Governance
Learn about how the Global Commons Alliance is governed and find key governance documents.
The Global Commons Alliance is a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
The GCA Advisory Board, which represents GCA’s members, provides independent and strategic guidance to the Alliance in advancing our vision of a just world on a safe planet. The GCA’s Expert Council members offer specific strategic, scientific, and thematic advice to the Alliance in their areas of expertise.
Advisory Board
Margarita Astralaga
Chair of Global Commons Alliance
Margarita Astralaga
Chair of Global Commons Alliance
Margarita Astralaga is the former Director of the Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division (ECG) at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and until recently she was the vice-chair of the Board of Directors for the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network.
Previously she worked for UNEP, the World Bank, IDB, the CITES Secretariat, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, IUCN and the Colombian Environmental Government Agency.
David Akana
Director of Programs, Mongabay
David Akana
Director of Programs, Mongabay
David Akana is currently the Director of Programs at Mongabay, overseeing the organization’s expansion in Africa. Before joining Mongabay, David worked at the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission, and CORAF. He holds advanced degrees in business, international relations, and mass communications. Over the past decade, David has been actively involved in driving innovative environmental journalism initiatives in the Congo Basin and around the world. Currently, David is a co-chair of the Strategic Communications Group of the UN Oceans Decade and a member of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Group on Ocean Communications. Previously, he was an Advisory Committee Member for the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund and an Editorial Committee Member for Our Planet on Earth Report 2020.
Naoko Ishii
Director, Center for Global Commons, University of Tokyo
Naoko Ishii
Director, Center for Global Commons, University of Tokyo
Dr. Naoko Ishii is a professor and executive vice president at the University of Tokyo, where she is also the inaugural director for the Center for Global Commons, whose mission is to catalyze systems change so that humans can achieve sustainable development within planetary boundaries. She believes academia can and should play an active role in mobilizing movements towards shared goals of nurturing stewardship of the global commons. Before joining the university, Dr. Ishii was CEO and chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) from 2012-2020.
Rachel Jetel
Co-Director, Systems Change Lab World Resources Institute
Rachel Jetel
Co-Director, Systems Change Lab World Resources Institute
Rachel is Co-Director of Systems Change Lab, hosted by the World Resources Institute and the Bezos Earth Fund. Prior to joining WRI, Rachel facilitated strategy and partnerships at the We Mean Business Coalition (WMBC), enabling the coalition’s unique collaborative approach to impact via ambition loops of bold climate action among business and policy leaders. Before WMBC, Rachel was as a systems and sustainability consultant in the U.S., Asia and Europe, and had the chance to work with some of the biggest brands in the world to shape their sustainability agendas for over a decade.
Rachel is a graduate of Forum for the Future’s School of Systems Change and holds a B.A. in Communication and Music from Loyola Marymount University.
Johan Rockström
Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Johan Rockström
Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam. He is also co-Chair of the Earth Commission and an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues. Rockström is a leading scientist on global water resources, with more than 25 years experience in applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability.
Expert Council
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and President AFPAT
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and President AFPAT
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an expert in the adaptation and mitigation of Indigenous peoples to climate change. She is a member of the Mbororo pastoralist people in Chad and President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT).
Hindou received the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and was appointed as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. She also serves as a Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues; Member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC); Member of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit; and Conservation International Senior Indigenous Fellow.
Marco Lambertini
Convener, Nature Positive Initiative
Marco Lambertini
Convener, Nature Positive Initiative
Marco Lambertini is Convener for Nature Positive Initiative. Before this role he was WWF International Director General (2014-2022) and Special Envoy (2023), as well as Global Director of Network and Programme and subsequently CEO of BirdLife International.
Marco is a member of: The China Council (CCICED); The UNILEVER Sustainability Advisory Council; The Board of Directors for the Fondation Prince Albert II of Monaco; The Board of Directors of the MedFund Co-chair of the Nature Action 100 Science Council; A Distinguished Fellow of the Hoffmann Centre for Global Sustainability; Advisory Board member of the European Business & Biodiversity Platform; Former co-chair and now Board member of the Belt and Road Initiative Greening Coalition; A founding member of the Nature Action Agenda and the Friends of Ocean Action at WEF.
He is the lead author of the recently published book “Becoming Nature Positive: transitioning to a safe and just future” (2025, Earthscan Routledge, London) and Executive Director of the film ‘Becoming Nature Positive’ (2026, Open Planet Studios).
Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood
Executive Director, Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Malaysia; Planetary Health Alliance Advisory Board Member
Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood
Executive Director, Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Malaysia; Planetary Health Alliance Advisory Board Member
Dr. Mahmood is a Professor of Planetary Health at Sunway University. A medical professional with more than two decades of experience managing health crises in disasters and conflict settings, her previous appointments include: Under Secretary General for Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat at the United Nations; and Chief of the Humanitarian Response Branch at the United Nations Population Fund.
In 2020, she was appointed a Senior Fellow of the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Centre to help reach the goal of making one billion people more resilient to climate change, migration, and human security challenges by 2030. She was also the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia on Public Health, a member of the Government of Malaysia’s Economic Action Council and
Climate Action Council, and most notably the founder of MERCY Malaysia, a Southern-based international humanitarian organisation.
Dr. Mahmood has received numerous international and national awards including the ASEAN Award in 2019 and the Merdeka Award in 2015 for excellent contribution to community development in Malaysia and the region. Her international awards include the prestigious Isa Award for Services to Humanity in 2013 from the Kingdom of Bahrain, often referred to as the “Nobel peace prize equivalent in the Gulf”. For her contributions in disaster risk reduction, poverty alleviation and peace advocacy, Dr Mahmood was also awarded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award by Morehouse College USA (Martin Luther King Chapel) in 2006.
Meet the Secretariat
The Alliance is supported in its day-to-day operations by the Global Commons Alliance Secretariat.