding for transit and passenger rail. He has a Bachelor’s degree in political communication and a Master's degree in political management.
Mia is a climate campaigner with a focus on fossil fuels, agriculture, and the finance that underpins these industries. She is currently Campaign Manager at Uplift where she works on the intersection of fuel poverty and oil and gas expansion in the UK. Before joining Uplift, Mia worked at Market Forces where she campaigned on the private financiers behind major fossil fuel projects in Australia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Prior to that, she worked on the finance behind the food system at Feedback. Mia holds a degree in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she successfully campaigned for the divestment of its £3.5bn endowment fund from fossil fuels.
Omar is a highly driven lawyer with over 10 years of experience advocating for marginalized communities, helping them assert their rights and amplify their voices in development projects that impact their lives. With deep expertise in energy, climate change, and environmental law, he has devoted his career to supporting communities, mainly in Africa, in protecting and enforcing their rights.
Currently, Omar serves as the Convenor of the Africa Movement Building Space, an unbranded platform that embodies the principles of Pan-Africanism and Ubuntu, working collaboratively to address the African continent's interconnected challenges. He has also led impactful campaigns, including his roles as the Coordinator for the deCOALonize and Stop EACOP initiatives. Omar is a member of the Boards of both Defenders Coalition Kenya and the deCOALonize Campaign, where he continues to contribute his expertise to advancing social and environmental justice.
