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The climate crisis threatens the future of life on earth. To help solve it, an
energy revolution is moving the world beyond fossil fuels. How, and how fast
that revolution happens will determine the future of humanity…

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MISSION

Driven by the imperative of climate justice, the Sunrise Project’s mission is to
scale social movements to drive the transition from fossil fuels to renewable
energy as fast as possible.


HOW WE WORK



The Sunrise Project is a network of changemakers who believe in the power of
social movements to change the world. From ending slavery to civil rights to
women’s suffrage: social movements have achieved impossible things to make the
world a better place. Now, more than ever, we need to nurture and scale powerful
movements to solve the climate crisis.

Sitting at the intersection of social movements and philanthropy, we’ve
developed a ‘directed network’ model that supports networks of people and
organisations to work together to achieve large-scale change that wouldn’t have
been possible by individual organisations acting alone.

We essentially do six things:

 * Analysis to understand the political, social and economic systems driving the
   climate crisis;
 * Strategy design for multi-partner efforts that create systemic change;
 * Partner with philanthropy to resource these strategies;
 * Fund a diversity of organisations and support them to work together for
   collective impact;
 * Support organisations and movements to sharpen their strategies and build
   their capacity to achieve real world outcomes; and
 * Drive strategic interventions that will hasten the transition beyond fossil
   fuels.




READ MORE ABOUT THE WORK OF THE SUNRISE PROJECT

The work & impact of the Sunrise Project

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GOVERNANCE OF THE SUNRISE PROJECT AUSTRALIA

The Sunrise Project Australia Limited (Sunrise Australia) is an Australian
registered charity and operates in accordance within the Australian legal and
regulatory framework.  Sunrise Australia’s financial accounts are audited
annually by independent certified accountants and are made publicly available on
the Australian charity register.

The board of Sunrise Australia is supported be several sub-committees, including
a Finance, Risk Audit and Compliance (FRAC) Committee, a Grants Advisory
Committee and a DGR Public Fund Committee.

You can find our current board members here and our annual reports here.


GOVERNANCE OF THE SUNRISE PROJECT

Sunrise Australia is a member of the Sunrise Project, a global network of
independent organisations that share a common mission and common values. Driven
by the imperative of climate justice, the Sunrise Project’s mission is to scale
social movements to drive the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy
as fast as possible.

The Sunrise Project is a global network of independent organisations that share
a common mission and common values. The Sunrise Project currently comprises:

 * The Sunrise Project Australia Limited (Sunrise Australia), incorporated in
   Australia
 * The Sunrise Project International Stichting (Sunrise International)
 * The Sunrise Project Inc. (Sunrise Inc.), incorporated in the United States

Each organisation is a fully independent legal entity with its own board of
experienced Directors, who bring deep expertise across climate change, social
movements, law, finance, organisational leadership and governance.

Further information:

 * Sunrise Project Inc.: www.sunriseproject.us
 * Sunrise Project International Stichting (Netherlands) www.sunriseproject.nl


PEOPLE

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PEOPLE



People are our most valuable asset and we’re passionate about nurturing a
culture that supports great people to do great work. The diverse and growing
team of passionate changemakers are distributed around the world and work with a
wide network of partner NGOs to deliver world changing strategies. If you’re
interested in joining the team, please keep an eye on our jobs page for future
opportunities.



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THE SUNRISE PROJECT AUSTRALIA BOARD


CLAIRE MALLINSON

Board Chair
Read Claire's bio


CATHERINE FITZPATRICK

Director
Read Catherine's bio


CEREN AYAS

Director
Read Ceren Ayas's bio


ERNA DE VRIES

Director
Read Erna's bio


GILES GUNESEKERA

Director
Read Giles's bio


JASON FIELD

Director
Read Jason's bio


JOHN HEPBURN

Executive Director
Read John Hepburn's bio


KIERA PEACOCK

Director
Read Kiera Peacock's bio



THE SUNRISE PROJECT

Driven by the imperative of climate justice, The Sunrise Project scales social
movements to drive the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as fast
as possible.

CONTACT

For media enquiries: media-au@sunriseproject.org.au
Telephone: (02) 8057 5189



ANNUAL REPORTS

JOBS

We respectfully acknowledge the Indigenous peoples and local communities of the
lands on which we live and work.  We recognise the leadership of these
communities in the struggle for climate justice and our responsibility to uplift
their voices and histories.

©2024 The Sunrise Project Australia Limited | Privacy Policy | Terms of
Service | Cookie Policy | ABN: 65 159 324 697



CLAIRE MALLINSON

Board Chair

Claire joined the Board in December 2019, she is passionate about the Sunrise
Project’s mission and purpose and brings strategic expertise, business acumen
and leadership experience. Claire has a deep understanding of campaigning and
the power of activism across international boundaries with over 30 years of
senior leadership experience with environmental, human rights, disability and
cancer research INGOs/NGO’s in Australia and around the world.

Claire was the National Director (CEO) of Amnesty International Australia (AIA)
for twelve years and part of Amnesty International’s Global Leadership Team for
a decade. Whilst National Director of AIA Claire oversaw the growth of AIA’s
supporters by 400% and the delivery of significant human rights wins in
Australia, Asia Pacific and globally.  She built, led and developed key
partnerships including business leaders, major funders, Indigenous communities
and elders and civil society leaders and activist groups and was part of the
Board team that developed and implemented major governance reform. Claire is an
advisor, coach and mentor to CEO’s, senior executives and Boards and is a Member
of AICD, Chief Executive Women, and Women on Boards.

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live
and work and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.


