RI People & Appointments, Nov. 26: New role for Canadian SIO’s Ellmen

Eugene Ellmen is leaving his role as Executive Director of Canada’s Social Investment Organization (SIO) to become the new Canada director for microfinance body Oikocredit. Ellmen, head of the SIO since 1999, starts his new role on January 21. “The SRI industry in Canada is indebted to Eugene for the hard work and dedication he has brought to his role at the SIO over the last 13 years”, said Gary Hawton, President of the SIO. The SIO Board is looking to have a new Executive Director in place ahead of its national conference in Vancouver in June. Announcement

Dorothy Maxwell, founder and CEO of the Global View Sustainability Services think tank and consultancy, has been appointed as Director for TEEB [The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity] for Business Coalition, the new global coalition for valuing natural capital that has been set up in Singapore. The coalition is chaired by Gerard Ee, retired partner at Ernst & Young. Link

The Right Reverend Michael Doe has been named chair of the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR), the church-based investor coalition and membership organisation. He is honorary assistant bishop in Southwark and was Bishop of Swindon from 1994 to 2004, and then General Secretary of USPG, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He takes over from Lee Coates, founder-director of Ethical Investors Group. Also at the ECCR, Matt Crossman is stepping down as company secretary and board member. New ECCR Executive Director John Arnold is heading a strategic review of the organisation.

Australia: Michael Fraser, the CEO of listed renewables firm AGL, has been elected chairman of the Clean Energy Council industry body at its annual general meeting. Roy Adair, CEO of Hydro Tasmania, becomes deputy chair. AGL, which traces its history to the Australian Gas Light Company formed in 1837, is developing the largest wind farm and the largest solar farm in Australia. Also joining the board are Jack Curtis, vice president of business development at First Solar and Andrea Fontana, Australian Country Manager from FRV.Per Sommerlou has joined Ethix SRI Advisors, which advises institutional investors on sustainable and responsible investment, as Chief Client Officer. He will be responsible for the overall relationship between Ethix and its clients. He has experience of private banks and asset managers such as Erik Penser Bank, HQ Bank and SEB. Ethix

Ajay Mathur has been named as Director of the Interim Secretariat of the Green Climate Fund, the body which will distribute climate finance to developing countries. Mathur was most recently Director General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in the Government of India. The secretariat of the fund will be set up in South Korea before the end of 2013. Announcement

Nina Goodrich has been named as the new Executive Director of GreenBlue, the not-for-profit sustainability body which is focusing on chemicals, packaging and forest products. Goodrich will remain as Program Director for GreenBlue’s flagship project, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

Jeanne Hogarth has been appointed Vice President, Policy at the US-based Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), which focuses on financial services for underbanked consumers. Hogarth was most recently an economist at the Federal Reserve Board. Link

Michael Mazzola, Head of Alternative Investments at MetLife, the New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, has been appointed chairman of the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), which represents private equity investor clients.

Rupert Clarke, the former chief executive of Hermes Fund Managers, has joined real estate developer First Base as chairman and shareholder. Clarke stepped down from the asset manager owned by the BT Pension Scheme in November 2011.