CDP North America Board of Directors

Martin Wise – CHAIR

Martin is CEO of RelPro, Inc., providing business development and relationship management professionals with prospect and client intelligence through software and data analytics. Martin gained extensive leadership experience during a 20-year career with Merrill Lynch in London and New York. His past experiences include Senior Vice President, Head of Global Client Coverage; Chairman, Merrill Lynch Foundation, Head of Global Strategy & Planning and Head of Investor Relations. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Martin worked in technology and corporate treasury at Esso Petroleum in London.

Martin is former Chairman of DF King Worldwide, a global financial communications and stakeholder management firm. Martin is a Director of the American Friends of London Business School and a Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK). He is also a Board Member (former Chairman) of Family Promise, a non-profit organization mobilizing 160,000 volunteers in 41 states across the U.S. to help homeless families achieve lasting independence by providing them with safe shelter, meals and support services. Martin earned an MBA (with distinction) from London Business School and a BS (Hons) from the University of Southampton.

Joyce Haboucha

Joyce Haboucha has managed global investment portfolios for more than 35 years, most recently as a Managing Director of Rockefeller & Co. of New York City where she managed the Sustainability Group. Since 1988, she has focused exclusively on sustainability and impact investing incorporating environmental, social and governance criteria. At Rockefeller, she led the firm’s Active Ownership program which involved setting and implementing policy on proxy voting and engagement with companies on a wide range of concerns.

From 1987 to 1997, Joyce was a Senior Portfolio Manager and Co-Director of Socially Responsive Investment Services at Neuberger Berman where she developed and managed the firm’s socially responsive practice and its first socially responsive mutual fund. Prior to that, she had been a Vice President and Group Head of Personal Trust Investment at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and a Senior Investment Officer and Manager of Research at Union Trust Company. Currently, she serves on the Board of CDP North America and on the Advisory Boards of the Heron Foundation’s Community Investment Index and the International Corporate Governance Network.

David Lubin

Dr. David A. Lubin has more than 25 years of experience successfully founding and managing media, technology and consulting firms that have become world leaders in the field of corporate performance management, business analytics and interactive media. David currently serves as Co-Founder and Managing Director of Constellation Research and Technology, Inc. Constellation has worked in partnership with Thomson Reuters, and together they have developed innovative data, tools and content focused on integrating sustainability factors into investment strategies. Previously, David served as Chairman of the Sustainability Innovators Working Group, a research consortium he established with Professor Daniel C. Esty of Yale University.

David’s work on sustainability has been published in the Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Review, as well as the UN Global Compact and IFC/ World Bank, and others. He has served as lead author for three special reports on the business value of climate leadership for Thomson Reuters. He previously served as Co-Chairman and Managing Director of Renaissance Solutions, Executive Chairman of the Palladium Group and Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Spectrum Interactive. David received his doctorate in Human Development from Harvard University and has served on the faculty at Harvard and Tufts, and more recently as a lecturer at the Yale Sustainability Leadership Forum.

Usha Rao-Monari

Usha Rao-Monari is a seasoned investment professional with almost 30 years of investment experience, particularly in the infrastructure area. Usha is currently a Senior Advisor to Blackstone’s Infrastructure Group. In addition to CDP North America, she serves on the boards of UPL Limited, Water Unite and Wine to Water. Previously, she served as CEO of Global Water Development Partners, a Blackstone portfolio company, and held several senior positions at the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, where her last role was Director of the Sustainable Business Advisory Group. Other prior positions include Global Head of the Water and Environmental Group, Head of Utilities and Public Partnerships and with Prudential Bache in the corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions areas in New York and London.

Usha has particular expertise in sustainable water management and was instrumental in founding and establishing the 2030 Water Resources Group, a public-private partnership platform, which is now part of the World Bank Group. She has held a number of board and advisory positions including on the Veolia Sustainability Committee to the Board, WaterHealth International Board, and Co-Chair, Steering Board, 2030 Water Resources Group, and Chair/Co-Chair of several World Economic Forum councils including Water, Natural Capital and Biodiversity and Environmental and Natural Resource Security.

Martin Whittaker

Martin Whittaker is the founding CEO of JUST Capital. He is also Co-Founder and Board Member of the CREO Syndicate, a family office investment network; a Board Member of CDP North America; a member of the Forbes Finance Council and Forbes Contributor; and an advisor to Mission Driven Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Previously, Martin was a Founding Partner and Investment Committee Member at Sonen Capital, an impact investing firm, where he led private equity, real asset and direct investing activities. Martin has also served as Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, a family office-led private equity firm; Senior Vice President at Swiss Re, where he was part of the Environmental and Commodity Markets team; and Managing Director at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc., a pioneering sustainable investment advisory and research firm.

Martin received his Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh, an MBA from the University of London, an MS from McGill University and a BS from University of St. Andrews. Martin has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, provided expert testimony on environmental markets to the U.S. Senate, guest lectured at multiple business schools, consulted to major corporations on sustainability- and impact-related matters and has been an invited speaker, published writer and contributor via television, print, social media and conferences throughout his career.

David J. Wolfson

David J. Wolfson is the Executive Director of Milbank LLP, an international law firm, and a partner in the firm’s Corporate Group. As Executive Director, David works with the Chairman and the firm’s Executive Committee to manage the firm globally. He joined Milbank in 1993 and has been a Partner since 2003. David received the 2013 International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Award for M&A in New York and for the U.S. overall. He has been recognized in The Legal 500 United States and The Legal 500 Latin America for his M&A work.

David is currently an adjunct professor at NYU as part of the Animal Studies Initiative within the Environmental Studies Department, where he teaches Animal Protection and Public Policy, and has previously taught Animal Law at Columbia Law School, NYU School of Law and Harvard Law School. He is a graduate of Columbia School of Law where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and Duke University. David represents a number of animal protection groups on a pro bono basis, including The Humane Society of the United States and Mercy for Animals. He has published extensively in the animal protection area and worked on numerous policy initiatives in this space, with a focus on issues around animal agriculture. He has recently focused on the interaction between animal agriculture and climate and environmental issues.

Paula DiPerna
Special Advisor to CDP North America

Paula DiPerna is Special Advisor to CDP North America. She is a pioneer of strategic global environmental and philanthropic policy, and a widely published author and commentator on contemporary issues. Paula also serves on the Board of Advisors of Global Kids, whose mission is to develop global citizenship; the Circle of Advisors of Rachel’s Network, which links women philanthropists who have environmental interests; and the Board of Directors of The HistoryMakers, a unique oral and video archive of profiles of African-American leaders in all sectors.

As a leader in the development of carbon markets, Paula served formerly as President of the international division of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the world’s first cap-and-trade system covering all six greenhouse gases, which also launched the Tianjin Climate Exchange (TCX), China’s first pilot carbon market. She also served formerly as President of the Joyce Foundation, a major U.S. philanthropy, and as a writer, co-producer and Vice President for International Affairs for the Cousteau Society, whose principal was oceans pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, with whose expeditions she travelled around the world.