The Allianz Knowledge Site's Who's Who features people and organizations that make a difference in the areas of climate change, microfinance, and demographic change.
Matthew Flannery
Who’s that?
Co-founder of Kiva.org
What does he do?
Flannery and his wife, Jessica, founded Kiva.org in 2005, which evolved into what Business Week magazine has called the “eBay of microfinance” for its unique peer-to-peer approach to microlending. Anybody with a credit card can use Kiva.org to transfer loans as small as 25 dollars directly to profiled entrepreneurs. So far, over 7 million loans from over 70,000 people have been dispersed through a network of partner microfinance institutions in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
The idea was born during a trip to Africa in 2004, after which Flannery built a small website featuring pictures and descriptions of entrepreneurs in one Ugandan village who needed some capital to start businesses. He found that friends and family were eager to send loans directly to entrepreneurs in the developing world. (Photo: Brian Oberkirch)
Read more
Al Gore
Who’s that?
Chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection, Former U.S. Vice-President, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
What does he do?
Al Gore is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist. He gained international recognition as U.S. Vice-President under Bill Clinton. Today he is best known for his role in the fight against climate change. He starred in the award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." One of his many organizations, Save Our Selves, organized the worldwide benefit concert Live Earth to raise awareness about climate change.
Besides his work as an environmentalist, Gore acts as president of the American television channel Current TV, chairman of Generation Investment Management, board member of Apple Inc., and unofficial advisor to Google's senior management.
In December 2007, Gore and the U.N. International Panel on Climate Change received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to promoting awareness of climate change.
James Hansen
Who’s that?
Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
What does he do?
James Hansen heads the NASA’S Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), one of the foremost research centers on atmospheric and climate changes in the 21st century. Hanson is also an adjunct professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at Columbia University.
Hansen became famous for his testimony on climate change before Congress in the 1980s. He was one of the first to raise broad awareness of the global warming issue.
He is a critic of the Bush administration's stance on climate change. Hansen recently created a stir by claiming that NASA administrators and White House officials edited his statements about the causes of climate change to make global warming seem less threatening.
Before joining NASA in 1962, he studied physics and astronomy in the space science program at the University of Iowa. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics. In 1996, Hansen was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Among the various honors bestowed upon him are the Heinz Environment Award for his research on global warming and the Dan David Prize.
Steve Howard
Who’s that?
Co-founder and CEO of The Climate Group
What does he do?
In 2003, Howard co-founded The Climate Group, a leading organization that advises government and business on carbon-reduction and climate mitigation strategies. Several large companies (HSBC, Google, British Telecom, British Petroleum, Allianz) and governments (London, New York City, and California) are members of The Climate Group.
As CEO of The Climate Group, Howard has advised and briefed many CEOs and political leaders on climate change. He also chaired a July 2006 climate change meeting with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and several business leaders in California.
Prior to his work at The Climate Group, Howard was director of WWF’s Global Forest and Trade Network, as well as chairman of the UK Forest Stewardship Council and the Tropical Forest Trust.
What does he say?
Suzanne Hunt
Who’s that?
Director of the Worldwatch Institute’s Bioenergy Program
What does she do?
Suzanne Hunt is leading the Bioenergy Program at the Worldwatch Institute, an independent think tank working on environmental, social, and economic issues. Her recent work includes the study, Biofuels for Transportation. Her team assessed the opportunities and risks of large-scale international development of biofuels.
Before joining Worldwatch, she has worked on watershed management planning in New York State, sustainable forestry in Pennsylvania and teaching sakt marsh ecology in South Carolina. She has been a research fellow at Environmental Defense, an environmental non-profit, where she focused on social and environmental safeguard policy reform at the International Finance Institutes.
Hunt is a co- founder of “SmartFuel,” an organization dedicated to teaching children from how to turn waste grease from restaurant kitchens into fuel for their school buses. She is a steering committee member of the “BioEnergy Wiki," an information sharing hub. She also serves on the board of directors of the “Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance,” as well as the “Renew the Earth” organization.
What does she say?
