About

Our team

Market Forces believes that the banks, superannuation funds and governments that have custody of our money should use it to protect, not damage, our environment.

Our work exposes the institutions that are financing environmentally destructive projects and helps Australians hold these institutions accountable. We work with the community to prevent investment in projects that would harm the environment and drive global warming.

Staff

Will van de Pol

CEO

Will has more than eight years experience at Market Forces, working on legal research, campaigning and superannuation, shareholder activism and corporate governance work. Will has led the Asset management and Shareholder Team at Market Forces, and stepped up as CEO in 2023. Will is driven by his desire to play an active role in the fight for climate justice.

Gerlinde Scholz

Chief of Staff

Gerlinde joined Market Forces in April 2024. Her experience is in helping not-for-profit organisations build capacity and scale. In her previous career, she has held senior executive appointments at a national peak body, a medical research institute, and at the University of Melbourne. She has served as a director and chair on governance boards in community banking, sustainability, women’s health, social services, and arts education.

Nellie Malseed

Operations Coordinator

Nellie manages our office spaces, provides logistical support for the team, and ensures we meet our financial administration and compliance obligations. Nellie has a Bachelor of Science (Conservation Biology) and a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations). Prior to Market Forces, she facilitated sustainability change in the agriculture industry.

Bernadette Maheandiran

Director, Asia Climate and Energy

Bernadette joined Market Forces in early 2017 and leads our campaign work in Asia. Originally from Canada, and with a legal background, Bernadette develops campaigns on coal and gas companies, projects and financiers, overseeing our Asia campaign team.

Marcella Brasset

Australian Campaigns Manager

Marcella Brassett joined Market Forces in November 2023. For 15 years she has campaigned for climate and racial justice, and human rights. She has worked for Members of Parliament, The ASRC, Islamic Council of VIC and Democracy in Colour. Marcella’s expertise is campaign strategy, project and people management and cross cultural coaching, facilitation and empowerment of people with lived experience of intersectional injustice.

Antony Balmain

Media and Communications Manager

Antony joined Market Forces in 2022, after many years working as a journalist, senior media adviser and communications manager. Most recently Antony headed media and communications in the Asia Pacific for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Previously Antony led media and communications at Australian Red Cross, VicHealth and worked for media organisations including ABC Australia, SBS TV, AAP and has written for leading news outlets in Australia and internationally.

Axel Dalman

Research Manager

Axel joined Market Forces in 2022, having previously worked as an oil and gas analyst at London-based think tank Carbon Tracker. Overseeing the Research Team, Axel provides strategic company analyst advice to the team. Axel holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics.

Rachel Deans

Australian Fossil Fuels Campaigner

Rachel’s work at Market Forces has been pivotal in empowering shareholders to take action against companies investing in fossil fuels. She has also worked with super fund members to hold their companies accountable on climate action. With a bachelor of Science from Melbourne University, and as a former Melbourne Uni environment officer, Rachel started an internship with Market Forces in 2016 and hasn’t looked back.

Brett Morgan

Asset Management/Superannuation Funds Campaigner

Brett is a climate campaigner with a background that spans research, community organising and financial services. Having worked and volunteered in the climate movement for several years, Brett joined the Market Forces team in early 2021 and works to hold superannuation funds accountable for their investments in and engagement with climate-wrecking companies.

Vishad Sharma

Shareholder Action Campaigner

Vishad joined Market Forces in 2022. His experience in devising campaign and impact strategies for international and Australian organisations, shareholder advocacy and corporate governance assist him in understanding how people can be empowered to demand change.

Michelle Surowiec

Australian Fossil Fuels Campaigner

Michelle joined Market Forces as a volunteer in 2015 and in 2021 joined our Australian campaign team. From the San Francisco Bay area, Michelle completed her BA at UCLA in Geography and Sustainability in 2009, and has volunteered with many other climate action organisations since moving to Australia.

Morgan Pickett

Australian Fossil Fuels Campaigner

Morgan joined Market forces in 2022. Morgan holds a Masters in public policy and management from the University of Melbourne and has worked in environmental and climate justice campaigning for several years.