CATHERINE FITZPATRICK

Director

Catherine joined the Board in July 2019. She has a deep understanding of
activism, strategy development, communications and audience understanding,
having worked for more than three decades for non-governmental organisations in
Australia, the Pacific, Canada, Asia and Europe.

Catherine first got involved in activism during the Franklin campaign in the
1980s working for the Wilderness Society. Since 1996, Catherine has campaigned
full-time on climate and energy issues, first with the David Suzuki Foundation
in Canada, leading their successful air pollution and climate campaign. From
2002 to 2021, Catherine worked for Greenpeace in Australia, China, Europe and
Southeast Asia on climate, renewable energy, communications, and audience
engagement and segmentation.

Catherine currently works for the Tara Climate Foundation as their Regional
Finance Strategies. She is deeply committed to supporting the mission and work
of the Sunrise Project through her work as board member and Vice-Chair.


CEREN AYAS

Director

Ceren worked in various roles in climate mitigation and coal transitions over
the last two decades at the European Climate Foundation (ECF), the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) and as an independent consultant. She is currently working
at the Climateworks Centre, Monash University where she is responsible for
managing the delivery of projects and initiatives across Southeast Asia. She is
also finalising her PhD with the University of Melbourne, School of Social and
Political Sciences on the justice aspect of energy transitions in the global
South. Her academic work on the political economy of coal and coal transitions
has been published in high-impact journals and books.


ERNA DE VRIES

Director

Erna is a retired petroleum geologist and financial analyst with a keen interest
in sustainability and corporate ethics. She studied Earth Sciences and worked as
a geologist with international oil and gas companies including Shell, BHP and
Ampolex. After working in the Netherlands, UK and Brunei, her career brought her
to Australia. Erna obtained her MBA in Sydney and went on to work as a senior
executive in corporate and institutional banking with Bankers Trust and then
Westpac as Head of Resources Research and Commonwealth Bank as a senior risk
manager. She has been involved in the financing decisions of many major mining
and energy projects. For the last 15 years Erna has been an active volunteer in
various local community campaigns.

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live
and work and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.


GILES GUNESEKERA

Director

Giles is the Founder and CEO of Global Impact Initiative. Giles has over 25
years’ experience of building and developing teams and businesses for global
enterprises. Giles has held senior roles in the financial services industry
spanning recruiting, training, product, distribution and leadership.

Giles has received an Outstanding Alumnus award from Oxford for creating an
innovative, sustainable business that generates positive social impact. His
business, Global Impact Initiative (GII) is one of only forty-one (41) Global
Compact LEAD companies, recognised for their high levels of engagement in the
United Nations. GII has been a UN LEAD since 2019 and is the only Australian
firm to be recognised as a UN LEAD. The business works under five key pillars of
Gender Equality, Indigenous Communities, Health, Affordable Housing and Climate.

Giles is a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia,
Fellow of the School of Social Entrepreneurs, Fellow of the Institute of
Managers and Leaders, and Member of the Australian Institute of Training and
Development. Giles is an Industry Fellow at the Business School of the
University of Technology, Sydney.

Giles has a unique blend of leadership and business skills gained in the
corporate environment married with financial and governance skills gained in the
Not-for-Profit sector. Giles holds numerous Volunteer Not-for-Profit
Directorships ranging from International Aid, Human Rights, Disabilities,
Education, Arts and Sports. Giles is on Advisory Boards for the United Nations
for Climate & Health and Sustainable Finance. He is an Advisory Board Member of
the Securities and Investments Institute of Asia Pacific.

Giles has formal academic qualifications from Oxford University, Melbourne
University, Monash University and the Financial Services Institute of Australia.

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live
and work and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.


JASON FIELD

Director

Jason is a Koori with ancestral connections to the people Bidjigal and Walbunja
peoples. Over nearly thirty years Jason has worked in the areas of human rights
and Indigenous policy and programme delivery.

Jason has diverse Indigenous policy interests including land and sea management,
education, stolen generations, housing and the protection of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples rights to their country, knowledge and heritage.
He has worked at the local, regional, state, national and international, having
participated in various United Nations fora including the Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues and as an adviser to the federal environment department for
the negotiations of the Nagoya Protocol.

Jason is currently the Executive Officer with the Centre for Aboriginal Economic
Policy Research at the Australian National University and is an aspiring PhD
candidate.


JOHN HEPBURN

Executive Director

John is an activist and social entrepreneur with over twenty-five years
experience running environmental campaigns. In 2017 he was an inaugural
recipient of the Climate Breakthrough Award which was the catalyst for Sunrise
scale its work globally. Prior to founding The Sunrise Project in 2012, John
spent a decade leading campaigns with Greenpeace and previously worked on a wide
variety of environmental campaigns at a grassroots level. He is the founder of
several non-profit recycling businesses which led to him being awarded a
Churchill Fellowship in 2002. John holds degrees in Manufacturing Systems
Engineering and Business Management and before becoming an activist, worked for
several years as an engineer making components for the oil, gas and coal
industries.


KIERA PEACOCK

Director

Kiera is a Partner at Marque Lawyers, a boutique B Corp law firm in Sydney,
specialising in commercial litigation and public law, with a focus on political
law. She has run a number of cases seeking to use the law as a force for good,
from clarifying the law on misleading electoral advertising, to challenging
government laws restricting phone voting during Covid. Kiera is passionate about
climate, advocacy and the strategic power of NGOs. Over the last couple of years
she has been deeply immersed in the community independents political movement,
working with incredible local political campaigns seeking to improve democratic
participation and elect a genuine community representative.