Speakers

Patricia Lerner

Greenpeace International

Patricia J. Lerner is an experienced senior leader and manager with a track record of addressing a multitude of issues in an interconnected manner and delivering impact. A political economist by training, she is a seasoned former US diplomat with a career of over 25 years with USAID leading multicultural teams in the Sahel, the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe delivering assistance programs, as well as carrying out policy coordination with the EU on a range of issues including humanitarian assistance, post-conflict reconstruction, economic and social development, and democracy and human rights.

Shifting to the non-governmental arena in 2008, Pat was Senior Political Advisor with Greenpeace International (GPI) serving as focal point for UN issues, G7 and G20 processes and worked on the climate negotiations with a focus on climate finance, sustainable energy for all, Rio+20, the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs, and climate change and security. As interim Political Director/Global Campaign Leader for the Political, Business & Peace Unit for two years, Pat was responsible for ensuring policy coherence, UN relations, geopolitical analysis and contextualization for campaign opportunities and managed a team of ten.

As Special Advisor to the International Executive Director of GPI, Pat advises on external engagements, including coordination with key INGO allies and thought leaders. Pat is a founding member of the Vuka! Coalition for Action on Civic Space (currently 225 members), served on the Steering Group from 2018-2025 and is now a member of the Advisory Council. She was a member of the WEF Global Future Council on Frontier Risks, a brain trust for leaders from government, business and civil society bringing experts together to discuss critical issues, generate insights and analysis (2021-22) with a particular focus on governance challenges around geoengineering. She was a twice elected member of the CIVICUS Board of Directors and served as Treasurer. She is currently a member of the Accountable Now Board