Climate for Change's board is thrilled to announce the appointment of not one, but two new CEOs!
The Climate for Change (C4C) board is thrilled to announce the new Co-CEOs of Climate for Change: Jane Stabb and Lena Herrera Piekarski.
With decades of combined experience in the climate movement in Australia and globally, the board is confident that these Co-CEOs will push C4C to scale its impact. Their vision, skills and connections will reach and inspire more people to take action for climate change across Australia.
The board’s CEO recruitment process was both comprehensive and inspiring since it began in early September 2020. With a strong field of candidates from within and outside of the traditional climate movement, the board was overwhelmed by the quality and experience of candidates. It bodes well for the local and global climate challenge that there are so many remarkably talented leaders seeking to contribute to solutions.
In September 2020, the board established a CEO Recruitment Working Group to carry out the recruitment process. It worked with the board and staff to identify the key leadership qualities C4C’s next CEO would ideally embody. Collectively, we decided C4C’s future CEO must be able to mobilise and build our community and lead in a consultative, collaborative style.
The board used the shared priorities developed by staff and board members to develop a position description that formalised these qualities into key capabilities. The CEO Recruitment Working Group used the position description as its guide in every interaction it had with potential candidates. Many candidates demonstrated these qualities in their experiences, but after two rounds of interviews and multiple recruitment tasks, the Working Group unanimously decided by blind vote that Jane Stabb and Lena Herrera Piekarski not only embodied the capabilities we sought, but exceeded our hopes and expectations for the wealth of experience that C4C’s next leader would bring to the organisation.
On Tuesday 16 February 2021, the full board unanimously voted to approve Jane Stabb and Lena Herrera Piekarski for the Co-CEO roles of C4C. Jane and Lena have demonstrated authentic and unrelenting passion and respect for Climate for Change. They share a robust and clear long-term vision for the organisation and the movement, and a commitment to empower and mentor staff to ensure organisational success. They bring impressive fundraising and operational experience, high emotional intelligence and demonstrable experience influencing and collaborating with stakeholders.
“As Climate for Change enters a new phase of growth, the board is beyond thrilled to have two such exceptional people to lead our community at this critical moment, both for Climate for Change, and the movement as a whole. We’re so excited to introduce Co-CEOs who have complementary skill sets and a history of working well together. We are confident that with their expertise, passion for action on climate change and demonstrated leadership experience, Climate for Change is perfectly positioned to thrive.” - Alexi Lynch, Chairperson of the Board.
“We are incredibly excited by the opportunity to lead Climate for Change. As lifelong climate activists, we understand the climate crisis is an existential threat, and we are deeply committed to taking the action we need. Like most people, we have felt the impacts of the climate crisis in different ways – through our families, our communities and the people and places we love.
Climate for Change is such an incredible community and organisation – we have seen Climate for Change grow from the start, and we are inspired by the powerful force you have become. We can’t wait to get started!” - Jane Stabb and Lena Herrera Piekarski, Incoming Co-CEOs.
Jane and Lena will begin on 22 March. They’ll be working with outgoing and Founding CEO, Katerina Gaita, in transitioning to the new leadership team. The board is grateful to Katerina for her flexibility and willingness to stay on as CEO through the recruitment process, ensuring a smooth transition. Katerina’s story has aligned with C4C’s since founding the organisation in 2013 and in the coming weeks we look forward to acknowledging and celebrating her remarkable legacy in creating the social climate in Australia for effective action on climate change.
Recruiting a new CEO can be an exciting yet daunting task for not for profit organisations with volunteer board members. Climate for Change has developed a document collating and summarising our CEO recruitment process to assist other organisations. It includes the key steps and principles along the way, how to engage with staff and other stakeholders and how to deal with conflicts of interest and governance. You can find this summary here or please email [email protected] for more information.