Meg Fukuzawa

Asia Energy Finance Campaigner

Meg joined Market Forces in 2019. She has a background working in civil society organisations in Asia, bringing accountability to companies for environmental and human rights abuses in South East Asia. Meg works to change the policies and behaviours of Japanese corporations.

Kyle Robertson

Analyst and Australian Banks Campaigner

Kyle joined Market Forces in 2022, having previously worked as a sustainability consultant for Point Advisory, specialising in climate change. Kyle’s research at Market Forces focuses on Australian banks and the financial sector’s ongoing investment in the fossil fuel industry. Kyle holds a Master of Environment and Sustainability from Monash University.

Kentaro Nunokawa

Japan Energy Campaigner

Kentaro joined Market Forces in 2022, after finishing post-graduate studies in Political Ecology: Degrowth and Environmental Justice. His work focuses on bringing just and substantial transitions to Japanese corporations operating in carbon intensive businesses.

Eri Watanabe

Japanese Banks Campaigner

Prior to working at Market Forces, Eri was a finance campaigner with 350 Japan. Eri’s work targets Japanese commercial banks to fight new fossil fuel projects.

Sachiko Suzuki

Asia Climate and Energy Finance Analyst

After first volunteering at Market Forces in 2018, Sachiko’s research and campaign expertise is now focused on Japanese energy companies and the investors that support them. Building on her previous work experience in public development finance and commercial finance, Sachiko is passionate about shifting the flow of finance away from unsustainable sources of energy to sustainable ones. Sachiko completed her PhD on sustainable finance in 2021.

Binbin Mariana

Asia Energy Finance Campaigner

Based in Indonesia, Binbin’s work involves building connections between community organisations and investors, holding the latter accountable to communities over the health and climate impacts caused by coal power and mining companies in Indonesia. A former banker, she believes that financial institutions must stop contributing to the climate crisis. Binbin joined Market Forces in 2020.

Munira Chowdhury

Analyst

Munira joined Market Forces in 2017 after finishing her Masters in Environmental Management and Sustainability. She is passionate about climate justice and formerly worked as a policy researcher in Bangladesh. Munira produces research that sits behind countless company reports and briefings, and campaigns on fossil fuel projects in Bangladesh.

Rose Tehan

Analyst

Rose is an Analyst in Market Forces’ research team, which provides the information and intellectual material that underpins our campaigns. Rose joined in the team in 2023 and brings extensive experience in social research and behavioural insights.

Jack Wood

Company Analyst

Jack joined Market Forces in early 2024 as a Company Analyst after previously working as a Buy Side Equity Analyst focused on ASX-listed mineral resource firms. Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Management (Finance) from the University of Melbourne.

Kate Simpson

Digital Campaigns Manager

Kate has a Bachelor of Journalism and has previously worked in the arts and government sectors. Prior to Market Forces she was the Communications Officer at the Australian Marine Conservation Society. Kate is focused on engaging supporters through our digital channels to support Market Forces’ campaigns.

Manny Perez

Website Manager

Manny joined Market Forces in 2020. With a strong background in website management and development, Manny helps ensure our websites run fast, smoothly, are optimised for the best user experience and most importantly, stay secure.

Matt Tomkins

Digital Campaigner

Matt joined Market Forces in 2020 with a desire to apply the skills he developed working in the digital marketing sector to the efforts to tackle climate change. Matt’s focus is on amplifying the reach and influence of our campaigns through the use of digital tools. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Melbourne.

Kumiko Kitano

Communications Campaigner – Asia Energy Finance

Kumiko joined Market Forces in 2022 after working as a communications planner and HR officer at the marketing agency Dentsu in Tokyo. She holds a Masters from Monash University in Social Entrepreneurship. Kumiko is passionate about bringing her experience and skills in the communications field to address climate justice.

Paula Martinez

Digital Content Creator

Paula joined Market Forces in late 2019 after completing a bachelor of Media and Communications, majoring in Media Industries. Her focus is creating visual content for Market Forces’ digital platforms to assist campaigns and engage supporters.

Amelia Benefield

Digital Communications Campaigner

Amelia joined Market Forces in 2023, with a background in social media, visual design and science communication. Having worked previously in both local government and the not-for-profit sector, Amelia is also completing her postgraduate studies in climate policy and sustainability, and is able to bring all of this together in her digital communications role at Market Forces.

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