Our leadership team comes from diverse backgrounds across the private sector, public sector, academia and international institutions. We are based across London, Boston, and Dubai.
Ely Sandler is an expert in climate finance, international policy and development. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ely is a Fellow at Harvard University, where his research and teaching focus on financing the energy transition. Ely’s background is in economics and finance; he served as a senior consultant to the World Bank, and previously worked at Morgan Stanley for nearly a decade across investment banking, capital markets, and senior management.
In 2022, policy proposals that Ely developed at Harvard were presented at COP27, with the intention to create a new approach to carbon markets and climate finance. These proposals, which put forward a mechanism known as “Article 6 Investment”, are now being built upon by a mix of governments, international organizations and multinational private firms. The aim to catalyze trillions of dollars of green investment, in part through Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Ely’s work in this space has been featured in the Financial Times, Carbon Pulse, and by the London School of Economics. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Carbon Finance at the World Economic Forum.
Ely also has extensive experience in Track II diplomacy, using cooperation on issues such as climate change to build links in the Middle East. He has worked on Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and other Middle Eastern countries, and has led private sector infrastructure projects in solar, agriculture and water technology. Ely is also a founding Board Member of 50:50 Startups, the non-profit tech accelerator for Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs.
Ely graduated with distinction from the University of Oxford with a first class degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics. He holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard, where he graduated with Distinction, receiving an award for his thesis on cross-border investment in clean energy. Ely was previously a researcher at Oxford University’s Martin School.
Chris Lyle is an expert in climate finance, policy, and international development, with over a decade of experience working across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Based in the UK, Chris’s background is primarily in global finance, having begun his career working for Morgan Stanley across its investment banking and capital markets divisions. At Morgan Stanley, Chris helped some of the largest companies across Europe and the Middle East raise capital and advised them on wider corporate finance strategy, with a focus on natural resources and infrastructure.
Chris subsequently spent many years developing climate infrastructure projects and advising corporate clients across the Middle East and Africa, based first in Amman and latterly Beirut, where he was Head of Lebanon for CrossBoundary, a global development finance firm. During this time, Chris led major projects in renewable energy, water treatment and supply, and agriculture across countries including Jordan, Lebanon, Somaliland, and Ethiopia.
Chris also has extensive experience in the sphere of sustainable development more broadly, having helped to launch Turquoise Mountain’s cultural heritage preservation and craft sector development efforts in Jordan.
Chris holds a first-class Bachelor’s degree in Arabic & Persian from the University of Oxford. He subsequently completed a Master of Public Policy with Distinction, also at the University of Oxford, and speaks Arabic, English, and French.
Olivia Azadegan leads policy work for the Article Six Group, with specific expertise in energy transition policy. She served as Energy Transition Director for Clean Air Task Force in the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA). Her work involved advocating for the technological and policy changes needed to achieve zero-emissions industries including the development carbon management, methane, nuclear, hydrogen amongst other related climate and energy topics.
Prior to CATF, Olivia spent five years working in finance across London and New York. In her banking career at Barclays Private Bank, she managed relationships and accounts for clients in the Asia region. Olivia has worked in financial news and data roles for S&P Global, Thomson Reuters and The Financial Times’ fDi magazine.
Olivia is a fellow for the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center’s Women Leaders in Energy and Climate as part of the 2022 cohort. Olivia was also named to Forbes’ Europe 30 under 30 list for her work to advance decarbonization in the Europe and the MENA region.
Olivia holds a Master of Public Policy from the London School of Economics.
Lucas is the Article Six Group’s carbon lead, and is an expert in carbon finance, carbon markets, and carbon project development. He has 13 years of experience working in developing countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa where he lived for 11 years.
Based in Washington, D.C., he is a consultant for World Bank carbon funds and supports countries to put in place the required policies and infrastructure to participate in voluntary carbon markets and the emerging compliance market under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. He is also an experienced management consultant having provided transaction advisory services to private equity funds and large-cap companies operating in Africa.
Lucas has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Bucknell University and a master’s degree in civil & environmental engineering from Carnegie Mellon. Lucas is fluent in English and German, with proficiency in French and Swahili.
Marissa Nordentoft is the Article Six Group’s data lead, and brings a decade of experience working with research institutions, international organizations, development actors, and the private sector across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Marissa started her career as a researcher at McGill University before joining the United Nations in Geneva as Project Coordinator for UNEP and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, analyzing the environmental implications and opportunities of novel assistance approaches in humanitarian response.
Marissa subsequently led data assessment efforts for an international NGO in Jordan as part of the Syrian crisis response to shape policy development, before joining Internews, an international media development organization, as part of their Global Technology Hub Team, where she helped coordinate their Ukraine response. More recently, she joined Simprints, a leading Tech4Dev company, as head of their responsible data and data governance efforts.
Marissa graduated with a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in History and Political Science from McGill University, and holds a Master’s in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics. She speaks fluent Danish, English, and French.
Max Edwards is the Article Six Group’s outside legal counsel. Max is an expert in English corporate law and cross-border transactions. He advises a range of clients, from established strategics and funds to founders and start-ups, on a broad scope of transaction types, including M&A, equity and debt financings, and joint ventures, as well as advisory work on shareholder arrangements, governance, and other general corporate matters.
Max advises across industry sectors, but has an emphasis on the technology sector and a particular focus on the cybersecurity and space industries.
Max began his career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in London, where he helped advise some of Europe’s most prominent companies and funds, and now works for Sheridans, a leading technology-focused boutique law firm, where he advises Article Six Group as the company’s outside legal counsel.
Max holds a first class bachelor’s degree in History and Politics from the University of Oxford. He subsequently completed a Master’s in International Relations Theory at the London School of Economics with Distinction.
If you are interested in partnering with Article Six Group, or working with any of our partners, please get in touch.