The Earth Charter International Board oversees the work of the Earth Charter International Secretariat, makes decisions at the board level and guides the Secretariat, especially in strategic, administrative and financial matters.
The ECI Council establishes broad policies and general direction of the ECI. Its members act as advisors and ambassadors of the movement.
The Council elects its own members in consultation with the members of the global Earth Charter network.
Board Members
Michael J. Bracken (Chair)
Michael J. Bracken Michael J. Bracken (United States) has served as the President of Medcom Benefit Solutions (Medcom), a leading provider of employee benefit administration and consulting services for prominent employers throughout the U.S since 1996.
Jane Kilonzo
Jane Kilonzo (Kenya) is a Professional Accountant and Banker by training and former Deputy Managing Director at Bank of Africa. She has 26 years of banking experience, cutting across all operations and risk management practices of the bank.
Song Li
Song Li (China/United States) is retired as the Senior Environmental Specialist, World Bank, Middle East and North Africa Region. She was the Regional Coordinator for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Paul Lubbers
Paul Lubbers (Netherlands/Spain) is Director of Breesaap Green Link, a clean-tech business investment company in Madrid, Spain. Paul has set up various businesses focused on sustainability and serves on the Supervisory Board of various companies in the areas of renewable energy and sustainable transport.
Akpezi Ogbuigwe
Akpezi Ogbuigwe (Nigeria, Lagos) is the Chair of the Earth Charter International Council. Dr. Akpezi Ogbuigwe is the Founder of Anpez Centre for Environment and Development (ACFED), a centre she founded in 1991 to respond to the huge environmental neglect and pollution of the Niger Delta Region.
Mirian Vilela
Mirian Vilela (Brazil/Costa Rica) is the executive director of Earth Charter International and has been involved in the initiative internationally since early 1996.
Council Members
The ECI Council sets broad policy and overall direction of the ECI. Its members act as advisors and ambassadors for the movement. The Council elects its own members in consultation with members of the global network of Earth Charter supporters.
Michael J. Bracken
Michael J. Bracken (United States) has served as the President of Medcom Benefit Solutions (Medcom), a leading provider of employee benefit administration and consulting services for prominent employers throughout the U.S since 1996.
Fritjof Capra
Fritjof Capra, (Austria/United States) Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, which is dedicated to promoting ecology and systems thinking in primary and secondary education.
Mateo A. Castillo
Mateo Castillo (Mexico) is the main developer in Mexico of the Earth Charter and the founder of the National Secretariat.
He is considered a national expert in the implementation of local Agenda 21.
Rick Clugston
Rick Clugston (United States) was Executive Director of the Center for Respect of Life and Environment in Washington D.C, from 1991-2008.
Dr. Clugston participated in the Earth Charter drafting committee meetings and served on the Earth Charter International Steering Committee.
Sam Crowell
Sam Crowell (USA) has been actively engaged with the Earth Charter International and Education for Sustainable Development for over 15 years. He not only facilitated several courses for ECI but has also been a senior advisor. Sam is a professor emeritus of education at California State University San Bernardino and former director at the Center for Research in Integrative Learning and Teaching.
Carol Anne Hilton
Carol Anne Hilton, MBA is the CEO and founder of the Indigenomics Institute and the Global Center of Indigenomics. Carol Anne is a dynamic national Indigenous business leader, author, speaker and senior adviser with an international Masters Degree in Business Management (MBA) from the University of Hertfordshire, England. Carol Anne is of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island.
Heba Abdul Karim Jarrar
Heba Abdul Karim Jarrar (UAE) is founder of I PLANT, an Online Business which aims to spread knowledge on sustainable agriculture in UAE and to encourage people to plant everywhere in order to achieve food sufficiency. Through her work, she is focused on promoting urban farming as a key solution for most of socio-economic and environmental challenges
Ashok Khosla
Ashok Khosla (India) is a world leading expert on the environment and sustainable development. He is Chairman, Center for Development Alternatives. He left the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to found Development Alternatives, a Delhi-based NGO devoted to promoting commercially viable, environmental friendly technologies.
Jane Kilonzo
Jane Kilonzo (Kenya) is a Professional Accountant and Banker by training and former Deputy Managing Director at Bank of Africa. She has 26 years of banking experience, cutting across all operations and risk management practices of the bank.
Song Li
Song Li (China/United States) is retired as the Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank, Middle East and North Africa Region. She worked with the United Nations Environment Programme, responsible for the financial mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Paul Lubbers
Paul Lubbers (Netherlands/Spain) is Director of Breesaap Green Link, a clean-tech business investment company in Madrid, Spain. Paul has set up various businesses focused on sustainability and serves on the Supervisory Board of various companies in the areas of renewable energy and sustainable transport.
Brendan Mackey
Brendan Mackey (Australia) is a professor and Director of the Climate Action Beacon at Griffith University Australia. He has a PhD in ecology from The Australian National University. He is currently a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC 6th Assessment Report. Brendan has written over 240 academics publications in the fields of biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development.
Akpezi Ogbuigwe
Akpezi Ogbuigwe (Nigeria, Lagos) is the Chair of the Earth Charter International Council. Dr. Akpezi Ogbuigwe is the Founder of Anpez Centre for Environment and Development (ACFED), a centre she founded in 1991 to respond to the huge environmental neglect and pollution of the Niger Delta Region.
Alide Roerink
Alide Roerink (Netherlands) is an anthropologist and has been involved over the years in networking, advocacy, and policy development for gender justice, international solidarity, and global governance.
Kartikeya V. Sarabhai
Kartikeya V. Sarabhai (India) is the founder and director of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), a national institution engaged in promoting environmental awareness and conservation as well as education for sustainable development.
Olivia Tyler
Olivia Tyler (Australia) is Founder and Managing Director of Good & Should, an organisation dedicated to making sustainability real, business do good and the world around us better.
Mirian Vilela
Mirian Vilela (Brazil) is the executive director of Earth Charter International and has been involved in the initiative internationally since early 1996.
Atsufumi Yokoi
Atsufumi Yokoi (Japan) is Vice President for Global Engagement Strategy of Okayama University, and UNESCO Chairholder in Research and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), established at Okayama University in 2007.
Ricardo Young
Ricardo Young is a key figure in the socio-environmental entrepreneurship in Brazil. He was a councilor (member of the congress) in the city of Sao Paulo (2013-2017), elected in 2012 and has significant experience in developing public-private partnerships in Brazil. Ricardo is the Vice-Chair of the ECI Council.
Former Earth Charter International Board and Council Members
- Zainab Bangura, Sierra Leone
- Marianella Curi, Bolivia
- Camila Argolo Godinho, Brasil
- Wakako Hironaka, Japón
- Barbro Holmberg, Sweden
- Hisham Khatib, Jordan
- Li Lailai, Peoples Republic of China
- Alexander Likhotal, Rusia
- Ruud Lubbers (Honorary Chair 2011-2012)
- Wanjira Maathai, Kenya
- Elizabeth May, Canada
- Oscar Motomura, Brazil
- Dumisani Nyoni, Zimbabwe
- Razeena Omar, South Africa (Co-Chair 2006-2012)
- Henriette Rasmussen, Greenland
- Steven C. Rockefeller, United States (Co-Chair 2006-2010)
- Mohamed Sahnoun, Algeria
- Tommy Short, United States
- Severn Cullis-Suzuki, Canada
- Mary Evelyn Tucker, United States
- Richard Zimmerman, United States
- Hua Wang, China
- Erna Witoelar, Indonesia (Co-Chair 2006-2010)
- Vladimir Zakharov, Russia