One Home appoints four new trustees to its board in a bid to tackle funding crisis faced by environmental charities

● The environmental education charity One Home has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of four senior female figures from the finance sector: Shailaja Annamraju, Anita Ghanekar, Tanja Gihr and Duygu Gozeler Porchet.

● With collective experience in investment banking, impact investing and private equity, One Home’s new trustees will aim to radically increase the charity’s levels of donor funding.

● The appointments come as figures from the Environmental Funders Network show that just 8.5% of funding from UK trusts, foundations and lottery sources goes to environmental causes.

(12 November 2024) UK-based climate solutions charity, One Home, has today announced the appointment of four new trustees – all senior female figures from the world of finance – as it seeks to grow and expand its influence in a bid to tackle the funding crisis currently being faced by environmental and climate-change causes.

Their roles, which begin with immediate effect, will focus on supporting One Home to drive forward its plans for growth and expansion. A key part of this initially will involve increasing endowments from institutional donors such as private foundations and other grant-giving organisations.

One Home was founded in 2018 by award-winning, environmental scientist Angela Terry to provide information and advice on positive, practical solutions that improve people’s lives while saving money and reducing carbon emissions, as well as to help people adapt and prepare for extreme weather and other impacts of climate change.

The four new appointees join the charity’s existing board of four trustees, taking overall responsibility for its governance and strategic direction.

One Home’s new trustees are:

● Shailaja Annamraju – an international development and climate leader with 25 years’ experience, Shailaja is currently senior managing director at The Global Innovation Fund – a non-profit fund founded to invest in climate and social innovations in low and middle income countries. Shailaja previously set up the first impact framework for the UK Infrastructure Bank, now the National Wealth Fund. In government, she previously advised on the UK’s climate negotiations at COP19-21 and she helped develop a range of climate solutions partnerships in South and South East Asia.

● Anita Ghanekar – with over 25 years’ experience in equity capital markets and investment banking, Anita is a director at Shore Capital and Corporate Ltd and a qualified executive for the Alternative Investment Market. She has significant expertise in advising Investment Trusts, Renewables Asset Managers and Small / Mid-Cap growth companies listed in London. She has been actively focused on the Renewables / Infrastructure sectors since 2012, providing strategic advice, leading IPOs and Secondary Fundraisings for solar and battery storage companies, inter alia, NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd and Gore Street Energy Storage Fund Plc.

● Tanja Gihr -a former Head of Sustainable Banking, EMEA, at Barclays Bank, Tanja has a proven track record in driving sustainable finance initiatives, having played a pivotal role in establishing and expanding Barclays’ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Group. An ESG leader and financial market executive with 20 years’ experience, Tanja has advised C-suite executives and entrepreneurs across various sectors, helping them navigate their path towards sustainability. Tanja’s qualifications include the Certificate in ESG Investing from the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute, the UN-approved Carbon Literacy Accreditation, and the Sustainable Finance Certificate from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

● Duygu Gozeler Porchet – a seasoned finance professional and impact-driven advisor with over 15 years’ experience in wealth management and capital markets, Duygu is the founder of Gaia Impact Ventures. She focuses on raising capital for impactful businesses and private equity funds, with an emphasis on those with female founders and a sustainability focus. Her background spans roles at Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Lombard Odier across London, New York, and Dubai. Duygu believes in the transformative power of impact capital to address global challenges.

One Home’s appointments come as worrying new figures from a report by the Environmental Funders Network* show that in the UK, just 8.5% of funding from trusts, foundations and lottery sources goes to environmental causes. Meanwhile, on a global level, grants for climate mitigation are estimated to make up less than 2% of total philanthropic giving worldwide.

One Home CEO and environmental scientist, Angela Terry, said: “The combined collective knowledge and networks of Shailaja, Anita, Tanja and Duygu will be a powerful force in helping One Home expand its operations and increase its access to funding.

This is essential if we are to continue on our mission to help keep British communities safe in the face of more extreme weather events and educate the general public as to how they can contribute to the UK’s net zero goals.

Turning our backs on the climate crisis won’t make it go away, yet environmental causes are facing an unprecedented funding crisis, receiving just a tiny proportion of all available donor capital.

At One Home, we are privileged to be able to call on the expertise of our highly-experienced new trustees as we attempt to address this issue, but it’s clear that we need to see an urgent shift in philanthropic funding models to the third-sector.

The enormity of the environmental challenges we face should serve as a warning to donors that so much more needs to be done if we are serious about averting this real and existential threat to life as we know it.”

Further information on One Home’s chief executive and trustees, can be found here.

For more information on One Home, please visit its website and you can support One Home’s work here.

-ENDS-

*Environmental Funders Network’s latest report – Where The Green Grants Went – published in September 2024 which features figures from the financial year 2021-2022.

Quotes from One Home’s new trustees

● Shailaja Annamraju said: “My interest in One Home stems from the fact that I was an early adopter of home retrofit technologies, investing in air source heating, insulation, solar thermal and hybrid electric vehicles. Since then, I have realised how difficult and challenging the market is for adopting these solutions and how poor the incentives and information is for regular families to take the first step. I saw the work that One Home was doing and wanted to play a role in strengthening its ability to influence at scale.”

● Anita Ghanekar said:“I am delighted to be supporting One Home in its goal to increase awareness and education of on-going climate related challenges. Each person making informed choices when multiplied by millions can make the difference.”

● Tanja Gihr said: “Everyone I know wants to support climate action, regardless of age or income, yet many often feel uncertain about how to get involved. One Home fills this gap by providing practical guidance on what each of us can contribute, grounded in our shared values, whilst also illustrating how making the right choices can create value. This aligns closely with my work with corporate clients, where I focus on demonstrating how pro-climate decisions can lead to tangible benefits for businesses.”

● Duygu Gozeler Porchet said: “As an impact entrepreneur leveraging finance to drive sustainable change, I am excited to support One Home’s mission of empowering UK households with practical, cost-effective strategies for low-carbon living. Their work resonates deeply with my belief in the power of actionable solutions to address the climate crisis, effectively bridging the gap between awareness and the tangible lifestyle and financial decisions that can make a real difference.”

Notes to editors

For more information please contact:

Sam Carlisle at sam.carlisle@causecommunications.co.uk or Jenna Sloan at jenna.sloan@causecommunications.co.uk

About Angela Terry, Chief Executive, One Home

One Home was founded by Angela Terry MSc MEI, an environmental scientist with over 20 years’ experience in the renewables industry. Angela set up One Home to raise awareness of positive climate solutions and help UK households to adapt to a low cost, low carbon lifestyle. Angela was a pioneer of community energy in the UK as Development Director for Energy4All. She was also Head of Wood Fuel for the Forestry Commission, Policy Manager for RES, and a carbon scientist in New Zealand. Angela was voted the Net Zero Energy Pioneer at the 2024 Green Energy Awards.

One Home’s trustees in full (in alphabetical order):

● Shailaja Annamraju

● Sonya Bedford MBE

● Anita Ghanekar

● Tanja Gihr

● Duygu Gozeler Porchet

● Mary Hockaday

● David King

● Samantha Nicol

One Home has also appointed two new ambassadors, Jennifer Crowley and Vera Spiridopoulo, who will help to support the charity.

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