Profile
Marina Mansilla Hermann
Chief of Staff to Christiana Figueres
Marina is Chief of Staff to Ms. Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC and Convenor of Mission 2020. In this role, Marina supports Ms. Figueres across all her engagements and in the broader global effort to peak greenhouse emissions by 2020.
Previous to this role, Marina spent eleven years at Ashoka managing its strategy to transform education in Europe, bringing together social innovators, educators, thought leaders and influencers with the ultimate goal of reinventing learning as an experience that enables every child to become a changemaker. During her years at Ashoka, she mentored hundreds of young social innovators and supported the launch of dozens of environmental ventures globally.
Marina has been involved in the UN Climate Summits (COPs) since 2004, advocating for young people to be recognized as a key stakeholder in the negotiation process. She is also the founder of Fundación TierraVida, an Argentinean-based NGO working to unleash young people’s potential to drive environmental sustainability in Latin America. Through her work with TierraVida, she has been named a British Council Climate Champion (2011), a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum (2013) and a Global Good Fund Fellow (2014).
Earlier in her career, Marina worked for more than a decade with Peace Child International, as a consultant for a GEF/UNDP wetlands conservation project and served as a youth advisor to UN Environment (2003-2007).
Marina has been trained by former vice-president and Nobel Peace Prize Al Gore as part of his Climate Reality Project. She currently serves as Faculty of Amani institute’s Social Innovation Management Programme. She holds a BSc. in Environmental Sciences, an MA. in Environment and Development from King’s College London and an Executive MBA from ESMT Berlin.